Accessibility
Accessibility Statement
We build this site so that it can be used with a keyboard, a screen reader, magnification, or reduced motion. This page says what we have actually done, where we know we fall short, and how to tell us when something does not work.
How accessible is vismountain.com?
VIS Mountain builds vismountain.com to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 at Level AA: semantic landmarks, a skip link, one h1 per page with no skipped heading levels, full keyboard operation with a visible focus indicator, a minimum text contrast ratio of 4.5 to 1, meaningful alternative text, and respect for the reduced motion setting on your device.
Conformance is an ongoing effort rather than a finished state, and the embedded chat window and booking calendar are third party components we do not fully control. Report a barrier to hello@vismountain.com or (708) 669-9666 and we will help you finish what you came to do while we work on the fix.
Why this statement exists
We build websites for a living, most of them for medical, dental, and local service businesses whose patients and customers include people with disabilities. It would be difficult to take that work seriously and treat our own site as the exception.
So this page is written the way we would want a vendor to write one for us. It says what has actually been built rather than what we intend to get around to. It names the parts of the site we know are weaker rather than waiting for you to find them. And it claims nothing that cannot be checked by opening the site and trying it.
WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the standard regulators, courts, and procurement teams in the United States point to, and it is the one we design and build against.
This statement covers vismountain.com. It does not cover the sites we build for clients, each of which has its own accessibility position and its own statement, and it does not cover the third party platforms we link out to.
If any part of this site stops you doing what you came to do, email hello@vismountain.com or call (708) 669-9666. We will help you finish the task directly while we work on the fix.
The standard we build to
Our target is WCAG 2.1 Level AA, published by the World Wide Web Consortium. WCAG is organised into three levels. Level A covers the basics without which some people cannot use a page at all. Level AA adds the requirements that make a page usable in practice, including colour contrast, resizable text, consistent navigation, visible focus, and clear error handling. Level AAA is stricter and is not realistic as a blanket target for a whole site, which the guidelines themselves acknowledge.
The four principles underneath the guidelines are a useful way to think about it. Content should be perceivable, so you can take it in through sight, sound, or touch. It should be operable, so you can drive it with whatever input you use. It should be understandable, so the language and behaviour are predictable. And it should be robust, so it keeps working with browsers and assistive technologies we have not tested ourselves.
Read the full breakdown: The standard we build toHide the full breakdown: The standard we build to
The Department of Justice has published guidance on web accessibility that points to WCAG as the practical benchmark for meeting obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act. We follow that benchmark. We are not in a position to tell you that this site satisfies every legal obligation in every jurisdiction, and we would treat any vendor who told you that about their own site with scepticism.
We also keep an eye on later versions of the guidelines. Where a newer success criterion is straightforward to meet, we meet it. What we commit to here is 2.1 Level AA, because that is the bar we test against.
What we have built into this site
These are not aspirations. Each one is a rule the build follows on every page we control.
- Semantic landmarks on every page: a real header, navigation, main, and footer, so a screen reader user can jump straight to the content instead of walking the whole page.
- A skip link as the first focusable element on every page, so keyboard users can bypass the navigation in one keystroke.
- Exactly one h1 per page, and no skipped heading levels, so the heading outline is a reliable map of the page rather than a set of visual styles.
- Full keyboard operability with a clearly visible focus indicator. Everything you can click, you can reach and trigger with a keyboard, and you can always see where you are.
- A minimum contrast ratio of 4.5 to 1 for body text, and 3 to 1 for large text, against every background used on the site. Colour pairs are checked before they enter the design system rather than after a complaint.
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- Meaningful alternative text on images that carry information, and images that are purely decorative hidden from assistive technology so they do not add noise.
- Link text that describes where it goes. No bare click here or read more.
- Movement that respects the prefers reduced motion setting in your operating system. If you have asked your device to reduce motion, the scroll reveals and the animated graphics on this site stop moving without you having to do anything here.
- Text that reflows and stays readable when you zoom the page or increase your browser's text size, rather than overlapping or being cut off.
The accessibility controls on this site
This site carries a small accessibility control, reachable from the same place on every page, with four settings.
Reduce motion turns off the scroll reveals and the animated graphics. It does the same thing as the operating system setting, and it exists for people who want it on this site without changing their device, or who are using a device where the setting is not available to them.
Read the full breakdown: The accessibility controls on this siteHide the full breakdown: The accessibility controls on this site
Larger text increases the body text size across the site. It is there for convenience; your browser zoom and your own text size settings also work, and the layout is built to handle both.
Higher contrast strengthens the contrast between text and background beyond the level the default design uses. The default palette already meets the 4.5 to 1 requirement, so this is for people who need more than the minimum rather than a fix for a page that fails it.
Underline links forces a visible underline on every link in body text, so links are identified by more than colour alone.
One honest caveat about controls like this. A widget on a website is not a substitute for building the page properly, and it is not a substitute for your own assistive technology. Ours adjusts presentation. It does not rewrite the page, it does not read it aloud, and it does not claim to make an inaccessible page accessible. The work that matters is in the list above.
Conformance is an ongoing effort, not a finished state
We do not claim certification, and there is no meaningful certificate to hold: WCAG conformance is self declared or assessed, and no authority issues a badge that settles the question. We have not published a completed third party audit of this site, and we will not imply one by using language that sounds like it.
What we do is check as we build. Structure, headings, focus order, contrast, and alternative text are part of the build standard for every page rather than a pass at the end. When we add a page, a component, or a graphic, it is checked against the same list.
