Glossary
Terms used in accessibility research and practice. Each entry has a definition, common aliases, and category tags.
Search results
- PTSD(also: Post-traumatic stress disorder, Post-traumatic stress)
- A psychiatric condition that can develop after exposure to traumatic events, characterized by intrusive memories, avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, negative changes in mood and cognition, and heightened arousal responses including hypervigilance and exaggerated startle. In…
- Parasocial Relationship(also: Parasocial Tie, Parasocial Interaction)
- A parasocial relationship is a one-sided emotional bond that a media audience forms with a performer, creator, or online personality — the viewer feels a sense of friendship, loyalty, and familiarity despite no reciprocal awareness. In accessibility contexts, parasocial ties are…
- Partial disclosure(also: Curated disclosure, Selective information sharing)
- A disclosure strategy in which individuals share some information about their disability or neurodivergence while withholding specific details, often framing their needs in more socially accepted terms. For example, a neurodivergent worker might describe needing a quiet…
- Participatory Evaluation(also: PE)
- A research approach in which the people affected by a program, technology, or intervention are actively involved in evaluating it, rather than being passive subjects of assessment. In accessibility research, participatory evaluation means disabled people help define evaluation…
- Passing(also: Passing as non-disabled, Neurotypical passing)
- The act of concealing one's disability or neurodivergence to be perceived as non-disabled or neurotypical by others. Passing can be a deliberate strategy to avoid stigma, discrimination, or unwanted attention, or it may occur by default when a disability is not visible. While…
- Person-First Language(also: People-First Language, PFL)
- Person-first language is a linguistic convention that places the person before the disability or condition, such as "person with a disability" or "person with autism," with the intent of emphasizing personhood over diagnosis. While widely adopted in professional and medical…
- Pleasure Activism
- A framework articulated by adrienne maree brown that centers pleasure, joy, and satisfaction as essential components of social justice and liberation movements. In disability contexts, pleasure activism challenges the assumption that disabled people's lives are defined by…
- Political/Relational Model of Disability(also: Relational Model of Disability)
- A model of disability described by Alison Kafer that situates disability within sociopolitical systems, emphasizing how structures of power and interactions between people construct the experience of disability. Unlike the social model's focus on environmental barriers or the…
- Positionality(also: Researcher Positionality)
- The practice of researchers explicitly acknowledging how their own identities, experiences, backgrounds, and power positions shape their research process, analysis, and interpretations. In disability and accessibility research, positionality statements typically disclose whether…
- Positive Design(also: Design for Subjective Well-Being)
- A design framework, articulated by Desmet and Pohlmeyer, that explicitly targets human flourishing by attending to three components of subjective well-being: pleasure (positive affect in the moment), personal significance (pursuit of meaningful goals), and virtue (acting in line…
- Post-Modern Model of Disability(also: Postmodern Model, Critical Disability Model)
- A framework for understanding disability that integrates aspects of both the medical and social models, recognizing that both physiological factors and social barriers contribute to the experience of disability. Unlike the medical model (which locates disability in the…
- Productivity Norms(also: Compulsory Productivity)
- Socially constructed expectations about the quantity and pace of work output that individuals should maintain. Productivity norms are often built around non-disabled bodies and minds, creating barriers for people with disabilities whose work patterns, energy levels, or…
- Psychosocial Disability(also: Psychosocial Impairment)
- A disability that stems from diverse mental, cognitive, or emotional experiences that lead to impairment and experienced barriers in social participation. Psychosocial disabilities include conditions such as ADHD, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and other mental health…
13 results.