Leadership of the Most Affected

A core principle of disability-justice organising that positions people most directly affected by a problem — those with the most at stake and the most lived expertise — as the leaders of work aimed at solving it, rather than as consultants, testers, or recipients of others' solutions. In accessibility research and practice, 'leadership of the most affected' translates into disabled people leading projects, chairing committees, setting research agendas, and holding budget authority, not just participating in workshops. The principle originates in disability-justice thought (Sins Invalid, Mia Mingus, Patty Berne) and is increasingly invoked in HCI critiques of tokenistic participation.