Dramaturgical framework

A sociological framework developed by Erving Goffman in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1956) that analyses social interaction as a theatrical performance. The framework distinguishes between the frontstage (the public performance where people present a desired impression to others), the backstage (the private space where people prepare, rehearse, and drop their public persona), and roles (the social identities people adopt in different contexts). In accessibility research, the dramaturgical lens reveals how disabled and older people manage self-presentation in technology-mediated settings — the invisible labour of preparing to use a platform, the anxiety of visible technological struggles being interpreted as incompetence, and the way inaccessible design forces users into diminished social roles. The framework is valuable for understanding that accessibility barriers are not only functional but also social and emotional, affecting identity and dignity.