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Accessibility statement

The International Research Institute is committed to making its research accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of ability or technology.

This statement applies to the website at internationalresearchinstitute.org. It was prepared on 5 February 2026 and last reviewed on 3 June 2026 using a combination of self-assessment and independent testing.

Our commitment

We treat accessibility as part of methodological quality, not an afterthought. Independent research is only useful if people can actually read and use it, so we design the site to be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust for readers who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, magnification, speech input or reduced motion.

Conformance status

The site is designed and built to conform to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at Level AA. “Conforms” means the standard is met in full; the site is currently partially conformant, which means most content meets the standard while the limited exceptions noted below are being addressed.

What we do to support accessibility

  • semantic, well-ordered HTML with one h1 per page and no skipped heading levels;
  • a “skip to content” link as the first focusable element, and a main landmark that receives focus;
  • every control is a real link or button — no clickable divs — reachable and operable by keyboard alone;
  • a clearly visible :focus-visible indicator on every interactive element, tuned for light, dark and photographic surfaces;
  • text and interface colours checked to meet or exceed the AA contrast ratios, including our coral action colour paired with ink text;
  • interactive targets of at least 24 by 24 pixels, satisfying WCAG 2.2 success criterion 2.5.8 (Target Size);
  • generous scroll offsets so a target is never hidden behind the sticky header, in line with 2.4.11 (Focus Not Obscured);
  • respect for the “reduced motion” setting: entrance animations never leave content invisible, and above-the-fold headings paint immediately;
  • descriptive alt text for meaningful images and hidden decoration for purely visual glyphs;
  • forms with real labels, described-by hints and a live status region for validation and confirmation messages.

How we tested the site

Accessibility is assessed as part of our build and review process, combining automated and manual methods:

  • automated audits with axe-core and Lighthouse across key templates;
  • manual keyboard-only testing of every interactive component, including the navigation, search and mobile menu;
  • screen-reader testing with NVDA and Firefox on Windows and VoiceOver with Safari on macOS and iOS;
  • checks at 200% and 400% zoom, and with browser text-spacing overrides applied.

Compatibility

The site is built to work with recent versions of Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari on desktop and mobile, together with the assistive technologies listed above. It may not work fully with browsers or tools more than a few versions old.

Technical specifications

Accessibility relies on the following technologies working with your browser and any assistive technology: HTML, CSS, WAI-ARIA and JavaScript. Where JavaScript is unavailable, core content and navigation remain readable because they are server-rendered.

Known limitations

Despite our efforts, some content may not yet be fully accessible. We are aware of the following and are working to resolve each:

  • some older downloadable reports (PDFs published before 2023) may not be fully tagged for screen readers; we can supply an accessible version on request;
  • a small number of embedded third-party charts and data visualisations may not expose every value to assistive technology; the underlying data is available as a table or dataset;
  • archived event recordings may lack full captions or transcripts, which we provide on request.

Feedback and contact

If you find a barrier, need content in an alternative format, or want to tell us how we could do better, please let us know. Email accessibility@internationalresearchinstitute.org or use our contact page. Tell us the page, the problem and the technology you were using, and we will aim to respond within five working days.

Enforcement and next steps

We treat accessibility feedback as a priority and will offer a reasonable alternative where a fix is not immediate. If you contact us and are not satisfied with our response, you may escalate the matter to the relevant accessibility regulator or equality body in your jurisdiction.

This statement will be updated as the site changes and as we close the limitations above. It sits alongside our privacy notice and terms of use.