Glossary

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Down Syndrome(also: Trisomy 21)

A genetic condition caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21, resulting in intellectual disability and characteristic physical features. People with Down syndrome typically experience challenges with reading, language development, and working memory, though…

Dual-Positioned Researcher(also: Dual Positioning, Insider-Outsider Researcher)

A researcher who holds both the role of investigator and the lived experience of the condition or community being studied — for example, a person with OCD studying OCD, or a Deaf researcher studying Deaf users. Dual-positioned researchers bring interpretive depth and epistemic…

Eligibility Theatre

A term coined by Curtis et al. (2026) to describe the performance of visible, narrowly-framed disability that claimants are forced to stage in order to satisfy bureaucratic and algorithmic expectations of welfare and benefits systems. Applicants with invisible or communication…

Emancipatory Research(also: Emancipatory Disability Research)

A research paradigm that positions people with disabilities not merely as research subjects but as active agents who lead and control research about their own lives and experiences. Emerging from the disability rights movement and the social model of disability, emancipatory…

Embodied Expertise(also: Embodied Knowledge, Tactile Expertise)

Skilled knowledge that resides in the body through practiced physical routines, muscle memory, and sensory awareness rather than in explicit cognitive rules or visual information. In accessibility research, embodied expertise describes the sophisticated tactile and kinesthetic…

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…

Enforced Trust(also: Compelled Trust)

A dynamic in which blind people are required to trust technologies, sighted individuals, and systems without having independent means to verify the information or outputs provided to them. Enforced trust arises from the knowledge imbalance where blind users cannot directly…

Enhanced Activities of Daily Living(also: EADLs, EADL (gerontology), Advanced Activities of Daily Living)

In gerontology and human-robot interaction research, the highest tier of everyday activities — higher-order social, recreational, and civic pursuits that enable full participation in society, such as using computers and the internet, volunteering, engaging in hobbies, pursuing…

Episodic Disability

A disability characterized by periods of illness or impairment interspersed with periods of wellness or relative health. Unlike fluctuating disability where severity varies continuously, episodic disability involves distinct episodes that may be unpredictable in timing,…

Epistemic Contingency

A concept from disability studies scholar Rod Michalko describing the start of acquiring a visual disability as an ongoing negotiation of ways of knowing. Blind epistemology — ways of knowing as a blind person — is fluid and relational, shaped by objects, environments, memories,…

Epistemic Injustice(also: Knowledge Injustice)

A form of injustice that occurs when someone is wronged in their capacity as a knower — either by having their testimony dismissed or undervalued (testimonial injustice) or by lacking the conceptual resources to understand their own experience (hermeneutical injustice). In…

Failure Point Barrier(also: Failure Point)

A type of access barrier where a task is completely impossible without assistive technology or support. Failure point barriers represent the most severe form of inaccessibility—without the necessary tool, there is no practical way to complete the task. Examples include a…

Flourishing(also: Developmental Flourishing, Human Flourishing)

An orientation in design and HCI that measures success not by task completion or outcome equivalence but by the extent to which a system supports individuals' subjective well-being, personal significance, agency, and ongoing development. The concept draws on positive psychology,…

Fluctuating Disability(also: Variable Disability)

A disability whose symptoms and severity vary over time, sometimes day to day or even hour to hour. People with fluctuating disabilities may experience periods of relatively high function alternating with periods of significant impairment. This variability creates challenges for…

Forced Intimacy

Forced Intimacy is a concept coined by disability and transformative justice activist Mia Mingus that describes the experience of disabled people being expected to share very personal information with non-disabled people simply to access basic services, navigate public spaces,…

Functional Cognitive Disability(also: Functional Cognitive Limitation)

An approach to categorizing cognitive disabilities based on the functional limitations they produce rather than clinical diagnoses. Categories typically include difficulties with memory, problem-solving, attention, reading and verbal comprehension, math comprehension, and visual…

Functional Independence(also: Functional Autonomy, Independent Functioning)

The ability to perform daily living activities without assistance from others, encompassing both basic self-care tasks (eating, dressing, bathing) and more complex instrumental activities (shopping, managing finances, using transportation). Functional independence is assessed…

