Accessibility Statement

ChefSphere is committed to making its digital products usable by the widest possible audience, including people with disabilities. This Accessibility Statement is published under Directive (EU) 2019/882 — the European Accessibility Act ("EAA"), which has applied to consumer-facing digital services offered in the EU since 28 June 2025 — and the Estonian implementing act transposing the EAA. It covers all parts of the Service operated by ChefSphere OÜ (Estonian registry code 17470129): the ChefSphere website at https://chefsphere.app/legal, the ChefSphere iOS and Android applications, the Ebook Marketplace, and the Tools Marketplace.

1. Scope

This statement applies to the following digital channels:

• Web application — the ChefSphere web app served from chefsphere.app and its authenticated sub-paths.
• Mobile applications — ChefSphere for iOS (App Store identifier app.chefsphere.chefsphere) and for Android (package app.chefsphere.chefsphere).
• Ebook reader — the in-app EPUB reader used for buyer-licensed ebooks purchased in the Ebook Marketplace.
• Account and support flows — sign-up, sign-in, account settings, payment and refund flows, subscription management, and support requests.

This statement does not cover third-party websites that the Service links to (for example a seller's external URL shared in a tool listing), or user-generated content published by other users — accessibility of that content is the responsibility of its author, and the reporting path in Section 9 can be used to flag content that is not accessible.

2. Standards we apply

We apply the following recognised technical standards:

• EN 301 549 V3.2.1 — the European harmonised standard for accessibility of ICT products and services, which the EAA presumes conforms with its functional-performance criteria.
• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA — as referenced by EN 301 549 Clause 9 (Web content) and Clause 11 (Software).
• Apple Human Interface Guidelines — Accessibility and Android Accessibility Developer Guidelines for the corresponding native platforms, including VoiceOver, TalkBack, Dynamic Type, and Switch Control support.

3. Conformance status

The ChefSphere Service is partially conformant with WCAG 2.2 AA and EN 301 549. "Partially conformant" means that some parts of the content do not yet fully conform with the applicable standard. We describe the known non-conformances in Section 4 and the planned remediation timeline in Section 5.

Conformance is evaluated against the four WCAG principles (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust) and against the additional functional-performance criteria in EN 301 549 Clause 4.

4. Known non-conformances

The following accessibility limitations are currently known. They are tracked in our internal accessibility register and assigned to engineering or content owners.

Content generated by users

• Some user-submitted recipe photos, ebook cover images, and tool listing photos do not include alternative text, because the author did not provide a description. We require photo uploaders to provide alt text for new uploads since the effective date of this policy (2026-04-23), and we backfill missing alt text on a best-effort basis using human review (AI-assisted labels are reviewed before publication).
• Some user-submitted ebooks may contain images without alt attributes, unlabelled table-of-contents entries, or non-linear reading orders. The author is contractually responsible for providing EAA-conformant metadata (see the Author Agreement, §Accessibility warranty), and the Ebook Marketplace flags any report of a non-conformant ebook for re-upload.

Rich media

• Short video tutorials (Chef Lives replays) do not always carry synchronised captions. Live streams are not captioned in real time. We are rolling out automatic captions with human review, targeted for general availability in Q3 2026.
• Some infographics still rely on colour alone to convey state (for example a green "match" chip). A text alternative (the word "match") is always present as accessible name, but the colour contrast of certain chips is below the 4.5:1 threshold at some Dynamic Type sizes and is tracked for fix.

Interactive components

• The advanced ingredient-filter on the meal-planner page uses a custom combobox that is fully keyboard-accessible but occasionally returns inconsistent state to screen readers when results change while typing. A refactor to use ARIA 1.2 combobox pattern is underway.
• A small number of admin-only pages (not user-facing) have been deprioritised for AA-level remediation, because they are used only by ChefSphere staff with individual accommodations.

If you encounter a non-conformance that is not listed above, please use the reporting path in Section 9.

5. Remediation plan

We publish and maintain an accessibility remediation roadmap. The current commitments are:

• Quarterly internal audit of the top-20 user-journeys against WCAG 2.2 AA, with regressions fixed in the following release.
• Pre-release checks for new user-facing screens, using automated tooling plus manual keyboard and screen-reader review.
• Third-party independent audit at least every 24 months, first full audit scheduled by 31 December 2026.
• Non-conformances disclosed in Section 4 are tracked with a target completion date in the internal register and are re-stated in the next version of this statement.

