Disability dongle

A well-intentioned but impractical accessibility invention, typically created by non-disabled people, that fails to address the actual needs of disabled users. The term, coined by disability advocate Liz Jackson, critiques technologies designed without meaningful input from disabled communities — often as student projects, hackathon entries, or startup products — that receive media attention and praise despite being impractical, redundant, or even harmful. Common examples include "smart" gloves that supposedly translate sign language or stair-climbing wheelchairs that ignore the need for ramps. The concept highlights the importance of centering disabled expertise in accessibility technology design and the problems that arise when innovation is driven by ableist assumptions rather than lived experience.