Financial stress makes reading harder
Roughly 1 in 10 Canadians has dyslexia, and 4–6% of Canadian adults live with ADHD. Add the pressure of a mortgage renewal, a purchase closing date, or a rate shock, and even readers without a formal diagnosis start skimming, re-reading, and missing the numbers that matter.
Most mortgage websites answer this with a compliance checkbox. We treated it as a design problem — one that changes how the site renders, not just what the marketing copy says.
What we built into every page
Tap the circular accessibility icon in the bottom-right of any page on mortgageguru.ca. A panel opens with four things you can turn on, and your choice sticks across pages and visits.
- →Dark & light mode — a real theme switch, contrast tuned to WCAG AA on both
- →ADHD focus mode — reduces visual noise, adds a page-progress indicator, and unlocks a tactile 'Mortgage Journey' fidget in the corner
- →Dyslexia reading mode — dyslexia-friendly typeface with wider letter spacing and taller line height across every page
- →Keyboard & screen-reader friendly calculators — labelled inputs, 44×44 tap targets, ARIA live regions for results
Why this matters for a mortgage file
A mortgage is often the biggest financial decision a household makes. Missing a prepayment clause, misreading an IRD estimate, or skipping a line on a rate hold isn't a cosmetic issue — it costs real money.
If the site is hard to read at 10pm after the kids are in bed, we've already lost. The accessibility panel is our way of making sure the numbers land — no matter how you read.
How to turn it on
Look for the circular accessibility icon in the bottom-right corner of any page. Tap it, pick your theme (dark or light), and enable ADHD mode or dyslexia mode if either helps. You can change your mind any time.
There's also a dedicated page that explains every option and the standards we're aiming for — WCAG 2.1 AA — with a contact address for anything that's still hard to use with your assistive tech.
We're not calling this 'first of its kind'
Plenty of accessibility overlays exist. Most of them are third-party widgets bolted on top of a site. What's different here is that the modes are baked into the design system — the calculators, the blog, the location pages — not a floating panel that inverts colours.
If you spot something that could work better with your setup, email info@mortgageguru.ca. We'll fix it.
FAQ
Where is the accessibility panel on Mortgage Guru?+
It's the circular accessibility icon in the bottom-right corner of every page on mortgageguru.ca. Tap it to open the panel and switch between dark and light themes, ADHD focus mode, and dyslexia reading mode.
Does ADHD mode change the calculators too?+
Yes. ADHD mode applies across every page, including the mortgage payment, affordability, land transfer tax, CMHC insurance, and prepayment calculators. It reduces visual noise so the numbers stand out.
Is Mortgage Guru WCAG compliant?+
Mortgage Guru is built to align with WCAG 2.1 Level AA — semantic HTML, labelled form inputs, 44×44 tap targets, ARIA live regions on calculator results, and contrast tuned on both dark and light themes. If something is still hard to use with your assistive tech, email info@mortgageguru.ca and we'll fix it.
Do my accessibility settings follow me across the site?+
Yes. Your theme and reading mode are stored in your browser and persist as you move between pages and visits, so you don't have to re-select them every time.