Future Impact Barrier

A type of access barrier where a task can be completed in the present without difficulty, but doing so will cause negative consequences in the future, such as triggering a migraine, causing cumulative pain, or depleting limited resources like energy or assistive technology…

Global South(also: Developing World, Majority World)

A term referring broadly to countries in Africa, Latin America, Asia, and Oceania that have been historically marginalized in global economic and political systems. In accessibility research, the Global South is significantly underrepresented — most studies recruit participants…

Global South accessibility(also: Accessibility in developing countries, Majority world accessibility)

The study and practice of accessibility in countries of the Global South (Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America), where over 80% of people with disabilities live. Accessibility in these contexts is shaped by distinct socio-material conditions including limited built…

Hierarchy of Impairment(also: Hierarchy of Impairments, Disability Hierarchy)

The hierarchy of impairment refers to the phenomenon where certain types of disabilities and impairments are viewed more favorably or given greater attention than others, both by non-disabled people and within the disability community itself. Research by Mark Deal documented how…

Hostile Design(also: Hostile architecture, Deterrent design)

A design orientation in which systems — physical, digital, or bureaucratic — are intentionally configured to deter use, discourage certain populations, or reduce uptake, rather than to enable access. Originally applied to urban features like anti-homeless benches and spikes, the…

Hypervigilance

A state of heightened alertness and sensitivity to potential threats in one's environment, commonly associated with PTSD, anxiety disorders, and trauma. Hypervigilant individuals may constantly scan for danger, feel uncomfortable with people behind them, need clear exit routes,…

Identity Model of Disability(also: Affirmation Model)

A model of disability in which individuals claim disability as a positive aspect of their identity, similar to how other marginalized groups have reclaimed their identities. Unlike the medical model (which views disability as a deficiency to be fixed) or the social model (which…

Illness Narrative(also: Disease Narrative)

An illness narrative is the story a person and their significant others construct to give coherence to the disruptive experience of illness or diagnosis and its effects on the family system. In the context of cognitive impairment and dementia, the illness narrative typically…

Inequitable Access(also: Inadequate Accommodation)

Inequitable access describes the situation where accommodations or accessibility measures are provided but fail to adequately address the underlying inaccessibility, leaving people with disabilities with access that is significantly inferior to what nondisabled people…

Infrastructuring for Access

A design approach introduced by Wang and Marie (CHI 2026) that combines HCI's infrastructuring theory with Disability Studies and Repair Studies. Rather than focusing on removing barriers or accommodating individual users, Infrastructuring for Access treats disabled…

Inspiration Porn

The portrayal of people with disabilities as inspirational solely or primarily because of their disability, objectifying them for the benefit of non-disabled audiences. Coined by disability activist Stella Young, inspiration porn reduces disabled people to motivational props and…

Intellectual Disability(also: ID, Intellectual Development Disorder)

A disability characterized by significant limitations in intellectual functioning (reasoning, learning, problem-solving) and adaptive behavior (everyday social and practical skills), originating during the developmental period. Intellectual disability exists along a continuum…

Interaction with Disabled Persons Scale(also: IDP Scale, IDP)

A standardized 20-item attitudinal instrument developed by Gething and Wheeler (1992) and later validated by Forlin, Fogarty, and Caroll (1999), designed to measure both desirable and undesirable emotions that people experience when interacting with individuals who have…

Interdependence(also: Relational autonomy)

A framework in disability studies that recognises all people — disabled and non-disabled — as fundamentally reliant on others and on social infrastructure, challenging the Western ideal of individual independence as the highest form of agency. In accessibility design,…

Interdependent Accessibility(also: Interdependence Framework, Access Interdependence)

A framework for understanding accessibility as a collective, co-created responsibility rather than an individual accommodation. Interdependent accessibility recognizes that access is produced through relationships and collaboration between disabled and non-disabled people,…

Internalized stigma(also: Self-stigma, Internalized ableism)

The process by which individuals with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions absorb and internalize negative societal attitudes about their condition, leading to shame, reduced self-worth, and reluctance to seek support. Internalized stigma can manifest as viewing one's…

Interpretive phenomenological analysis(also: IPA)

