Accessibility Statement

1. Our commitment

This statement applies to the website at chat-now.uk and to the ChatNow chat application reached from it: public rooms, private messages, profiles, photo sharing, voice notes and live webcam. It is published by Skyline Online LLC, the operator of ChatNow (see Company information & legal notice).

We want every adult who passes our age check to be able to read, write, listen and take part on equal terms, whatever assistive technology they use. Accessibility is treated as a product requirement, not an add-on: new features are checked against the standard below before release, and accessibility defects are triaged alongside security and safety defects.

2. The standard we work to

We design, build and test ChatNow against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at level AA.

As a private-sector service provider, our legal duty comes from the Equality Act 2010. Section 29 prohibits discrimination against disabled people in the provision of services, and section 20 together with Schedule 2 imposes an anticipatory duty: we must think in advance about the barriers disabled people are likely to meet and take reasonable steps to remove them, rather than wait to be asked. The Equality and Human Rights Commission's Services Code of Practice, chapter 11, is the guidance we follow when deciding what is reasonable.

Our position at the date of this statement is that ChatNow is partially conformant with WCAG 2.2 level AA: most content and functions meet the standard; the exceptions are listed in section 4. We say "partially" because a live, user-generated, real-time service cannot honestly claim full conformance for content that other users create.

3. What works

• Keyboard navigation. Every control on the site and in the chat (room list, message box, send button, report and block buttons, settings, cookie settings) can be reached and operated with a keyboard alone. Focus is visible and follows a logical order; there are no keyboard traps, and a "skip to content" link is the first focusable element on each page.
• Screen-reader semantics. Pages use landmarks (banner, navigation, main, contentinfo), a single H1 and ordered headings, labelled form fields, and buttons with accessible names. Icons that carry meaning have text alternatives; decorative icons are hidden from assistive technology.
• Announcements of new messages. The message list is an aria-live region set to "polite", so screen readers announce new messages without interrupting what you are typing. Mentions of your username and private messages use a distinct announcement so you can tell them apart.
• Colour contrast. Text and interactive components meet a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against their background (3:1 for large text and graphical controls). Colour is never the only way information is conveyed: online status, unread counts and errors also use text or icons.
• Text resizing and reflow. The site and chat remain usable at 200% browser zoom and at a viewport width of 320 CSS pixels without loss of content or horizontal scrolling. Text spacing overrides are respected.
• Motion and time limits. Nothing flashes more than three times a second. Animations respect the operating-system "reduce motion" setting. Session time-outs warn you before they expire and can be extended.
• Captions. ChatNow publishes no pre-recorded video or audio of its own, so the caption and audio-description criteria for pre-recorded media do not arise. Live webcam is addressed in section 4.

4. Known limitations

We know of the following barriers. Where a work-around exists we describe it; where the limitation is inherent to the feature we say so.

• Live webcam has no live captions or transcription. Webcam streams are real-time connections between users and are not recorded by ChatNow, so we cannot add captions after the fact, and we do not run live speech-to-text on them. Text chat remains available alongside every webcam conversation, and you can ask the other person to type. (WCAG 1.2.4, level AA.)
• Voice notes have no transcript. Voice notes are short audio clips recorded by other users. We do not transcribe them. The sender can be asked to repeat the content as text, and voice notes can be turned off in your settings so that you receive text only. (WCAG 1.2.1.)
• User-uploaded images have no alt text. Photos in messages and profile galleries are supplied by users, and we do not require a text description when they are uploaded. Screen readers will announce them as "image shared by [username]" only. (WCAG 1.1.1.)
• Some third-party age-check flows. The age check is run by an independent provider, AgeVerif, and some of its methods (in particular facial age estimation, which needs a working camera and a live face) are not usable by everyone. Document, credit-card and digital-wallet methods are always offered as alternatives, and the provider's screens are outside our direct control. If none of the methods works for you, see section 6.
• Fast-moving rooms. In busy public rooms new messages arrive quickly. Screen-reader users may find the announcement rate hard to follow. You can pause automatic scrolling, mute individual users, or move to a quieter room or a private conversation.

We do not list these limitations to excuse them. Each one is recorded in our accessibility backlog and is reviewed at least every six months against what is technically and financially reasonable for a free service of our size.

5. Alternative formats and reporting a problem

If you need any of our legal or help pages in an alternative format (for example large print, plain-text email, or a format that works with your particular assistive technology), or if you find a page or function that you cannot use, contact us:

• Email: contact@chatnow.fr (subject line "Accessibility").
• Web form: chatnow.fr/en/contact.
• Post: Skyline Online LLC, 1209 Mountain Road Place NE, Ste N, Albuquerque, NM 87110, USA.

Tell us the page or feature, what you were trying to do, the browser and assistive technology you use, and what happened. We acknowledge every accessibility request and respond substantively within 5 working days. Alternative formats of our published documents are provided free of charge.

6. Reasonable adjustments

Beyond the built-in features in section 3, we make individual adjustments where a disability means the standard service does not work for you. Examples of adjustments we provide on request:

• Guidance by email on completing the age check with a method suited to your needs, and confirmation that a document-based or credit-card method is available where facial estimation is not usable for you.
• Longer time-outs on forms and on the age-check session for users who need more time.
• Assistance by email with account settings, reports, complaints or data-rights requests where the in-app flow is not accessible to you. The same time limits apply to a request made this way as to one made in the app.
• Plain-text versions of moderation notices and complaint outcomes.

Asking for an adjustment never affects your access to the service or the way your account is moderated. We do not ask for medical evidence; we ask only what we need to make the adjustment work.

7. How this statement was prepared

This statement was prepared on 22 September 2026 following a self-assessment carried out by the ChatNow product team. The assessment covered a representative sample of the site (home page, legal and help pages, guest entry, registration, cookie settings) and of the chat application (room list, public room, private conversation, profile, photo upload, voice note, webcam request, report and block flows, settings). It combined automated checks with manual testing using keyboard-only navigation, a desktop screen reader, a mobile screen reader, 200% zoom and high-contrast mode.

The assessment was not carried out by an external auditor. We say this plainly because an overstated statement would be worse than none. Findings and fixes are recorded in our internal accessibility register, and this page is corrected whenever a limitation listed above is removed or a new one is found.

8. If you are not satisfied

If you have contacted us about an accessibility barrier and are unhappy with our response, you can use our general complaints procedure. If that does not resolve the matter, the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) gives free advice to people in England, Scotland and Wales on discrimination and the Equality Act 2010, including how to raise a complaint and what remedies are available. Telephone 0808 800 0082, textphone 0808 800 0084. In Northern Ireland, the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland performs the same role. Nothing on this page limits your right to bring a claim under the Equality Act 2010.

9. Review of this statement

This statement was last reviewed on 22 September 2026 and is reviewed at least once every twelve months, and sooner after any significant change to the site or the chat application. The next scheduled review is due by 22 September 2027. Changes are recorded in the Legal Documents Version History.