Glossary

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HCI4D(also: Human-Computer Interaction for Development)

A subfield of human-computer interaction that focuses on designing and evaluating interactive technologies specifically for development contexts, addressing the needs of underserved and marginalized communities in low-resource settings. HCI4D research draws on methods from both…

ICTD(also: Information and Communication Technologies and Development, ICT4D)

A research field and practice area focused on designing, deploying, and evaluating information and communication technologies to improve socio-economic outcomes in low-resource and developing contexts. ICTD research addresses challenges such as limited infrastructure,…

Implementation Science

The study of methods and strategies that promote the systematic uptake of research findings and evidence-based practices into routine clinical, educational, or service settings. Implementation science addresses the well-documented research-to-practice gap: even rigorously…

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…

Information Foraging Theory(also: IFT)

A theory proposed by Pirolli and Card describing how people seek information by adaptively optimising for maximum information gain with minimum effort, analogous to animal foraging. Key constructs include information scent (cues signalling potential usefulness), information…

Information Power

A sample-adequacy principle for qualitative research, proposed by Malterud, Siersma, and Guassora (2016), which holds that the more information a study sample holds that is relevant to the research question, the fewer participants are needed. Adequacy is judged against five…

Infrastructural Inversion

A methodological move, articulated by Geoffrey Bowker and Susan Leigh Star, that foregrounds the usually invisible infrastructure underpinning everyday action — categories, standards, procedures, silent stabilising work — treating it as the primary object of analysis rather than…

Infrastructuring

A theoretical lens from HCI, CSCW, and participatory design (developed from the work of Susan Leigh Star, Karen Ruhleder, Volkmar Pipek, and Volker Wulf) that treats infrastructure not as a finished artifact but as an ongoing, situated accomplishment. Infrastructuring highlights…

Interaction Analysis

A qualitative research method for studying knowledge and action in interaction with people, objects, and environments — typically through close observation of video or screen recordings, annotating visible affect, body language, utterances, and moment-by-moment behavior.…

Krippendorff's Alpha(also: Krippendorff Alpha, Kalpha)

A statistical measure of inter-rater agreement used to assess how consistently two or more coders classify the same qualitative data. Developed by Klaus Krippendorff, the metric handles any number of coders, any level of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio), and…

Laddering Method(also: Laddering Technique, Laddering Interview)

A qualitative-quantitative research method used in user experience research to understand why users value certain product features. Rooted in Means-End theory, the technique involves asking participants what they liked or disliked about an experience, then probing with follow-up…

Legitimate Peripheral Participation(also: LPP)

A concept from Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger's situated-learning theory describing how newcomers join a community of practice by first participating in peripheral, lower-stakes activities and gradually moving toward full, central participation as they acquire the practices and…

Likert Scale(also: Likert-type Scale, Rating Scale)

A psychometric scale commonly used in surveys and questionnaires where respondents indicate their level of agreement with a statement, typically using options ranging from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree." In accessibility research, Likert scales are frequently used to…

Literacy Bias(also: Literacy bias of a metric)

In accessibility research methodology, a literacy bias describes the phenomenon where an evaluation metric systematically produces different scores for participants with different reading-literacy levels, independent of the characteristic being measured. For example,…

Magnitude Estimation(also: Psychophysical Scaling, Stevens Method)

A psychophysics research method where participants assign numerical values to stimuli based on their perceived intensity or magnitude. In accessibility research, magnitude estimation is used to determine how users naturally interpret sensory mappings—for example, what…

Means-End Chain(also: MEC, Means-End Theory)

A theoretical framework and analytical output from Laddering research that maps how product attributes lead to functional and psychosocial consequences, which in turn connect to personal values. A chain might show: "Nature scenery (attribute) → Feeling of calm (functional…

Model Human Processor(also: MHP, Human Processor Model)

A cognitive architecture developed by Card, Moran, and Newell (1983) that models human information processing as three interconnected subsystems: perceptual, cognitive, and motor processors, each with characteristic cycle times. The perceptual processor (~100ms) handles sensory…

Modified Borg Scale(also: Borg CR10 Scale, MBS, Borg Scale)

