Glossary

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ADA(also: Americans with Disabilities Act)

A landmark United States civil rights law enacted in 1990 that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including employment, education, transportation, and access to public and private places open to the general public. The ADA…

Accessible Canada Act(also: ACA, Canadian Accessibility Act)

Canadian federal legislation (S.C. 2019, c. 10) that aims to make Canada barrier-free by 2040 by requiring federally regulated organisations (banks, telecommunications, transportation, the federal government) to identify, remove, and prevent barriers in areas including…

Automated Decision Making(also: ADM, Automated Decision System, ADS)

The use of software, statistical models, or AI to make or substantially inform decisions about people — eligibility for loans, jobs, benefits, housing, healthcare, or parole — with limited or no human review. Regulatory frameworks such as the EU AI Act, NYC Local Law 144, and…

Automated Employment Decision System(also: AEDS, AEDT, Automated Employment Decision Tool)

A software system that screens, evaluates, categorises, recommends, or otherwise makes or facilitates hiring or employment decisions about job candidates or workers. AEDSs span résumé sorters, personality tests, gamified cognitive assessments, situational-judgement tests,…

BITV(also: Barrierefreie Informationstechnik-Verordnung, Barrier-Free Information Technology Regulation)

BITV (Barrierefreie Informationstechnik-Verordnung) is the German federal regulation on accessible information technology, mandating that federal government websites and applications be accessible to people with disabilities. First introduced in 2002 and updated as BITV 2.0 in…

Computer Says No(also: Computer-Says-No)

A pattern in which an organisation invokes an algorithmic or automated decision as justification for an adverse outcome — a rejected application, a denied claim, an adjusted score — thereby deflecting responsibility from human decision-makers onto the technical system.…

EU AI Act(also: European Union Artificial Intelligence Act, Artificial Intelligence Act (EU))

A European Union regulation, adopted in 2024, that establishes a risk-based framework for AI systems deployed in the EU. High-risk systems — including AI used in employment, hiring, worker management, education, and access to essential services — are subject to obligations…

Emergency Preparedness(also: Disaster Preparedness, Crisis Preparedness)

The planning, policies, and infrastructure put in place to ensure that communities can respond effectively to emergencies such as natural disasters, pandemics, and other crises. In accessibility contexts, emergency preparedness has a poor track record of including people with…

Functional Equivalency(also: Functional Equivalence, Communication Equivalence)

The principle that accommodations and alternative formats should provide people with disabilities an experience that is comparable in quality, timeliness, and completeness to that of non-disabled users. In the context of communication access, functional equivalency means that a…

Help America Vote Act(also: HAVA)

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) is a United States federal law enacted in 2002 in response to the voting irregularities of the 2000 Presidential Election. HAVA established mandatory minimum standards for states in key areas of election administration, including requirements…

IDEA(also: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act)

A United States federal law enacted in 1990 (reauthorized in 2004) that guarantees students with disabilities the right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment. IDEA requires schools to develop Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)…

Multidimensional Poverty(also: Multidimensional Poverty Index, MPI)

A measure of poverty that goes beyond income alone to encompass multiple overlapping deprivations that people experience simultaneously, including health, education, and living standards. Approximately 80% of people with disabilities worldwide live in low-resourced settings…

Stanca Act(also: Legge Stanca, Italian Accessibility Law, Law 4/2004)

The Stanca Act (Legge Stanca, Law No. 4 of January 9, 2004) is Italy's primary legislation mandating digital accessibility for public sector websites and services. Named after Lucio Stanca, the Minister for Innovation and Technologies who championed it, the law requires that…

Supplemental Security Income(also: SSI)

A U.S. federal program administered by the Social Security Administration that provides cash benefits to people with disabilities, blindness, or age-related needs who have limited income and resources. SSI enforces strict asset and income limits — historically $2,000 in…

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