Glossary

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Ability Heuristics

A set of nine accessibility-focused design heuristics — Adaptability, Equitable Experience, Flexible Task Completion, Efficiency and Effectiveness of User Action, Multiple Modalities, Understandable Messages, Ease of Adoption, Ability Data Transparency, and Help, Support, and…

Accessible Design Methods(also: Inclusive Design Methods)

Design research methodologies that have been adapted or created to enable participation by people with disabilities, ensuring they can contribute as active co-creators rather than passive subjects. Traditional design methods like sketching, storyboarding, card sorting, and…

Accessible Prototyping(also: Inclusive Prototyping)

The practice of adapting prototyping methods and materials to enable participation by people with disabilities, particularly in early-stage design activities. Accessible prototyping goes beyond simply providing alternative materials—it requires holistic adaptation of the entire…

Affinity Diagram(also: Affinity Diagramming, KJ Method)

A collaborative analysis method where team members organise large amounts of data — such as user research findings, design ideas, or usability issues — by writing individual items on sticky notes and grouping them on a wall or board according to their natural relationships and…

Affinity Diagramming(also: Affinity Mapping, KJ Method)

A qualitative data analysis and design method where researchers or team members organize individual data points (observations, quotes, ideas) into groups based on natural relationships and themes. In accessibility research, affinity diagramming is commonly used to synthesize…

Assistive Device Design(also: AT Design)

The process of developing assistive technologies and devices to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Effective assistive device design requires involving end users as active participants throughout the design process, from initial concept generation through prototyping,…

Audio Fiction(also: Audio Vignette, Audio Scenario)

A speculative design research method that uses pre-recorded audio dialogues to present fictional scenarios depicting interactions with hypothetical future technologies. Audio fictions combine descriptions, dialogue, and sound effects to create immersive design probes that help…

Autobiographical Design

A design research method in which the designer systematically builds and lives with a system intended for their own use, then reflects on that long-term engagement as a source of design insight. Formalized by Neustaedter and Sengers in 2012, autobiographical design is…

Bodystorming(also: Embodied Brainstorming)

A participatory design method where participants physically act out scenarios, interactions, or use cases using their bodies rather than paper prototypes or verbal descriptions. In accessibility research, bodystorming allows designers and users with disabilities to…

Card Sorting(also: Card Sort)

A user research and information architecture method in which participants organise items (written on cards or displayed digitally) into groups that make sense to them, and may also label those groups. In open card sorting, participants create their own group categories; in…

Co-Adaptive Design(also: Co-Adaptive Interaction, Mutual Adaptation)

A design approach where both the technology and its users adapt to each other over time through ongoing interaction. Rather than designing a fixed system that users must learn to operate, co-adaptive design creates flexible tools that evolve through use as users develop personal…

Co-Design(also: Co-creation, Cooperative Design)

Co-design is a collaborative design approach that actively involves all stakeholders — including end users, domain experts, and designers — as equal partners in the design process. In accessibility work, co-design ensures that people with disabilities and the professionals who…

Co-design(also: Co-creation, Cooperative Design)

A design methodology where end users actively participate as partners throughout the design process, contributing their expertise and lived experience to shape solutions. In co-design, researchers and participants collaboratively create design artifacts, validate concepts, and…

Collaborative Design(also: Collaborative Design Session)

A design approach where multiple participants work together to create shared design solutions, building on each other's ideas and negotiating design decisions collectively. In accessible design workshops with blind participants, collaborative design requires specific…

Community-Based Design(also: Community-Based Participatory Design, CBPD)

A design approach that situates the design process within a specific community, engaging community members as active participants and co-creators rather than passive research subjects. Unlike lab-based user research, community-based design takes place in the community's own…

Cooperative Inquiry(also: Co-Inquiry)

A participatory design methodology that involves children as full design partners throughout the technology development process, from initial brainstorming through prototyping and evaluation. Developed by Allison Druin and colleagues, cooperative inquiry treats children not…

Critical Design(also: Critical Design Framework, Design Through Critique)

A research through design methodology that foregrounds the ethics of design practice, reveals potentially hidden agendas and values, and explores alternative design values. In accessibility research, critical design is used to create provocative prototypes not primarily intended…

Cultural Probes(also: Design Probes, Probes)

