Web design in Toronto and across Ontario: accessible websites designed in the browser on your real content, to WCAG 2.1 AA from the first wireframe — WordPress themes and patterns your editors cannot break, design systems with contrast gated on every build, illustration and accessible documents — for organizations whose site has to work for everyone and win the ones it is for.
Designed in the browser, on the real content, with the standard as an input. One finding is caught in the components, not in the audit — and the site ships.
WCAG 2.1 from the first wireframe
AAWCAG 2.1 from the first wireframe
colour contrast gated on every build of this site
55 pairscolour contrast gated on every build of this site
designed on your real content, not a mock-up
In browserdesigned on your real content, not a mock-up
Accessible can be beautiful
The site you are reading was designed the way we design for clients: dark bookends and a light middle, a type scale and a colour system as tokens, fifty-five colour pairs checked against their contrast contract on every build, focus states drawn before the first component shipped, and a motion contract that never plays without a control. Nothing about it looks like a compliance exercise, and every page of it meets WCAG 2.1 AA — because the standard was a design input, not an audit at the end. We do the same for healthcare, research and public-sector organizations across Ontario.
Designed in the browser, on your content
A static mock-up is a promise the real content breaks. We design in the browser from the first concept — with your headlines, your images, your longest French string and your smallest phone — so what you approve is what ships, and the accessibility decisions are made once, in the design system, rather than rediscovered on every page. The tokens, components and patterns that come out of it are yours, documented, in a repository under your name, and the same team carries them into WordPress so the design survives the editors.
What we design
Accessible can be beautiful — this site is the proof, and every client site is built the same way
Accessible web design
Interfaces designed to WCAG 2.1 AA before a line of code: contrast measured, focus states drawn, targets sized, reading order decided, motion given a contract. Not a checklist run at the end; the way the design is made.
Designed in the browser, on your content
No static mock-ups that fall apart when the real headline is twice as long. We design in the browser with your actual words, images and data, in both languages if you have two, so what you approve is what ships.
Design systems
Colour, type scale and spacing as tokens; components with their states drawn; documentation your team can extend. Every colour pair on this site is checked against its contrast contract on every build, and we set the same gate up for you.
WordPress themes and patterns
Block-editor themes and patterns your editors can use without breaking the standard — the accessible design carried into the tool your content team lives in. See WordPress development.
Illustration
Original, hand-drawn illustration for landing pages, characters and icons — a warmth stock imagery cannot give, with alternative text written by the person who drew it. See illustration.
Accessible documents
InDesign layouts that become tagged, structured PDFs — the same design discipline carried into print and documents. See accessible PDF and document remediation.
Research with the people who use it
User research and testing with real users, including people who rely on screen readers, magnification and keyboards — because a design that only works for the designer is not finished.
How a design engagement runs
Research
Your audiences, your brand, your content as it actually is, and your accessibility obligation — before touching a pixel.
Concept, in the browser
Direction explored on real content and real devices, with alternatives you can compare rather than a single reveal.
Refine and verify
Iterations with your team; contrast, focus, touch targets and reading order verified as we go, not audited at the end.
Deliver
Tokens, components, patterns and documentation — production-ready, in a repository you own. No vendor lock-in.
Who this is for
Public-sector and broader public-sector bodies
Ministries, agencies, hospitals and institutions with an accessibility obligation and a content team that is not a design team. We are an Ontario Vendor of Record.
Healthcare, research and education
Organizations whose sites carry clinical tools, research and course material, where structure carries meaning and the audience includes everyone.
Businesses whose site has to sell
Companies that need the site to look like the organization they are, work on every phone, and convert — without an accessibility complaint the week after launch.
In our clients' words
We were fortunate to work with Cantan Group (and Imran) to develop our annual report (in English and French). The process was extremely collaborative throughout and we truly appreciated the opportunity to work together to create an excellent final product. This report is intended to tell the story and impact of our organization and we couldn't have done that without the support and expertise of Imran and team. Would definitely work with them again!
Drew Maginn
Cantan Group was a pleasure to work with for my organization's new integrated CRM system. I worked closely with the designers on the system UI and app branding. I was very impressed with their level of skill and professionalism. Our users love the simplicity and ease of the new system and the logo was a hit.
Rabia Hamid
Imran from Cantan Group was a pleasure to work with in building our WordPress website. He was always responsive to issues and project needs, demonstrating deep knowledge by diving into the code and providing customizations to optimize our site. He was also consistently available for meetings, even on short notice, and remained professional throughout. Thank you, Cantan Group!
In the browser, on your real content, from the first concept. Static mock-ups promise a layout the real headline breaks; a browser design is the thing itself — responsive, accessible and testable from day one. We use design tools for exploration and illustration, not for the deliverable.
Can an accessible site be beautiful?
This one is. Accessibility constrains a handful of decisions — contrast, size, focus, motion — and leaves the rest to taste and craft. The sites that look compliant rather than designed were built by people who met the standard at the end instead of designing with it from the start.
Do you design for WordPress?
Yes, and we build what we design: block-editor themes, custom blocks and patterns, so the design survives the editors. The same team does the WordPress development, which is why the two never drift.
How is web design priced?
A fixed fee for a scoped design after research, with the number of templates and components as the main variable, and a design-and-build fee when we take it through to a live site. We would rather quote a smaller scope you can extend than a large one you have to trust.
Do you do branding and illustration?
Identity work when it accompanies a site, and original illustration in-house — landing pages, characters, icons. For HEQCO we developed the brand identity, a custom illustration style and the website together.
What do we own at the end?
Everything: the tokens, the components, the patterns, the source files and the documentation, in a repository under your name. If you leave us, you leave with the design.