A website is a living thing. New pages go up, components change, and third party code updates itself without asking us. That means a site can regress. Treat this statement as a description of how we work and what we are aiming at, not as a guarantee that every page is flawless on the day you read it.
Known limitations
We would rather list these than let you discover them.
The live chat window is provided by Knock Knock and rendered by their code. We can choose whether to load it and where it sits, but we do not control its markup, its focus handling, or its colour contrast. If the chat window is a barrier for you, email or call us instead and you will reach the same team.
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The booking calendar is embedded from our scheduling platform at go.vismountain.com and runs inside a frame. The same limitation applies: the interface inside that frame is the vendor's, not ours. If you cannot use the calendar, call (708) 669-9666 or email hello@vismountain.com and a person will find a time with you and book it on your behalf. That route is not a lesser service and you do not need to explain why you are using it.
We link out to search engine documentation, government resources, standards bodies, and platform policy pages. Those sites are outside our control and we cannot speak for their accessibility.
We test with keyboard navigation and with the browsers and screen readers available to us. We cannot test every combination of operating system, browser, and assistive technology in existence. If your particular setup breaks something here, that is exactly the kind of report we want.
How to report a problem, and what happens next
You do not need to know the name of a WCAG success criterion to file a useful report. Tell us what you were trying to do and what happened.
Tell us
Email hello@vismountain.com with "Accessibility" in the subject line, or call (708) 669-9666, or write to VIS Mountain Marketing & Advertising, 700 Commerce Drive, Ste 500, Oak Brook, IL 60523.
Include what you can
The address of the page, what you were trying to do, and what got in the way. If you know your browser, your device, and any assistive technology you use, that helps us reproduce it faster. If you do not, send the report anyway.
We acknowledge it
A person replies to confirm we have it and to ask anything we need in order to reproduce the problem. We are not going to publish a response time in hours that we cannot honour on a holiday weekend. We treat accessibility reports as a priority queue, not as general feedback.
See the remaining steps: How to report a problem, and what happens nextHide the remaining steps: How to report a problem, and what happens next
We investigate and tell you what we found
We try to reproduce the problem, identify what is causing it, and tell you plainly whether it is something we can fix, something in a third party component we have to raise with a vendor, or something we have misunderstood.
We fix it, and we give you a route in the meantime
Where the fix is ours, we make it and tell you when it is live. Where it sits with a vendor, we raise it with them and say so rather than going quiet. Either way, if the barrier stopped you doing something, we will help you do it another way while the fix is in progress.
If you are not satisfied with how we handled a report, say so in reply and ask for it to be escalated. It will be read by someone senior, not filed.
Other ways to reach us
Nothing on this site has to be done on this site. If a form, the calendar, or the chat window is not workable for you, every one of those tasks can be done by phone or email instead.
Call (708) 669-9666 or email hello@vismountain.com. Our head office is at 700 Commerce Drive, Ste 500, Oak Brook, IL 60523, and our contact page lists the address and direct number for each of our seven offices in Illinois, Texas, Florida, and California.
If you need information from this site in a different format, ask. We can send a page as plain text or as an email, or talk you through it on a call.
Common questions about accessibility here
Is this site certified as accessible?
No, and no site honestly can be. WCAG conformance is self declared or assessed against the guidelines; there is no authority that certifies a website and no badge that settles the question. We build to WCAG 2.1 Level AA, we check against it as we go, and we tell you on this page where we know we fall short.
Does the accessibility widget make the site compliant?
No. An overlay or widget adjusts presentation. It cannot fix a page with a broken heading structure, unlabelled controls, or a keyboard trap, and it is not a substitute for your own assistive technology. Ours offers reduced motion, larger text, higher contrast, and forced link underlines as conveniences. The accessibility of this site comes from how the pages are built.
I cannot use the booking calendar. How do I book a call?
Call (708) 669-9666 or email hello@vismountain.com and a person will find a time with you and book it. The calendar is an embedded tool from our scheduling platform and we do not control the interface inside it, so this is a genuine alternative rather than a workaround we would rather you did not use.
What standard do you build client sites to?
The same one: WCAG 2.1 Level AA. Each client site has its own accessibility position and its own statement, because the content, the platform, and the third party tools differ. This statement covers vismountain.com only.
How quickly will you respond to an accessibility report?
We acknowledge reports and treat them as a priority queue rather than general feedback. We are not going to publish a specific number of hours we cannot honour every day of the year. What we commit to is a real reply from a person, an honest assessment of the cause, and a way to complete whatever you were trying to do while the fix is in progress.
Something on this site not working for you?
Email hello@vismountain.com with "Accessibility" in the subject line, or call (708) 669-9666. Tell us the page and what happened, and we will help you finish what you came to do.
Where this comes from.
Primary documentation and published research behind the guidance on this page.
- W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (opens in a new tab)The standard this site is built against, published by the World Wide Web Consortium.
- W3C WAI: How to Meet WCAG (Quick Reference) (opens in a new tab)The success criteria behind every measure listed on this page.
- ADA.gov: Guidance on web accessibility and the ADA (opens in a new tab)The Department of Justice guidance that points to WCAG as the practical benchmark.
- W3C WAI: Developing an accessibility statement (opens in a new tab)The W3C's own guidance on what an honest accessibility statement should contain.
Talk to the team
A short call, a look at how the business currently shows up, and a straight answer on what we would do first.