Conformance Documentation
Accessibility conformance report.
This report documents how the CarlsbaDDS Pediatric Smiles website complies with the accessibility laws and standards that apply to it. It lists each applicable law and guideline with a link to its official source, every individual requirement those sources impose, and a point-by-point summary of how this website meets each one.
| Website | CarlsbaDDS Pediatric Smiles — all public pages of this site, including the patient education blog and the not-found page (90 pages) |
|---|---|
| Conformance target | Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, Level AA |
| Conformance status | Conformant, based on internal evaluation — every Level A and Level AA success criterion is met or does not apply (each is itemized below) |
| Evaluation date | June 12, 2026 — re-evaluated whenever site content changes |
| Evaluation methods | Automated color-contrast audits of rendered pages in both display modes; keyboard-only walkthroughs; code review of markup semantics and ARIA states; reflow testing at 320 px width; reduced-motion testing; screen-reader semantics review |
| Document versions | The web page you are reading is the canonical, accessible version of this report. The downloadable PDF is a convenience copy that is regenerated automatically from this page whenever the report changes. |
Part 1 · Legal Framework
The laws and standards that apply.
A pediatric dental practice in Carlsbad, California is a "place of public accommodation" under federal law and a "business establishment" under California law. Courts and the U.S. Department of Justice evaluate website accessibility for such businesses against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Three sources therefore govern this website; each is listed with a link to its full official text.
1. Americans with Disabilities Act, Title III (federal)
Title III of the ADA prohibits disability discrimination by private businesses that serve the public. The Ninth Circuit — which includes California — held in Robles v. Domino's Pizza (2019) that the websites of businesses with physical locations are covered. Official sources: the ADA statute, the Title III regulations (28 C.F.R. Part 36), and the Department of Justice guidance on web accessibility.
| Requirement | What it requires | How this website complies |
|---|---|---|
| 42 U.S.C. §12182(a) — general rule | People with disabilities must have "full and equal enjoyment" of the goods, services, and facilities of a public accommodation. | The entire website conforms to WCAG 2.2 AA (itemized in Part 2), so visitors using assistive technology can read every page, operate every control, and request an appointment on equal terms. |
| 28 C.F.R. §36.303 — auxiliary aids and effective communication | Businesses must furnish auxiliary aids and services so communication with people with disabilities is as effective as with others. | All images carry text alternatives, custom controls expose their state to screen readers, status messages are announced, and the practice offers a staffed phone line and email — (760) 730-3456 / [email protected] — where trained front-desk staff read information aloud, schedule by phone, and provide materials in alternate formats. |
| 28 C.F.R. §36.302 — reasonable modifications | Policies and practices must be reasonably modified when needed to serve people with disabilities. | The site offers an Accessibility Mode (large text, maximum contrast, zero motion) on every page, and any website task — including the appointment request — can be completed by phone instead. |
| DOJ Guidance on Web Accessibility (2022) | The Department of Justice identifies WCAG as the appropriate reference standard for business websites. | The site is built and re-evaluated against WCAG 2.2 Level AA, a version newer than the WCAG 2.1 baseline the guidance references. |
2. California Unruh Civil Rights Act (state)
The Unruh Act guarantees full and equal access to all business establishments in California and makes any ADA violation automatically a state-law violation, with statutory damages of at least $4,000 per occurrence plus attorney's fees. Official source: California Civil Code §51 (remedies at §52).
| Requirement | What it requires | How this website complies |
|---|---|---|
| Civ. Code §51(b) — full and equal accommodations | All persons are entitled to full and equal accommodations and services in all business establishments, regardless of disability. | Every page, photo, form, and phone number is available to every visitor: the same WCAG 2.2 AA conformance documented below, in both the standard design and Accessibility Mode. |
| Civ. Code §51(f) — ADA incorporation | Any violation of the ADA is also a violation of the Unruh Act. | Compliance with ADA Title III (above) — demonstrated through WCAG 2.2 AA conformance — satisfies §51(f) by the same evidence. |
| Civ. Code §52 — remedies | Establishes statutory damages per violation, which makes continuous (not one-time) compliance essential in California. | Accessibility is part of this site's maintenance process: every content or design change is re-checked against the same standard before it is published, and this report is updated with it. |
3. WCAG 2.2, Level AA (technical standard)
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), are the technical standard the two laws above resolve to. Official sources: WCAG 2.2 specification and the How to Meet WCAG quick reference. Part 2 of this report lists every Level A and Level AA success criterion and how the site meets it.