A self-report rating scale used to measure the perceived intensity of physical sensations such as breathlessness, exertion, or pain, ranging from 0 (nothing at all) to 10 (maximal). Originally developed by Gunnar Borg in 1982, the Modified Borg Scale is widely used in pulmonary…

Montreal Cognitive Assessment(also: MoCA)

A widely used cognitive screening tool designed to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The MoCA assesses multiple cognitive domains including short-term memory, visuospatial abilities, executive function, attention, language, and orientation. Scores range from 0-30, with 26…

Narrative Engagement(also: Story Engagement)

A multidimensional construct used in media studies and HCI research to capture how deeply a viewer is drawn into a story, including narrative understanding, attentional focus, narrative presence (the feeling of being inside the story world), and emotional engagement with…

Narrative-Flip Method(also: Narrative flip)

A qualitative HCI research method in which participants first encounter a technology or artifact without knowing its origins or intent, reflect on it, and only afterwards are told its disability-led, activist, or political context. The deliberate before/after framing surfaces…

Non-Participation

In Wenger's Communities of Practice framework, the active (rather than merely absent) relationships people have with a community they do not fully join. Wenger identifies four forms: compromise (stepping back to respect another's space), cover (disengaging from issues one feels…

Novelty Effect(also: Novelty bias)

A research-methodology concept describing the tendency for users to behave differently with a new technology simply because it is new, rather than because of its enduring value. Novelty effects inflate short-term engagement, enthusiasm, and usage, then fade as the technology…

PANAS(also: Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, PANAS Scale)

PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) is a validated psychological instrument for measuring emotional states, consisting of two 10-item scales measuring positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Positive affect terms include enthusiastic, interested, determined,…

PRISMA-ScR(also: PRISMA Extension for Scoping Reviews)

PRISMA-ScR is the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews - a 20-item checklist and flow diagram that standardises how scoping reviews are reported. It adapts the PRISMA framework (designed for systematic reviews) to the…

Participatory Action Research(also: PAR, Action Research)

A collaborative research methodology that involves participants as co-researchers in identifying problems, designing solutions, and implementing changes. In accessibility research, PAR ensures people with disabilities actively shape study design, data collection, and analysis…

Phenomenology(also: Phenomenological Inquiry)

Phenomenology is a philosophical tradition and research methodology concerned with the structures of lived, first-person experience. Originating with Husserl, Heidegger, and Merleau-Ponty, it emphasizes how phenomena appear to consciousness rather than what they are in objective…

Podcast analysis(also: Podcast content analysis)

A qualitative research method that uses publicly available podcast episodes as data sources, applying thematic or content analysis to extract insights from naturalistic discussions. In accessibility research, analyzing podcasts produced by and for disabled communities offers…

Power Dynamics(also: Power Differentials)

The imbalance of influence, authority, or social status between individuals or groups that shapes their interactions and relationships. In accessibility research and practice, power dynamics between researchers or designers without disabilities and participants with disabilities…

Practice-based Research(also: PbR)

A research approach, associated with Candy and Edmonds, in which creative practice itself is the vehicle for original inquiry and knowledge generation. Research questions arise from and are resolved through the making and performance of works, with tacit and embodied knowledge…

Proxy stakeholder(also: Proxy informant, Proxy respondent)

In requirements engineering and participatory design, a proxy stakeholder is a person—such as a caregiver, support worker, family member, or healthcare professional—who actively mediates, interprets, and scaffolds technology use on behalf of a primary user who faces barriers to…

Psychometric validation(also: Psychometric evaluation, Instrument validation)

The process of establishing that a measurement instrument (such as a questionnaire or scale) possesses adequate reliability (consistency of measurement), criterion validity (correlation with established measures), and construct validity (measuring the intended theoretical…

Qualitative Content Analysis(also: QCA)

A systematic qualitative research method for interpreting the content of text, interview transcripts, or other communication data by coding recurring patterns and organizing them into categories. QCA can be inductive (categories emerge from data) or deductive (categories derived…

Quality of Perception(also: QoP)

An evaluation framework from the multimedia-accessibility research literature for measuring how well a user can understand and use a media presentation, combining objective comprehension metrics (e.g., fact-recall or multiple-choice quiz accuracy) with subjective judgements…