6. Assistive technologies we test against

We routinely test with the following assistive technologies:

• Screen readers: VoiceOver (iOS, macOS), TalkBack (Android), NVDA (Windows), JAWS (Windows).
• Magnification: iOS Zoom, Android Magnification, browser-level zoom up to 400% without loss of content or functionality.
• Voice control: Voice Control (iOS), Voice Access (Android).
• Switch input: Switch Control (iOS), Switch Access (Android).
• Colour and contrast: Increase Contrast and Smart Invert (iOS), High Contrast (Android), system-level font scaling.

7. Features you can use

The Service exposes the following accessibility features:

• System-level text scaling. Dynamic Type on iOS and Font Size on Android are honoured throughout the app. You can scale text up to the OS maximum; layouts reflow without truncation.
• Keyboard navigation. Every interactive element on the web is reachable and operable with the Tab, Shift+Tab, Enter, Space, and arrow keys. A visible focus indicator is always rendered.
• Reduced motion. If your OS has "Reduce Motion" enabled, we suppress parallax, decorative animations, and large transitions. Essential feedback animations remain.
• Colour themes. Light, Dark, and high-contrast Chef themes are selectable. All themes meet WCAG contrast thresholds for body text and essential UI.
• Captions and transcripts. Any pre-recorded tutorial video that we produce ships with captions in the five Service languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Arabic). User-generated videos carry captions when the uploader provided them.
• Ebook reader. The reader supports adjustable font size, line spacing, column width, serif/sans toggle, and a dyslexia-friendly font. VoiceOver and TalkBack read linearised text with headings and landmarks exposed.

8. Content you can request in an accessible format

Under EAA Art. 2(2)(e) and Annex I Section III, you can ask us to provide certain information in an accessible format of your choice. You can request:

• Alternative text for any image on the Service that you cannot access.
• A transcript of any pre-recorded video on the Service.
• A plain-text or tagged-PDF version of this Accessibility Statement, the Terms of Service, the Privacy Policy, or any other document published at https://chefsphere.app/legal.

Send your request to [email protected] with the subject line "Accessible format request". We will acknowledge within 5 business days and deliver the accessible format within 30 calendar days, free of charge.

9. Reporting an accessibility barrier

If you cannot access some part of the Service because of a disability, tell us. We want to know and we will fix what we can.

1. Email [email protected] with the subject line "Accessibility feedback".
2. Include the URL of the page or the name of the mobile screen, the assistive technology you are using, the issue you encountered, and — if you are comfortable — a screenshot or screen-reader recording.
3. We acknowledge your report within 5 business days, propose a timeline for a fix or a workaround within 30 calendar days, and notify you when the fix ships.

You can report a barrier in English, Spanish, French, German, or Arabic.

10. Enforcement and your right to complain

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the competent Estonian market-surveillance authority for services under the EAA — the Consumer Protection and Technical Regulatory Authority (Tarbijakaitse ja Tehnilise Järelevalve Amet, TTJA):

• Website: https://ttja.ee
• Contact: [email protected]

You retain any additional remedies available to you under Estonian or EU consumer, equality, or disability-rights law.

11. Preparation of this statement

This statement was last substantively reviewed on 2026-04-23 (statement version 1.8.0). It was prepared using a combination of:

• Self-evaluation against EN 301 549 V3.2.1 and WCAG 2.2 AA by our internal accessibility owner.
• Automated testing with axe-core and Accessibility Insights for Web across the top-20 user journeys.
• Manual keyboard and screen-reader testing with VoiceOver and TalkBack by two reviewers.

The next scheduled review is 31 December 2026, or sooner if a material change to the Service would alter its conformance.

12. Contact

• Accessibility support: [email protected]
• Legal questions about this statement: [email protected]
• Postal address: ChefSphere OÜ, c/o E-Residency Hub OÜ, Ahtri tn 12, 10151 Tallinn, Harju maakond, Estonia

— ChefSphere OÜ · 2026-04-23 · version 1.8.0