Standards reviewed and found not applicable
| Standard | Who it applies to | Why it does not apply here |
|---|---|---|
| Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act | U.S. federal agencies and technology they develop, procure, or use. | This is a private dental practice, not a federal agency. (Its technical standard largely mirrors the WCAG conformance documented here.) |
| EN 301 549 / European Accessibility Act | Products and services offered in the European Union. | The practice serves families in North County San Diego and does not offer services in the EU. |
Part 2 · WCAG 2.2, Point by Point
Every success criterion, and how the site meets it.
WCAG 2.2 defines 31 Level A and 24 Level AA success criteria. Every one is listed below by its official number and name — each linked to the W3C's full explanation — with a summary of how this website conforms. Criteria marked "not applicable" describe content types this site does not contain; should such content ever be added, it will be made to conform and this report updated.
| Success criterion | What it requires | How this website conforms |
|---|---|---|
| 1.1.1 Non-text Content | All non-text content has a text alternative. | Every informative image (staff portraits, office photos, the award badge, the logo) carries descriptive alt text; the office-tour photo's description updates with each slide; decorative elements — background ghost words, wave dividers, icon glyphs, gallery placeholder graphics — are hidden from assistive technology with aria-hidden. |
| 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) | Alternatives for prerecorded audio-only and video-only media. | Not applicable — the site contains no audio or video media. |
| 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) | Captions for prerecorded video with audio. | Not applicable — no video content. |
| 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) | Audio description or transcript for prerecorded video. | Not applicable — no video content. |
| 1.3.1 Info and Relationships | Structure and relationships conveyed visually are available programmatically. | Pages use semantic landmarks (navigation, main, footer), a logical heading outline with no skipped levels, real button elements for controls, form labels programmatically bound to their fields, list markup for lists, and data-table markup (with header cells) for office hours and this report. |
| 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence | Reading order in the code matches a meaningful order. | The DOM order matches the visual order on every page — skip link, then navigation, then main content, then footer — so screen readers encounter content in the intended sequence. |
| 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics | Instructions don't rely solely on shape, color, size, or position. | No instruction on the site refers to color, shape, or position alone; controls are referred to by their visible names (e.g. "press the button marked with the accessibility symbol" also names the button). |
| 1.4.1 Use of Color | Color is never the only visual means of conveying information. | Links inside running text are underlined; required form fields are marked with a symbol that is also explained in text; the current page in the navigation is conveyed with aria-current, not color alone. |
| 1.4.2 Audio Control | Auto-playing audio can be paused or stopped. | Not applicable — no audio plays anywhere on the site. |
| 2.1.1 Keyboard | All functionality is operable through a keyboard. | Every feature works with keyboard alone: menus and the mega-menu open on focus, the mobile drawer and accordion submenus are button-driven, FAQ accordions are buttons, before/after sliders are native range inputs (arrow keys), the photo tour and carousels use buttons, the services multiselect is a button plus native checkboxes, and the Accessibility Mode toggle is a standard button. |
| 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap | Keyboard focus can always move away from any component. | No component captures focus; menus, the drawer, and the multiselect all close with Escape and return focus to the control that opened them. |
| 2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts | Single-character shortcuts can be turned off or remapped. | Not applicable — the site defines no character-key shortcuts. (Escape, the only key handled globally, is exempt.) |
| 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable | Time limits can be turned off, adjusted, or extended. | Not applicable — nothing on the site imposes a time limit. |
| 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide | Moving or auto-updating content can be paused, stopped, or hidden. | The only auto-updating content — the office photo tour — has a visible pause/play button, additionally pauses while hovered or keyboard-focused, and never starts for visitors whose devices request reduced motion or who use Accessibility Mode. The subtle drifting wave line on dark bands is purely decorative and stops under the same settings. |
| 2.3.1 Three Flashes or Below Threshold | Nothing flashes more than three times per second. | Nothing on the site flashes; all motion is slow fades and drifts. |
| 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks | A mechanism exists to skip repeated blocks of content. | A "Skip to main content" link is the first focusable element on every page and jumps keyboard focus past the navigation directly into the page content. |
| 2.4.2 Page Titled | Pages have titles that describe their topic. | Every one of the site's pages has a unique, descriptive title in the form "Page topic — CarlsbaDDS Pediatric Smiles". |
| 2.4.3 Focus Order | Focus moves in an order that preserves meaning and operability. | Tab order follows the visual layout on every page (verified by keyboard walkthrough); carousel items scrolled out of view are made inert so focus never lands on invisible content; the Accessibility Mode button's position in the code matches its position on screen at every breakpoint. |
