Glossary

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Algorithmic Decision-Making(also: ADM, Automated decision-making)

The use of software systems — from rule-based logic to machine learning models — to make or substantially inform decisions that affect individuals, such as eligibility for benefits, credit, housing, or employment. In public services, algorithmic decision-making is often deployed…

Digital by Default(also: Digital-first, Digital-only)

A public-sector service design strategy, formalised in the UK from 2012, that treats online channels as the primary (and often sole) means of accessing government services, with phone and in-person support positioned as exceptional fallbacks. While framed as delivering…

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…

Help-Seeking(also: Help seeking behavior)

The deliberate process of asking for, searching for, or otherwise obtaining assistance to complete a task, learn a feature, or resolve a breakdown. In accessibility contexts, help-seeking is often shaped by inaccessible documentation, visually oriented tutorials, and the cost of…

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…

Queer-crip(also: Queer-crip theory, Queer crip)

A theoretical lens combining queer theory and crip theory to examine how queerness and disability co-produce experiences of marginalisation, care, and resistance. Queer-crip perspectives critique compulsory independence, heteronormativity, and ableist temporalities, instead…

Relational Accessibility(also: Relational Access)

An approach to accessibility that treats access as something co-constructed between people in everyday life, rather than a property of an individual user, tool, or environment. Relational accessibility recognises that communication, care, and adaptation are ongoing practices…

STEAM(also: STEAM education)

An extension of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) educational framework that explicitly integrates the Arts (design, music, visual art, storytelling, humanities). STEAM is often used in informal and inclusive learning contexts, including makerspaces…

Sensory Sensitivities(also: Sensory sensitivity, Sensory processing differences)

Heightened or reduced responses to everyday sensory input — noise, light, glare, texture, smell, temperature, or movement — that significantly affect attention, regulation, comfort, and participation. Sensory sensitivities are commonly reported among autistic people and others…

Street Level Imagery(also: Street view imagery, Panoramic street imagery)

Geo-referenced 360-degree panoramic photography captured from vehicles or pedestrians at street level, made widely available through services like Google Street View and Apple Maps Look Around. Street level imagery provides a rich visual record of the built environment —…

Triple Jeopardy

A framework describing the compounded discrimination faced by individuals who hold three intersecting marginalised identities — in Bowleg et al.'s original formulation, Black lesbians navigating racism, sexism, and heterosexism simultaneously. In accessibility contexts, the…

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