

Interesting. The way I work, variable naming is one of the key areas that I would never want to outsource to an AI – careful choice of variable names is a key part of code quality for me: unimportant things should have neutral, non-distracting names while mportant things often cause me to break out a thesaurus for just the right word.
Actually, banks are a heavily regulated industry and they have to comply with strict non-discrimination requirements including making all reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.
If you know someone who uses a screen reader and is therefore unable to use HSBC’s app, encourage them to file a complaint with the appropriate regulator (in the US, try https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/ ).
Banks are very attentive about listening to their regulators.
(Of course, it’s possible that what HSBC did still works with commonly used screen readers for the blind because they actually thought of this.)