Glossary
Terms used in accessibility research and practice. Each entry has a definition, common aliases, and category tags.
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- DHH(also: D/HH, Deaf and Hard of Hearing)
- An abbreviation for "Deaf and Hard of Hearing," encompassing the full spectrum of hearing differences from culturally Deaf individuals who use sign language as a primary language to people with varying degrees of hearing loss who may use hearing aids, cochlear implants, or rely…
- Deaf(also: deaf, Big-D Deaf)
- A term with dual meaning in accessibility contexts: lowercase "deaf" refers to the audiological condition of having significant hearing loss, while uppercase "Deaf" refers to cultural identity and membership in the Deaf community, which has its own language, values, and social…
- Deaf Community(also: Deaf World, Signing Community)
- A cultural and linguistic community of people who are Deaf or hard of hearing and who share a common language (typically a sign language), cultural values, traditions, and social norms. The Deaf community is distinguished from the broader population of people with hearing loss…
- Deaf Education(also: Deaf Pedagogy, Education of the Deaf)
- Deaf education encompasses the teaching methods, curricula, and educational systems designed to meet the learning needs of deaf and hard of hearing students. It spans a range of approaches from oral methods emphasizing speech and lipreading, to bilingual-bicultural programs that…
- Deaf Epistemology(also: Deaf Ways of Knowing)
- A body of theory and practice that recognizes Deaf communities as producers of distinct knowledge grounded in visual-spatial modalities, embodied interaction, sign language, and community experience. Deaf epistemologies foreground visual primacy, sightlines, and shared cultural…
- Deaf Gain
- A reframing concept that positions Deafness not as a loss (hearing loss) but as a gain — emphasizing the unique contributions, perspectives, and capabilities that Deaf individuals and Deaf culture bring to human diversity. Coined by H-Dirksen Bauman and Joseph Murray, Deaf Gain…
- Deaf Pedagogy
- An educational framework that centers Deaf students' visual and multimodal resources, resists deficit models of deafness, and embraces translanguaging and visual-relational classroom norms. Deaf pedagogy treats sign language as the medium of instruction, arranges classrooms for…
- Deaf Speech(also: Deaf Accent, Deaf Voice)
- Accented speech produced by many individuals who are deaf or significantly hard of hearing, resulting from incomplete acoustic feedback from their own voices. Because deaf speakers cannot fully hear themselves, their speech patterns often differ from those of hearing speakers in…
- Deaf Tech(also: Deaf-Centered Technology)
- A framework and design orientation for technologies created by, with, and centering Deaf communities. Deaf Tech emphasizes participatory design, cultural relevance, and alignment with Deaf epistemologies and practices, rather than positioning Deaf users as end-consumers of…
- Deaf digital library(also: Sign language archive, Deaf digital heritage)
- A collection of video content in sign languages that preserves and provides access to Deaf community knowledge, culture, experiences, and opinions. Video sharing platforms like YouTube function as de-facto digital libraries for signing communities, but the lack of reliable…
- DeafSpace(also: Deaf Space, Deaf Geography)
- A design philosophy and set of architectural and spatial principles developed from understanding how deaf people experience and navigate physical and digital environments. DeafSpace considers factors like visual access, lighting, spatial orientation, and the need for…
- Deafhood
- A concept introduced by Paddy Ladd that reframes Deaf identity as a process of becoming and self-actualization rather than a medical condition to be fixed. Deafhood emphasizes the possibilities and richness of Deaf experience, culture, and language, explicitly rejecting…
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