Accessibility Statement

We target the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA for this website. We have not commissioned an independent audit, so this is a statement of intent and current practice rather than a certification of conformance.

• Semantic headings and landmarks on every page, with one H1 per page.
• Full keyboard operation: navigation, filters, search, forms and the command palette.
• Visible focus styling on interactive elements.
• Text alternatives for meaningful images; decorative graphics are hidden from assistive technology.
• Content that reflows to a single column on narrow viewports without horizontal scrolling.
• Forms with associated labels and text-based error messages, not colour alone.

We aim to provide live captioning on the main stage and to publish transcripts alongside every recorded session in the on-demand library. Where a session includes charts or slides, presenters are briefed to describe what the visual shows rather than pointing at it.

Requests for additional support — sign language interpretation, a dedicated captioning stream, materials in advance, or extra time in networking rotations — should reach us at least fourteen days before the event so we can arrange provision.

• The dark, high-contrast gold palette is deliberate; some small metadata text sits close to the minimum contrast ratio and is being reviewed.
• Entrance animations respect the reduced-motion setting in your operating system, but a few decorative background effects remain constant.
• Historical Magazine and Academy content has not been re-audited line by line for reading level or abbreviation expansion.
• Live captioning quality depends on the broadcast provider and cannot be guaranteed to be error-free.

Accessibility work here is manual rather than automated-only. Before a page ships we check it with the keyboard alone, tab order first, then with the browser zoomed to 200% and with text spacing increased, and finally with a screen reader reading the page top to bottom to confirm the heading outline makes sense out of context.

• Keyboard-only operation in current versions of Chrome, Firefox and Safari.
• Screen reader passes using VoiceOver on macOS and iOS, and NVDA on Windows.
• Zoom to 200% and 400% reflow checks at common mobile and desktop widths.
• Forced-colours and high-contrast mode checks on Windows.
• Reduced-motion checks with the operating system preference enabled.

We do not claim coverage of every browser, screen reader and version combination. Where a combination is untested and something breaks for you, that is a gap we want reported rather than one we would have caught.

The site is built to work with the current and previous major version of mainstream browsers, with JavaScript enabled. Core reading content — articles, lesson text, the programme and the legal pages — is rendered on the server, so it remains readable if scripts fail to load, though interactive features such as filters, the command palette and Academy progress tracking will not function in that state.

Academy progress, quiz answers and form drafts are stored in your own browser's local storage. If you block storage, use private browsing, or clear site data, progress will not persist. No account is required to read any lesson, so blocking storage limits convenience rather than access to content.

Where information is conveyed by a chart, a table or a diagram, we provide the same information in text. The live prices page presents figures in a data table with row and column headers rather than as an image, conversions are given numerically, and the source and update frequency are stated in text next to the values.

If you need a specific page, lesson or article in another format — plain text, large print, or a structured document for a reading tool — ask and we will produce it. There is no charge and no eligibility test for this.

Academy lessons are long-form text by design, with no reliance on video for the core teaching content, so the material is fully available to screen reader and braille display users. Comprehension checks are standard form controls with labelled options, keyboard operable, and results announced as text rather than signalled by colour alone.

Progress indicators expose their state in text as well as visually, so "3 of 8 lessons complete" is readable without interpreting a bar. Completion marks are on-screen only and are not accredited qualifications.

Some functionality depends on services we do not control. Market price data is retrieved from a third-party feed, and the live event will be delivered through a streaming provider that has not yet been selected. We cannot guarantee the accessibility of a third party's player interface, but accessibility is part of our selection criteria for the streaming and registration platforms, and we will publish what those providers support once they are engaged.

Email hello@thegoldcongress.com with the page or session, what you were trying to do, and the assistive technology and browser you use. We acknowledge accessibility reports within two working days and treat blocking issues as priority fixes.

Where a fix will take longer than that, we will tell you what the interim workaround is rather than leaving the report open without explanation. If our response does not resolve the problem, you may escalate to the enforcement body for accessibility in your jurisdiction; we will provide the operator details you need for that on request.

We review this statement whenever a significant feature ships, and at minimum once per event cycle. Fixed limitations are removed from the list above rather than quietly left in place, and newly discovered ones are added even when we do not yet have a fix.

This statement was prepared by self-assessment. If and when an independent audit is commissioned, we will publish the auditor, the scope and the date here, and we will not describe the site as conformant before that happens.