Designing an accessible alternative to dating apps for disabled people

People with a disability often face greater challenges in dating and finding a partner than those without disabilities. Our goal is to create a dating app that is accessible for people with disabilities. By doing so, we aim to reduce the loneliness and isolation often experienced by this group. We propose an interface in accordance with the AccessGuide and W3C guidelines, based on the needs of four groups of impairments, namely visual, physical, neurological/cognitive and auditory. Recommendation systems are crucial for online dating services, as they help users narrow down their choices and find quality matches. Therefore, we propose our own adaptation of the RECON algorithm with negative preferences, a reciprocal content-based filtering approach for providing match recommendations to the users optimised to avoid rejection. A multi- method evaluation is devised to measure the accessibility of the application. The app would be evaluated using a mock-up with a focus group, where participants are monitored during the completion of disability-specific navigational tasks. The feedback from the focus group will be used to alter the app so that it is more user friendly. The speed and efficiency measurements will also be used to improve the app. We propose to use a questionnaire with closed questions to evaluate the usability and user satisfaction of the app.