ACCESSIBILITY
Our commitment
Accessibility Statement
Silverwood Properties, Inc. is committed to making this website usable by everyone, including people who browse with screen readers, keyboards, magnification, voice control or switch devices. Buying and selling a home is stressful enough without a website getting in the way.
Last reviewed: September 1, 2026
The standard we work to
This site is built to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, Level AA (opens in a new tab). That is the benchmark most often referenced in relation to the Americans with Disabilities Act, and it is the target the site was designed and tested against — not something retrofitted afterwards.
We describe the site as partially conformant: the published pages meet the standard as far as we have been able to verify, but the site has not yet been independently audited, and a handful of guide pages are still in draft. We would rather say that plainly than claim a certification we do not hold.
What we have done
- Semantic structure
- Every page uses real landmarks (header, nav, main, footer), one h1, and heading levels that descend in order. A skip link jumps straight to the main content.
- Keyboard operation
- Everything works without a mouse. Menus open with Enter or Space, close with Escape, and return focus where you left it. Focus indicators are visible on every interactive element.
- Colour contrast
- Body text measures 12.3:1 and headings 8.5:1 against the page background — both above the AAA threshold. The brand terracotta was measured at 2.99:1, below the AA minimum, so it is used only for rules, borders and large display type, never for body text or links.
- Text and zoom
- Layouts are built in relative units and reflow to 400% zoom without horizontal scrolling or loss of content, down to a 320px viewport.
- Images
- Every meaningful image has descriptive alternative text; decorative images are hidden from screen readers. No image is used to carry text.
- Forms
- Every field has a visible, permanently associated label. Errors are announced, described in text, and linked to the field they belong to — never signalled by colour alone.
- Motion
- The site honours your operating system’s "reduce motion" setting, and you can also switch motion off in the accessibility panel.
- Targets
- Buttons, menu items and controls meet the 24 by 24 pixel minimum, and most clear 44 by 44.
Reader preferences
The Display Settings button in the footer of every page opens a panel where you can change text size, switch to a higher-contrast palette, use a plainer typeface with wider spacing, underline every link, and reduce motion. Your choices are saved on your device and apply across the whole site.
To be clear about what that panel is: it adjusts the real site to your preference. It is not an accessibility overlay, and it is not what makes this site accessible — the underlying markup is. Overlay products that claim to fix an inaccessible site automatically are widely criticised by disabled users, and we have not used one here.
Known limitations
We would rather list these than let you discover them:
- The site has not had an independent audit or formal testing with people who use assistive technology day to day. That is the next step.
- Several in-depth guides are still being written. They are hidden from search engines until they are finished, but if you reach one it will be visibly incomplete.
- Some archived blog posts date back to 2010 and were migrated from the previous website. Their structure has been cleaned up, but the original writing was not composed with accessibility in mind.
- Where we link to third-party sites — Yelp, LinkedIn, Instagram — we have no control over their accessibility.
Tell us if something does not work
If any part of this site is difficult or impossible for you to use, we want to hear about it — it is the fastest way for us to fix it. Tell us the page, what you were trying to do, and what happened.
- Phone: (818) 237-6963
- Email: Email Ken about accessibility
- Post: 1545 Echo Park Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90026
We aim to respond within five business days. In the meantime, anything on this website is available to you by phone or email — including property details, neighbourhood information and paperwork.
Equal housing opportunity
Silverwood Properties, Inc. supports the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. We do business in accordance with federal, state and local fair housing laws, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, sex, disability, familial status, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, ancestry, source of income or any other characteristic protected by law.
If you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation at any point — during a showing, in how we communicate with you, or in how documents are provided — tell Ken Shapiro and it will be arranged.
Ken Shapiro, Broker / Owner · California DRE #01881308
Accessibility questions
Which accessibility standard does this site follow?
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level AA. That is the standard most commonly referenced under the Americans with Disabilities Act and adopted by the U.S. Department of Justice for web content.
Has the site been independently audited?
Not yet. Testing so far has been automated checks with axe-core across every page, plus manual keyboard-only walkthroughs and contrast measurement of every colour pair in the design system. Automated testing catches roughly a third of accessibility issues, so an independent audit including testing with people who use assistive technology is the honest next step.
Does the accessibility panel make the site compliant?
No, and any tool that claims otherwise is overselling. The panel offers reader preferences — text size, contrast, spacing, motion — that adjust the real site. Accessibility comes from how the pages are built underneath, not from a widget layered on top. It is there because preferences are genuinely useful, not as a substitute for the work.
What if I still cannot use part of the site?
Contact Ken Shapiro directly by phone or email. Tell him which page and what happened, and if it helps, which browser or assistive technology you were using. He will respond within five business days and will give you the information you were after by phone or email in the meantime.
Can I get property information another way?
Yes. Anything on this site is available by phone or email, and Ken is happy to walk through listings, neighbourhoods or paperwork verbally. No one should have to fight a website to get an answer about a home.