Accessibility Statement

People reach Kowalski Construction Inc. at bad moments, often on a phone, often in a hurry, and sometimes using a screen reader, a keyboard alone, or text scaled up to read at all. This site should work in every one of those situations. This page says what we have built in, what we know is not finished, and how to tell us when we have got it wrong.

What we aim for

We build toward the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 at Level AA, the standard most widely used to judge whether a website is usable by people with disabilities. We work toward it as a target. We have not commissioned an independent conformance audit, so we do not claim to meet it, and we would rather say that plainly than publish a badge we cannot stand behind.

What is built into this site

Each of these is in the site today:

• A skip link. The first thing a keyboard or screen reader reaches on every page is a “Skip to main content” link, so you do not have to walk through the whole navigation to get to the page.
• Real landmarks. Pages use proper header, navigation, main and footer regions, and the two menus are labelled, so assistive software can jump between them rather than reading everything in order.
• Visible focus. Buttons and links show a clear ring when you tab to them, so you can always see where you are without a mouse.
• Keyboard operation. The navigation, the emergency request form and its steps can be operated without a mouse.
• Text alternatives. Content images carry descriptions for screen readers, and images that are purely decorative are marked so they are skipped rather than announced.
• Text that scales. Type and layout are set in relative units, so enlarging text in your browser reflows the page instead of cutting it off.
• A declared language. Pages declare English, which tells a screen reader which voice and pronunciation to use.
• Contrast. Body text and buttons are set against backgrounds chosen to stay legible in bright sun on a phone, which is where a lot of this site is read.

What is not finished

We would rather list these than let you find them:

• Video captions. Our restoration videos live on YouTube and rely on YouTube’s automatic captions, which are not accurate enough to count as an equivalent for someone who depends on them. Human-checked captions are work we have not done yet.
• Embedded third-party content. The Google Maps, YouTube and GuildQuality panels on this site are built by those companies, and we do not control how accessible they are. If one of them blocks you, call us and we will give you the same information directly.
• Documents. Any PDF we link to was produced outside this site and may not be tagged for screen readers. Ask us and we will provide the contents in another form.
• Automated checks are not the same as testing with people. We run automated accessibility checks on this site, and they pass. Automated tools catch only a portion of real barriers, and we have not yet put this site in front of testers who use assistive technology daily.

If something here does not work for you

Tell us and we will fix it. Please say what page you were on, what you were trying to do, and what happened, plus the browser or assistive software you were using if you know it. That detail is usually the difference between us reproducing a problem and guessing at it.

You never have to get through this website to get help from us. If any part of this site is in your way, call the number below. Somebody answers it around the clock, and they can take an emergency request over the phone exactly as the form would.

How to reach us

Kowalski Construction Inc.
2219 W. Melinda Lane, Bldg A, Phoenix, AZ 85027
Phone: (602) 944-2645 (24 hours)
Or use the contact form and mention “accessibility” in the description.

Changes to this statement

When the site changes in a way that affects this page, we update it here and change the date at the top.