A design research technique in which participants are given a kit of open-ended, often playful artefacts - such as disposable cameras, diaries, maps, or prompts - to document aspects of their daily life over time. The returned materials surface experiences, values, and contexts…

Design Constraints(also: Creative Constraints)

Limitations or boundaries placed on the design process, whether intentional (such as toolkit components in a prototyping workshop) or inherent (such as budget, technology, or time constraints). In design research, constraints can paradoxically foster creativity by focusing…

Design Fiction(also: Speculative Fiction, Diegetic Prototype)

A design research practice that creates fictional but plausible artifacts, scenarios, or narratives set in imagined futures to provoke discussion, surface assumptions, and explore the social and ethical implications of emerging technologies. Unlike traditional prototyping,…

Design Workshop(also: Design Session)

A structured session where participants collaborate to generate ideas, create prototypes, and provide feedback on designs. Design workshops are a common method in user-centered and participatory design for involving end users in the development process. However, traditional…

Disability-first Design(also: Disability-first Approach, Disability-centered Design)

A design and research methodology that positions disabled people as active contributors and decision-makers rather than passive subjects or end-users in technology development. In contrast to approaches where non-disabled researchers create solutions for disabled users,…

Embodied Critique(also: Embodied Feedback, Body-Based Critique)

A method of expressing critical feedback through physical bodies and bodily actions rather than relying solely on spoken or written language. Embodied critique draws on disability cultures where communication frequently extends beyond verbal or textual modes, recognizing that…

Embodied Sketching

Embodied sketching is a participatory design method in which participants and designers physically act out interaction ideas with their bodies, props, and the surrounding space rather than only sketching them on paper or screen. It surfaces movement, social, and sensory…

Empathy Simulation(also: Disability Simulation, Impairment Simulation)

A design technique where non-disabled people temporarily simulate a disability experience — such as wearing a blindfold, using a wheelchair, or restricting hand movement — to develop empathy and understanding for people with disabilities. While widely used in design education…

Gesture Elicitation(also: User-Defined Gestures)

Gesture elicitation is a participatory design method where end users are asked to invent gestures for a set of device functions, rather than having gestures predetermined by designers or engineers. Participants are shown the effect of an action (such as zooming in) and asked to…

Haptic Toolkit(also: Tactile Prototyping Toolkit)

A collection of physical materials designed to enable hands-on design and prototyping through touch rather than vision. In accessible design research, haptic toolkits are developed specifically for blind and low vision participants to create lo-fi prototypes of devices and…

Human-Centered AI(also: HCAI, Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, HCXAI)

Human-Centered AI (HCAI) is a design and research orientation that places human experience, context, agency, and values at the center of how AI systems are built and evaluated, rather than optimizing only for model performance. In accessibility contexts, HCAI emphasizes that AI…

Improvisation(also: Design Improvisation, Research Improvisation)

In the context of accessibility research and design, improvisation refers to the practice of creatively adapting plans and methods in response to unexpected circumstances, defined as "a creative act composed without prior thought." When conducting participatory research with…

Inclusive Design Process

A design approach that intentionally includes diverse users, particularly those with disabilities and from marginalized communities, throughout all stages of product development. An inclusive design process goes beyond accessible materials to consider the entire ecosystem of…

Low-Fidelity Prototype(also: Low-Fi Prototype, Lo-Fi Prototype, Paper Prototype)

A rough, inexpensive representation of a design - typically paper sketches, cardboard models, or wireframes - used early in the design process to explore concepts without investing in polished artefacts. Low-fidelity prototypes lower the barrier to critique and change, which is…

Low-Fidelity Prototyping(also: Lo-Fi Prototyping, Paper Prototyping)

A design method that uses simple, inexpensive materials to create quick, rough representations of a product or interface for early-stage testing and feedback. Traditional lo-fi prototyping relies heavily on visual methods such as sketches, storyboards, and paper mockups, which…

Magnetic Prototyping

A prototyping technique that uses magnetic elements on magnetic boards to create quickly reconfigurable physical designs. In accessible design for blind users, magnetic prototyping is particularly effective because elements snap into place with satisfying tactile feedback, can…

Need-Finding Interview(also: Need-Finding Study, Needs Assessment Interview)

