Accessibility
An app made of text should be the easiest kind to use. That's an obligation, not a boast.
Last updated: 23 September 2026
Most dating apps are a wall of images. Without. is a wall of sentences - which means a screen reader can, in principle, read it out perfectly. We take that seriously: for some people the photo-first standard isn't shallow, it's simply unusable.
Where we're aiming
We target WCAG 2.2 Level AA for the website and the app. We're not claiming we've fully met it - see the honest list below.
What works today
- Semantic, text-first markup. Profiles are real text, not pictures of text, so they can be read aloud, resized, restyled or translated.
- Full keyboard use. Swiping has keyboard equivalents - you never have to make a gesture to like, pass, or undo.
- Respects your system. Dark mode, text scaling and reduced-motion settings are inherited from your device rather than fought.
- Contrast. Every text colour is measured against AA (4.5:1) on every background it actually sits on, in both themes. The lowest ratio anywhere is 4.5:1; most body text is 5.5:1 or better. This was not true until recently - our secondary grey was 2.2:1, which is unreadable, and we'd said otherwise on this page. It's fixed, and the numbers are checked rather than assumed.
- No timed decisions. Nothing expires while you read. There is no 24-hour countdown on a conversation.
- No flashing. No autoplaying video, no strobing, no content that moves without your input.
What doesn't work yet
Listing these is more useful to you than a badge claiming perfection.
- Voice intros have no transcript. If you're deaf or hard of hearing, a voice intro is currently closed to you. This is the gap we're least comfortable with and the next one we're closing - automatic transcription, with the speaker able to correct it.
- The liveness check needs sight and movement. Verification asks you to turn your head, blink or smile on camera. That excludes some people from a verified badge. Verification is optional and you can use everything without it, but "optional" is not the same as "equitable", and we know it.
- The map filter is visual. Choosing a radius on a map is hard without sight. The city and distance fields work on their own - the map is an addition, never the only route.
- Screen-reader testing is not yet exhaustive. We test with VoiceOver and NVDA on the main flows. We have not tested every corner.
The photo reveal, and what it means here
Photos only ever appear by mutual consent. If images aren't useful to you, nothing about Without. breaks - the entire product works without a single one ever being shown. You are not opting out of a core feature; you are using the app exactly as designed.
Tell us when we're wrong
If any part of Without. is unusable for you, email [email protected]. Tell us the screen, your device and the assistive technology you use. We aim to reply within five working days, and we'll tell you honestly whether it's a quick fix or a long one.
If you'd rather not email, [email protected] reaches the same people.
Formal complaints
If we haven't resolved something, you can escalate to the relevant body in your country - in the EU under national implementations of the European Accessibility Act, in the UK to the Equality Advisory and Support Service, and in the US under the ADA. We'd much rather you told us first and gave us the chance to fix it.
This statement describes our current state honestly, including what falls short. It is not a claim of full conformance.