Accessibility Statement

MerchantGuidance is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, including individuals with disabilities. We believe every business owner searching for funding guidance should be able to use our tools and resources regardless of how they access the internet.

Our Commitment

We view accessibility as an ongoing responsibility rather than a one time project. Our team works to design and build MerchantGuidance in a way that supports a broad range of visitors, including those who use screen readers, voice recognition software, keyboard only navigation, or other assistive technologies. We consider accessibility during the planning stages of new features and continue to evaluate existing pages as our site evolves.

Standards We Follow

MerchantGuidance strives to align with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines at a widely recognized conformance level. These guidelines cover a range of recommendations for making web content more accessible, including sufficient color contrast, descriptive text for images, logical navigation order, and compatibility with assistive technology. While we work toward meeting these standards across our site, we recognize that full conformance is a continuous process, particularly as we add new tools and content over time. We treat these guidelines as a baseline rather than a finish line, and we look for opportunities to exceed them wherever practical.

Design Choices That Support Accessibility

Throughout MerchantGuidance, we make deliberate design choices intended to support visitors with different needs. This includes using legible font sizing, avoiding color combinations that are difficult to distinguish, structuring pages with clear headings so content can be scanned or navigated section by section, and providing visible focus indicators for visitors navigating with a keyboard. Interactive elements such as buttons, form fields, and calculators are labeled so that assistive technology can accurately describe their purpose to the visitor using them.

Accessibility Features

We have taken steps to make key elements of MerchantGuidance easier to navigate, including clear heading structures, descriptive link text, and keyboard accessible menus and forms. Our lender comparison tables and funding calculators are designed with readable text sizing and contrast in mind. We also aim to provide alternative text for meaningful images so that visitors using screen readers can understand the content those images convey.

Ongoing Efforts

Accessibility improvement is a continuous process at MerchantGuidance. We periodically review our pages, tools, and templates to identify areas where accessibility can be improved, and we incorporate feedback from visitors into our development priorities. As new pages and features are added to the site, we aim to apply the same accessibility considerations used throughout our existing content.

Known Limitations

Despite our best efforts, some parts of MerchantGuidance may not yet fully meet every accessibility guideline, particularly in areas involving third party tools, embedded content, or legacy pages that have not yet been updated. We are actively working to address these gaps and welcome reports from visitors who encounter barriers so we can prioritize fixes appropriately.

Third Party Content

Some content on MerchantGuidance, such as lender applications or embedded calculators from partner services, may be hosted or controlled by third parties. While we encourage our partners to follow accessible design practices, we cannot guarantee the accessibility of content that originates outside our own website.

Compatibility with Browsers and Devices

MerchantGuidance is built to work across a range of modern browsers and devices, including desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones. We test our pages on common browser and screen reader combinations to help ensure a consistent experience, though performance may vary depending on the specific version of software or assistive technology you use. We recommend keeping your browser and any assistive technology up to date for the best experience on our site.

Training and Internal Awareness

Accessibility considerations are incorporated into how our team approaches design and content creation. Writers, designers, and developers working on MerchantGuidance are encouraged to think about readability, structure, and usability from the earliest stages of a project, rather than treating accessibility as a final step. This approach helps us build habits that support accessibility across every new page or tool we release.

Feedback Process

We welcome feedback from visitors regarding the accessibility of MerchantGuidance. If you encounter a barrier while using our site, please let us know which page you were visiting and what difficulty you experienced. We review accessibility feedback regularly and use it to guide improvements across the site. Where possible, we aim to acknowledge feedback promptly and provide an alternative way to access the information or feature you were trying to use while a longer term fix is implemented.

Continuous Review Going Forward

As MerchantGuidance grows to include new comparison tools, guides, and lender resources, we intend to apply the same accessibility principles described in this statement to every new addition. Accessibility reviews are becoming a regular part of how we plan and launch features, and we expect our practices to mature over time as we learn more from visitor feedback and evolving best practices across the industry.