Reflexive Ethnography

Reflexive ethnography is an approach to ethnographic research in which the researcher explicitly documents and analyses how their own identity, assumptions, relationships and shifting position in the field shape the knowledge produced. Rather than presenting findings as neutral…

Rehabilitation Engineering(also: Rehab Engineering)

An engineering discipline focused on quantifying, measuring, and modeling human performance to provide better-fitting assistive technology adaptations. Rehabilitation engineering emerged partly as a response to trial-and-error approaches in assistive technology, bringing…

Representative Users(also: Target Users, Intended Users)

Study participants who share the relevant characteristics of the population for whom a technology or solution is being designed. In accessibility research, this means including people with the actual disabilities being addressed rather than substitutes like blindfolded sighted…

Researcher Bias(also: Investigator Bias)

The influence of a researcher's own perspectives, assumptions, and identity on how they design studies, ask questions, and interpret data. In accessibility research, researcher bias can manifest when non-disabled researchers position themselves as saviors, frame questions based…

Residual Category(also: Residual Categories)

A concept from Susan Leigh Star describing the "other" or "not applicable" categories in classification systems — the bucket where anything that does not fit predefined types gets placed. Individuals sorted into residual categories become illegible to the systems that grant…

Resistant Reading(also: Reading Against the Grain, Resistant Reader)

A critical reading method, originally articulated by feminist literary theorist Judith Fetterley, that refuses the interpretive framework an author invites the reader to adopt and instead reads texts for what they silence, marginalise, or explain away. In HCI and accessibility…

Response Bias(also: Survey Bias, Respondent Bias)

A systematic tendency for survey respondents to answer questions in a way that does not accurately reflect their true opinions or experiences. In accessibility research, response bias is particularly important to consider because participants with disabilities may provide more…

Routine Infrastructuring

A concept developed by Bryan Semaan describing community practices through which marginalised and oppressed groups continually reconfigure sociotechnical arrangements to sustain everyday life under persistent disruption. Unlike classical infrastructuring, which treats disruption…

Sampling Bias(also: Selection Bias, Participation Bias)

A systematic error in research caused by non-random selection of participants, resulting in a sample that does not accurately represent the target population. In accessibility research, sampling bias is a significant concern because recruitment methods may exclude people with…

Scoping Review(also: Scoping Study)

A scoping review is a type of research synthesis that systematically maps the existing literature on a broad topic to identify key concepts, gaps in evidence, and types of available research. Unlike systematic reviews that answer specific questions, scoping reviews chart the…

Score Prediction(also: Predicted grade, Comprehension self-prediction)

A subjective-response evaluation item in which a research participant, immediately after reading a passage and before learning their actual comprehension-question score, estimates the percentage of questions they will have answered correctly. Score prediction is used in…

Semantically Unpredictable Sentences(also: SUS, SUS Test)

A standardised method for evaluating speech intelligibility in which listeners are presented with sentences that are grammatically correct but semantically meaningless, such as "A polite art jumps beneath the arms" or "The law that finished shows the boots." Because the…

Semi-Automatic Wizard-of-Oz(also: Semi-Automatic WoZ)

A hybrid Wizard-of-Oz study methodology in which part of a prototype system is implemented with real automation while a human researcher (the 'wizard') intervenes only for components that are not yet reliable enough to run autonomously. For example, an AI agent may generate…

Semi-structured Interview(also: Semi-structured Interviewing)

A semi-structured interview is a qualitative research method in which the interviewer works from a guide of open-ended topics or questions but adapts the order, wording, and depth of probing to the flow of each conversation. It sits between a rigid structured interview (fixed…

Single Case Experimental Design(also: SCED, Single Subject Design, N-of-1 Design)

A research methodology in which individual participants serve as their own control, with repeated measurements taken during baseline and intervention phases to evaluate the effect of a treatment or intervention. This approach is particularly valuable in accessibility and…

Single-Case Study(also: Single-Subject Design, Single-Case Experimental Design, N-of-1 Study)

A research methodology in which an individual participant serves as their own control, with systematic measurement of behavior across different conditions such as baseline and intervention phases. The ABA design — where A represents baseline and B represents intervention — is a…