A qualitative research method conducted early in the design process to understand users' current practices, challenges, unmet needs, and desires for future solutions. Need-finding interviews typically use open-ended questions and semi-structured formats to elicit rich…

Neuroinclusive Design(also: Neurodiverse Design, Neurodiversity-Affirming Design)

A design approach that explicitly accounts for the varied cognitive, sensory, and communication needs of neurodivergent individuals alongside neurotypical users. Neuroinclusive design goes beyond general accessibility by addressing specific patterns such as different information…

Paper Prototyping(also: Lo-Fi Prototyping, Low-Fidelity Prototyping)

A rapid design technique that uses paper, cardboard, and other simple materials to create tangible representations of product concepts before investing in digital or electronic implementation. Paper prototyping allows designers and users to quickly explore form, layout, and…

Participatory Design(also: PD, Cooperative Design, Scandinavian Design)

A design approach originating in Scandinavian workplace democracy movements that emphasizes the direct involvement of people in the design of technologies and systems that affect them. Participatory design treats users as experts in their own experiences and gives them genuine…

Participatory Speculative Design(also: PSD, Social Dreaming)

A design research approach that combines speculative design — imagining alternative futures and artifacts that do not yet exist — with participatory methods that position community members, particularly those historically excluded from technology design, as co-authors of those…

Persona(also: User Persona, Design Persona)

A fictional but research-based representation of a user group that captures key characteristics, goals, motivations, and needs. In accessibility work, personas are used to represent the diverse experiences and requirements of disabled users, helping design teams maintain empathy…

Persona Design(also: Design Personas, User Personas)

A user-centered design technique in which designers create fictional but grounded profiles of representative users — demographics, goals, context, pain points — to guide design decisions when direct user involvement is limited. In accessibility and HCI co-design workshops,…

Prototyping(also: Prototype)

The iterative creation of tangible, interactive representations of a design - ranging from paper sketches and cardboard mock-ups to functional software builds - used to explore ideas, elicit feedback, and test assumptions before committing to a final product. In accessibility…

Reverse Inclusion

A design approach that begins with the lived experience and needs of a person with a disability and then expands the design outward to include broader social circles and communities. Reverse inclusion inverts the typical inclusive design process, which starts from neurotypical…

Sighted Assistant(also: Sighted Guide, Visual Interpreter)

A sighted person who provides support to blind or low vision participants during design workshops, research activities, or other collaborative tasks. In accessible design contexts, sighted assistants help with tasks like locating materials, reading printed information,…

Situated Play Design(also: SPD)

Situated Play Design is a design approach developed by Altarriba Bertran and colleagues that treats play as something emergent from a specific social, physical, and cultural setting rather than something to be engineered into a generic product. It combines ethnographic…

Speculative Design(also: Design Fiction, Critical Design)

A design approach that uses conceptual proposals and provocative artifacts to explore possible futures, challenge assumptions, and stimulate debate rather than solve immediate practical problems. In accessibility research, speculative design is used to imagine alternative…

Storyboarding(also: Storyboard)

A visual narrative technique, adapted from film, in which a sequence of sketched panels depicts how a user will interact with a product, service, or environment over time. Storyboards make abstract scenarios concrete and shareable, helping teams and co-designers discuss context,…

Tactile Screenshots(also: Tactile UI Representations)

Embossed or raised representations of graphical user interface screens that allow blind users to explore software layouts through touch. Tactile screenshots preserve the spatial arrangement of UI elements such as buttons, icons, text areas, and navigation elements, enabling…

Technology Probe

A simple, flexible technology deployed in real-world settings to gather data about user needs, preferences, and interaction patterns. Unlike polished prototypes, technology probes are intentionally open-ended and incomplete, designed to inspire users and researchers to explore…

Theory of Change(also: ToC, Logic Model)

An explicit articulation of how and why a planned intervention is expected to produce its intended outcomes - typically expressed as a chain linking inputs to activities, outputs, short- and long-term outcomes, and the assumptions connecting each step. A theory of change makes…

User-Centered Design(also: UCD, Human-Centered Design)

A design philosophy and process that places the needs, preferences, and limitations of end users at the center of each stage of the design process. In accessibility contexts, user-centered design means actively involving people with disabilities not just as test subjects…