Dateability: The First Dating App for Chronically Ill and Disabled Singles

The Short Version: The online dating world still has a way to go before it's truly inclusive and as accessible as it could be. Dateability, a fairly recent arrival among dating apps, is pushing the industry toward real change. Sisters Jacqueline and Alexa Child founded it as the first dating app built for people living with chronic illnesses and disabilities. The two walked us through how Dateability got started and explored its wide range of features. They also explained what accessibility and inclusivity mean for digital dating and why they care so deeply about the app's mission of taking on ableism.

People often describe dating apps as a level playing field. On paper, anyone who has a phone and an internet connection can install one, sign up, and eventually land matches worth getting excited about. Anyone who has actually used a dating app or site knows it's not that simple.

The prejudices and biases that shape every kind of social interaction follow people online, too, and online dating is far less accessible and fair than it could and should be. Plenty of communities and groups have been left out of the online dating world as it stands, but people within those communities are putting in the work to change that.

Jacqueline Child and Alexa, her sister, are among those trailblazers. Together they co-founded Dateability and serve as its co-CEOs; it's the first dating app ever made for singles who live with chronic illnesses and disabilities. The sisters, Jacqueline and Alexa, shared the story of how Dateability came to be and what they want it to offer disabled singles.

“As a disabled woman, I experienced a lot of discrimination and ableism on the mainstream apps,” Jacqueline said. “People would ghost me or be blatantly discriminating and say awful things. And this went on for years before I figured there has to be a better way to date for people with disabilities.”

Alexa & Jacqueline Spotted a Major Gap in Dating

Jacqueline came away disappointed when she searched for a better way to date online. “I had Googled disabled dating apps because I figured there had to be one out there,” she said. “And there never was anything.”

In October 2021, Jacqueline had a medical procedure, and she said that was when she got serious about building an app for daters with disabilities. “When I had to get this life-changing procedure, I was really scared of how that would affect my dating life even more,” she said. “Alexa suggested that we make our own dating app if there wasn’t one already.”

Alexa and Jacqueline built a better way for singles with disabilities to date online.

According to Jacqueline, she and Alexa may have made the call on impulse, but before long they were stunned by how much the community needed it. “We didn’t know just how many people were affected by the discrimination in the dating space,” Jacqueline said. “But we learned pretty quick.”

Dateability grew out of Jacqueline's hope that dating could feel better, both for her and for other people with disabilities. Protecting users from harassment, ableism, and offensive language is the least an app should do, so she wanted Dateability's features to reach well past that basic level of safety.

“Accessibility is a big part of what we do,” Jacqueline said. “Creating an accessible space, both in terms of inclusivity with the culture and with the technology, has been important to us from the beginning.” Alexa said that in the year and a half since launch, Dateability has drawn nearly 20,000 users.

Dateability Fosters Meaningful Connections

Accessibility has been thought through in every part of Dateability. “Starting with the profile verification feature, we spent hours thinking of accessible poses,” Jacqueline told us. “Also, we thought of ways that users could verify if none of our poses were accessible.”

Jacqueline continued, “That’s the thing about accessibility. It’s absolutely not a one-size-fits-all deal. We’re always adjusting and creating new features because we really want everyone to be able to use it.” 

With Dateability, online dating is simple.

Dateability is open to people whose disabilities are physical, intellectual, or psychiatric, and able-bodied people can join as well. The app welcomes daters from many backgrounds and identities and sets out to celebrate what makes each user different. LGBTQ+ singles are welcome, too, and Dateability's features are built to suit a range of orientations and identities.

Users can fill their Dateability profiles with details about their physical traits, political leanings, hobbies, education, and the other basics you'd expect on a dating app. There's also a section called “Dateability Deets,” where members can describe their disability if they'd like.

Just like on other dating apps, members can browse profiles, match with people, and get to know each other over chat. Although Dateability hasn't even been around for two years, Alexa said the team is already hearing success stories and learning of happy couples who met on the app.

Making Digital Dating Accessible

As dating apps go, Dateability is still young, and though that brings challenges, Jacqueline and Alexa agreed it also has a real advantage. As the user base expands, they keep meeting new needs, and they can act on requests for easier feature access as soon as those come in.

The team behind Dateability built it for disabled singles, and they understand how much it matters that communities have places to date without running into ableism. Its accessible features help make it a leading choice for disabled daters, but accessibility shouldn't be limited to apps built for disabled users.

Dateability is pushing to make accessibility the norm.

Something is accessible when a person with a disability gets the same chance to engage with it as a person without one. Put more simply, an accessible thing was designed with everyone in mind rather than a small slice of the population. Accessibility is a right, not a luxury.

“We’re really trying to break those stigmas and stereotypes,” Jacqueline said. “For years, the world was telling me I was unlovable or unworthy, and it really took a long time for me to break that and turn a corner. It took so long to feel confident in myself and not be ashamed. We’ve seen the best of people on Dateability, and it’s really beautiful.”