This App Is Making Online Dating Better For People With Disabilities

For better or worse, online dating is all about putting on an act. You hand-pick your photos and traits to balance what best represents you and how you want to present yourself to the Tinder-verse. However, for new dating app, Glimmer, it's all about honesty — especially when it comes to disabilities. "A lot of dating and social apps can be misleading or exclusive," the website reads. "Glimmer was designed to promote transparency between users and be welcoming to all people." BuzzFeed reports that the app, currently available for both Android and iPhone, was launched in January 2017 by Geoffrey Anderson. Anderson was inspired to create the app after working with people with disabilities and watching his disabled brother struggle with traditional dating apps like Tinder. "Their biggest omission has always been their disability," he tells BuzzFeed. "They are ashamed of it, worried that it will automatically disqualify them from the dating pool." When it comes to Glimmer, everything is out on the table. The app immediately gives you the option to select and display your disability, something other apps have neglected. You don't have to disclose your disability, just as you don't have to be disabled to use the app. Instead, the app wants to brand itself as an open, inclusive space for all people, both on the app and behind it. "After operating costs, we plan to donate a percentage of all revenue to charities and foundations that share the same values we do," Anderson tells BuzzFeed. "As we expand, we also plan to make it a mandate to hire individuals with disabilities to join our team. Our mission at Glimmer is to become a leading example for disability inclusion in technology and elsewhere."