If you're new to IRC, a good start would be clicking here: Hackint's IRC web chat gateway.
Choose a unique nickname (preferably one that we can associate with you if we've met you before), satisfy the captcha, and connect. Please be patient when you ask your first set of questions - people on the other side are not always staring at the chat waiting for someone new to ask something.
When you're more comfortable with IRC and want to use it more frequently, you should explore other IRC client software such as IRCCloud, Pidgin, weechat, ircii, irssi, BitchX, Adium, and more. Feel free to ask for IRC client software recommendations in the chat channel - everyone has their own preferences and perspective.
Hackint has a good guide for connecting with a client.
Channel bots will only be allowed at the discretion of the admins and channel members.
This page has been shamelessly borrowed from London Hackspace