| 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) | The purpose of each link is clear from its text or context. | Link text describes its destination ("Our Doctors", "Request an Appointment", "Read her full story" inside the doctor's card); icon-only links (social media) carry aria-labels; links that open a new tab say so to screen readers. |
| 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures | No functionality requires multipoint or path-based gestures. | Everything operates with single taps or clicks; the comparison sliders accept a simple tap or drag and have full keyboard equivalents. |
| 2.5.2 Pointer Cancellation | Actions trigger on release, not press, so they can be aborted. | All controls use native click activation (fires on release); nothing triggers on the down-event. |
| 2.5.3 Label in Name | A control's accessible name contains its visible label. | Every control's accessible name starts with its visible text (e.g. the "Accessibility Mode" button's full name begins with those words), so voice-control users can speak what they see. |
| 2.5.4 Motion Actuation | Nothing is operated by device motion alone. | Not applicable — no feature responds to shaking, tilting, or other device motion. |
| 3.1.1 Language of Page | The page's human language is set programmatically. | Every page declares lang="en" on its root element so screen readers use correct pronunciation. |
| 3.2.1 On Focus | Receiving focus does not trigger a change of context. | Focusing a menu item may expand its panel, but focus never moves, no window opens, and no navigation occurs until the visitor activates a link. |
| 3.2.2 On Input | Changing a setting or input does not automatically change context. | Selecting options, checking boxes, and typing never auto-submit or redirect; the appointment form submits only via its labeled button. |
| 3.2.6 Consistent Help | Help mechanisms appear in the same place across pages. | The practice's phone number, email, address, and hours appear in the footer of every page in the same order, and a dedicated accessibility help page is linked from the same footer position sitewide. |
| 3.3.1 Error Identification | Input errors are identified and described in text. | The appointment form uses native browser validation: an error names the field, describes the problem in text, and moves focus to the field so it can be corrected. |
| 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions | Inputs have labels or instructions. | Every form field has a permanently visible label (placeholders are examples only, never labels); required fields are marked with an asterisk that the form's introduction explains. |
| 3.3.7 Redundant Entry | Information already entered isn't requested again in the same process. | The appointment request is a single-step form; no information is ever requested twice. |
| 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value | Custom components expose their name, role, and state to assistive technology. | Disclosure menus report aria-haspopup and aria-expanded; the mobile menu button reports expanded/collapsed and swaps its label; FAQ buttons report aria-expanded and reference their answer; the Accessibility Mode and tour pause buttons report aria-pressed; the active page reports aria-current; the services multiselect reports its expanded state and panel. |
| Success criterion | What it requires | How this website conforms |
|---|---|---|
| 1.2.4 Captions (Live) | Captions for live audio content. | Not applicable — no live media. |
| 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) | Audio description for prerecorded video. | Not applicable — no video content. |
| 1.3.4 Orientation | Content works in portrait and landscape. | No orientation is locked; the responsive layout adapts to either orientation on any device. |
| 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose | Fields collecting user data declare their purpose programmatically. | The appointment form's fields about the visitor declare autocomplete purposes (name, tel, email) so browsers and assistive tools can identify and fill them. |
| 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) | Text has at least 4.5:1 contrast (3:1 for large text). | An automated audit walks every rendered text node and computes its contrast against its effective background: all text passes in both the standard design and Accessibility Mode. The design system itself encodes this — surfaces with vivid backgrounds (the gold bands, the teal bands) carry darker or lighter text palettes scoped to that surface. |
| 1.4.4 Resize Text | Text can be resized to 200% without loss of content or function. | All type is set in relative units and layouts are flexible; pinch-zoom and browser zoom are never disabled (the viewport meta sets no maximum-scale or user-scalable restrictions). Accessibility Mode additionally raises the base text size site-wide. |
| 1.4.5 Images of Text | Text is real text, not pictures of text. | All content is rendered text. The only images containing text are the practice logo and the third-party "Best of North County" award mark — both within the logotype exception, and both carrying text alternatives. |
| 1.4.10 Reflow | Content reflows to 320 px wide with no two-dimensional scrolling. | Verified: every template reflows to a single column at 320 px with zero horizontal overflow, in both display modes. The only horizontally scrollable elements are the data tables in this report — the exception WCAG defines for tabular data — and their scroll regions are keyboard-focusable. |
| 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast | UI component boundaries and states have 3:1 contrast. | Focus indicators (3 px deep-teal outline; bright gold on dark surfaces), button boundaries, and form-field underlines all meet 3:1 against their adjacent colors in both modes. |
| 1.4.12 Text Spacing | No loss of content when users increase text spacing. | Text containers are flexible with no fixed heights or clipped overflow on text, so user stylesheets that raise line height, letter spacing, or word spacing reflow the layout without hiding content. |