A qualitative research methodology focused on exploring how people make sense of their lived experiences, widely used in accessibility and disability research. IPA involves detailed analysis of individual accounts — typically through in-depth interviews — to understand…

Intersectionality(also: Intersectional analysis)

A theoretical framework originated by Kimberlé Crenshaw recognizing that individuals hold multiple social identities (disability, race, gender, class, sexuality) that interact to produce unique experiences of privilege and oppression that cannot be understood by examining any…

Intra-sectionality(also: Intra-sectional Analysis)

The examination of variation and diversity within a single identity category or demographic group, as opposed to intersectionality which examines the interaction between different identity categories. In disability research, intra-sectionality reveals that people within a single…

Invisible Work(also: Invisible Labour, Hidden Work)

The unrecognized and often uncompensated effort that people with disabilities must perform to navigate inaccessible environments, technologies, and workplaces. In professional settings, invisible work includes learning workarounds for inaccessible software, preparing extensively…

Invisible disability(also: Hidden disability, Non-visible disability, Non-apparent disability)

A disability that is not immediately apparent to others by observation, including conditions such as chronic pain, ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression, epilepsy, and many cognitive or neurological conditions. People with invisible disabilities often face unique challenges around…

Invisible labor(also: Access labor, Hidden work)

The additional, often unrecognized effort that people with disabilities must invest to create and maintain access in environments not designed for them. In workplace contexts, invisible labor includes learning complex workarounds for inaccessible software, memorizing keyboard…

LLM Disability Bias(also: AI Ableism, Language Model Disability Bias)

Systematic prejudice against people with disabilities embedded in large language models due to biased training data and development processes that underrepresent disabled communities. Research has documented multiple forms of this bias: pretrained language models associate…

Language Justice(also: Linguistic Justice)

A framework that advocates for the equal valuing and inclusion of all languages in social, educational, and technological contexts, challenging the dominance of English and other majority languages. In accessibility research, language justice highlights how reading support…

Liberatory access(also: Liberation-oriented access)

An approach to accessibility that goes beyond inclusion and assimilation to challenge the broader conditions of ableism and exclusion that create inaccessibility in the first place. Coined by disability justice activist Mia Mingus, liberatory access strives not just to help…

Linguicism(also: Linguistic Discrimination, Language Discrimination)

Discrimination or prejudice against individuals or groups based on the language or dialect they use, often intertwined with racism and ableism. In the Deaf community, linguicism commonly shows up as the privileging of spoken-language and English-based systems (Signed Exact…

Lived Experience(also: First-Person Experience)

Knowledge and understanding gained through direct personal experience of a condition, situation, or identity, as distinct from theoretical or observational knowledge. In disability and accessibility research, lived experience is increasingly recognized as a valuable and…

Lost Generation

In ADHD and autism discourse, the term refers to adults — particularly women, minority genders, and people of colour — who went undiagnosed as children due to gendered diagnostic criteria, systemic medical bias, and the historical exclusion of non-white, non-male bodies from…

Marginalization(also: Social Marginalization, Social Exclusion)

The process by which individuals or groups are pushed to the edges of society, denied equal access to resources, opportunities, and power. People with disabilities, particularly those with communication disabilities, face compounded marginalization — excluded from education,…

Masking(also: Camouflaging, Social camouflage, Neurotypical passing)

The conscious or unconscious process by which neurodivergent individuals — particularly autistic people — suppress their natural behaviours, communication styles, and reactions to conform to neurotypical social expectations. Masking includes monitoring and adjusting facial…

Medical Gaslighting

The dismissal, minimization, or invalidation of a patient’s reported symptoms or experiences by healthcare providers, often leading patients to doubt their own perceptions. The phenomenon disproportionately affects women, people of colour, disabled people, and neurodivergent…

Medical Model of Disability(also: Individual Model of Disability)

A framework that views disability as a deficit or pathology within an individual that should be treated, cured, or rehabilitated. Under the medical model, disability is seen as a personal health problem, and the primary response is medical intervention to make the individual…

Medical Model of Disability(also: Medical Model, Deficit Model)

The medical model of disability is a framework that views disability primarily as a problem located within the individual, a biological deficit or impairment that needs to be fixed, cured, or compensated for through medical intervention or assistive technology. Under this model,…