Disability Etiquette

A set of conventions for respectful and appropriate interaction with disabled people, typically taught to non-disabled colleagues, service staff, students, and healthcare providers. Common principles include speaking directly to the disabled person (not their interpreter or companion), asking before offering help, not leaning on a wheelchair, identifying yourself when approaching a blind person, facing a Deaf person when speaking so lip-reading is possible, and following the person’s language preference (identity-first vs person-first). Disability etiquette is often flagged in accessibility education research as a gap in computing curricula: students report being comfortable with technical accessibility requirements but uncomfortable interacting with disabled users during user testing, which undermines user-centred design.