| 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus | Hover/focus-triggered content is dismissible, hoverable, and persistent. | Navigation panels are dismissible with Escape without moving the pointer or focus, remain open while the pointer moves onto them (a hover-intent grace period prevents accidental dismissal), and stay visible until deliberately closed. |
| 2.4.5 Multiple Ways | More than one way exists to find each page. | Every page is reachable through at least two of: the full navigation menus, the footer link directory, breadcrumbs on inner pages, and contextual links between related pages. |
| 2.4.6 Headings and Labels | Headings and labels describe their topic or purpose. | Section headings state their content plainly; form labels name exactly what each field collects. |
| 2.4.7 Focus Visible | Keyboard focus is always visible. | Every focusable element shows a 3 px high-contrast outline on keyboard focus, color-adapted per surface; form fields additionally show a focused outline and underline. No element suppresses its focus indicator without replacement. |
| 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) | Focused elements aren't completely hidden by other content. | The site reserves scroll padding equal to the sticky header's height plus a margin, so an element brought into view by keyboard focus always lands below the fixed navigation, never beneath it. |
| 2.5.7 Dragging Movements | Dragging is never the only way to operate a feature. | The before/after comparison sliders are native range inputs: a single tap or click anywhere on the track moves them, and arrow keys operate them — dragging is optional. Nothing else on the site involves dragging. |
| 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) | Interactive targets are at least 24×24 px or adequately spaced. | Core controls are 42–50 px (navigation buttons, carousel and tour buttons, the Accessibility Mode toggle); buttons and menu links carry generous padding; small text links are padded or spaced so no two targets' 24 px zones overlap. |
| 3.1.2 Language of Parts | Passages in another language are marked. | Not applicable — all content is in English; no foreign-language passages exist to mark. |
| 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation | Navigation repeats in the same order across pages. | The navigation and footer are generated from a single shared template, so they are identical — same items, same order — on all of the site's pages by construction. |
| 3.2.4 Consistent Identification | Components with the same function are identified consistently. | Repeated components (appointment buttons, phone links, accordions, the Accessibility Mode toggle) use identical labels and icons everywhere they appear. |
| 3.3.3 Error Suggestion | Error messages suggest corrections when known. | Native validation messages state how to fix each problem (for example, that an email address must include an "@"), and the form's hints give expected formats up front. |
| 3.3.4 Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data) | Legal/financial submissions are reversible, checked, or confirmable. | Not applicable — the site processes no legal or financial transactions and stores no user data; the appointment request is a contact inquiry that staff confirm by phone or email before anything is scheduled. |
| 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum) | Logins must not require cognitive function tests. | Not applicable — the site has no login, authentication, or CAPTCHA of any kind. |
| 4.1.3 Status Messages | Status messages are announced without taking focus — or content changes are otherwise conveyed. | The form-submission notice and the "coming soon" notices are status live regions, and the site additionally moves focus to them when they appear so the change is announced immediately and the visitor can act on the contact links inside. |
Note: success criterion 4.1.1 Parsing, part of earlier WCAG versions, was removed in WCAG 2.2 and is therefore not listed.
Part 3 · Beyond the Checklist
Measures beyond the minimum.
| Measure | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Accessibility Mode | A persistent, one-press toggle at the top of every page that restyles the entire site for maximum legibility: larger base text, a plain white background, near-black text, simplified headings, underlined links, and zero animation. It is off by default, applies before the page paints on return visits, and removes nothing — every page, photo, form, and phone number remains. |
| Accessibility help page | A dedicated page — linked in the footer of every page — explaining the site's accessibility features in plain language and offering staffed help: trained front-desk team members who can read information aloud, schedule by phone, or provide materials in another format, at (760) 730-3456 or [email protected]. |
| Reduced-motion support | All entrance animations, the parallax effect, the drifting wave line, and the photo-tour autoplay automatically switch off for visitors whose system settings request reduced motion — independent of Accessibility Mode. |
| Maintenance commitment | Accessibility is part of the site's change process: any content added, modified, or removed is made accessible in both display modes and this report and the accessibility page are updated alongside it. |
| Third-party content disclosure | The embedded Google map, the Instagram feed on the Smile Gallery, and the external review platforms are built by other companies and may not meet the same standard. The information they convey (address, directions, photos, reviews) is also available directly from the practice — and staff will provide any of it by phone or email on request. |
This report was last reviewed and updated in June 2026. The canonical version is this web page; the PDF is a convenience copy. Questions, corrections, or accessibility barriers can be reported to [email protected] or (760) 730-3456.