Glossary

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Capability Sensitive Design

A design approach, proposed by Ilse Oosterlaken, that takes human diversity morally seriously and evaluates technologies by how they actually expand or constrain the real opportunities (capabilities) available to individual users. Capability Sensitive Design extends the…

Celebratory technology

Technology designed to highlight, affirm, and celebrate neurodivergent and disabled ways of being, rather than seeking to correct, normalize, or remediate them. Coined by LouAnne Boyd (2023), celebratory technology contrasts with deficit-oriented assistive technology by…

Chatbot Accessibility(also: Accessible Chatbot Design, CUI Accessibility)

The practice of designing chatbots and conversational user interfaces (CUIs) to be usable by people with disabilities. Chatbot accessibility presents unique challenges compared to traditional web accessibility because CUIs involve dynamic, dialogue-based interactions rather than…

Child Agency

Child agency is a child's capacity to initiate, shape, direct, and sustain activities - including play, conversation, and social interaction - rather than passively accepting adult or peer control. In accessibility research for children, agency is recognised as relational and…

Co-Design(also: Participatory Design, Co-Creation)

A design methodology that actively involves end users, stakeholders, and domain experts as equal partners throughout the design process. In accessibility, co-design ensures that the people who will use assistive technologies or accessible products have meaningful input into…

Co-Design(also: Co-creation, Cooperative Design)

Co-design is a collaborative design approach that actively involves all stakeholders — including end users, domain experts, and designers — as equal partners in the design process. In accessibility work, co-design ensures that people with disabilities and the professionals who…

Co-Researcher(also: Community Co-Researcher, Peer Researcher)

A person with lived experience of disability who contributes to research not merely as a participant or informant but as an active member of the research team, involved in planning, data collection, analysis, and co-authoring outputs. The co-researcher role goes beyond co-design…

Co-creation workshop(also: Co-creation session, Co-design workshop)

A structured collaborative session in which researchers, designers, and participants (including end users) work together to generate ideas, explore concepts, and shape the design of products, services, or research. In accessibility contexts, co-creation workshops are valued for…

Co-morbidity(also: Comorbidity, Co-occurring Conditions, Multiple Disabilities)

The simultaneous presence of two or more medical conditions or disabilities in a single individual. In accessibility contexts, co-morbidity is a critical design consideration because many users, particularly older adults, experience multiple impairments simultaneously — for…

Code Accessibility(also: Programming Accessibility, Accessible Coding)

The practice of making programming environments, source code, and software development tools usable by people with disabilities, particularly those with visual impairments. Code accessibility encompasses accessible IDEs and text editors, aural or tactile representations of code…

Collaborative Accessibility(also: Accessible Collaboration)

Design approaches that ensure collaborative activities and shared workspaces are accessible to people with disabilities. Collaborative accessibility focuses on enabling meaningful participation in group tasks, communication, and creative activities by addressing barriers in…

Collaborative Learning(also: Cooperative Learning)

An educational approach involving two or more individuals working together to build knowledge or skills through interaction, information sharing, and joint problem-solving. In sign language education, collaborative learning aligns with social constructivist and sociocultural…

Collaborative Note-Taking(also: Shared Note-Taking, Co-Note-Taking)

An educational practice where two or more people collectively take notes, annotate content, exchange feedback, and ask questions about material being learned. In the context of disability support in higher education, collaborative note-taking transforms the traditionally…

Communities of Practice(also: CoP)

Groups of people who share a concern or passion for something they do and learn how to do it better through regular interaction. In accessibility, communities of practice form around shared experiences of navigating barriers, developing workarounds, creating accessible tools,…

Community-Centered Design(also: Community-Based Design)

A design approach that centers the expertise, needs, and perspectives of specific communities throughout the technology development process, rather than designing for communities from the outside. In accessibility, community-centered design involves blind and disabled…

Community-Driven Research(also: Community-Based Research, Community-Led Research)

A research approach where the community being studied plays a central role in defining research questions, designing methodologies, collecting data, and interpreting results. In accessibility, community-driven research ensures that disabled communities — particularly those in…

Compensatory Technology(also: Compensatory Approach)

Assistive technology designed primarily to offset or make up for a person's functional limitations, focusing on what the person cannot do rather than building on their existing abilities. While compensatory approaches have historically dominated AT design, there is a growing…

Complex Needs(also: Complex Access Needs, Complex Support Needs)

Complex needs refers to the situation where an individual requires support across multiple areas of functioning due to a combination of physical, sensory, cognitive, communication, or behavioral factors that interact in ways that make standard single-impairment approaches…

Constrained Creativity(also: Constrained Design, Creative Constraints)

Constrained creativity is a design approach that supports creative expression by deliberately limiting the choices available to users, providing structure and boundaries within which they can create. In accessibility, constrained creativity has proven especially valuable for…

Content Creation Accessibility(also: Accessible Content Creation, Creator Accessibility)

The design and provision of tools, platforms, and workflows that enable people with disabilities to create digital content such as videos, images, audio, and text. Unlike content accessibility, which focuses on making finished content consumable by people with disabilities,…

Content Personalization(also: Accessibility Personalization, Content Adaptation)

The practice of tailoring digital content presentation and interaction to match individual users' needs, preferences, and abilities. In accessibility, personalization goes beyond one-size-fits-all approaches by allowing users to specify how they prefer to receive information —…

Context-Appropriate Technology(also: Appropriate Technology, Context-Appropriate AT)

Technology, particularly assistive technology, that is designed or selected to fit the specific social, economic, cultural, and environmental context in which it will be used. Context-appropriate technology considers factors such as local infrastructure, available materials,…

Contextual Design(also: Context-Sensitive Design, Situated Design)

A design approach that grounds technology development in a deep understanding of users' actual contexts, workflows, constraints, and cultural settings, rather than designing for idealized or generic use cases. Contextual design is particularly critical for assistive technology…

Convivial Tools(also: Conviviality)

A concept from philosopher Ivan Illich describing tools that are easy to learn through use, allow users to decide when and how to use them, and can adapt to individual preferences. In accessibility contexts, convivial tools are malleable technologies that empower users—including…

Cooperative Inquiry(also: Co-Inquiry)

A participatory design methodology that involves children as full design partners throughout the technology development process, from initial brainstorming through prototyping and evaluation. Developed by Allison Druin and colleagues, cooperative inquiry treats children not…

Creativity Support Tools(also: CST, Creative Support Software)

Creativity support tools (CSTs) are software applications and systems designed to help people engage in creative activities such as writing, drawing, music production, photography, video editing, graphic design, and programming. In the context of accessibility, CSTs present…

Cripping(also: Crip practices)

Practices or actions taken by disabled people to disrupt the status quo, flip ableist norms, and work toward a more accessible and just world. Cripping can involve material changes (hacking environments and technologies), social changes (challenging assumptions about what…

Cross-Cultural Accessibility(also: Culturally Responsive Accessibility, Internationalized Accessibility)

The practice of designing accessible technologies and content that account for cultural, linguistic, and regional differences in how people perceive and interact with information. Rather than assuming universal accessibility needs, cross-cultural accessibility recognizes that…

Cross-Cultural Design(also: Culturally Responsive Design, Culture-Sensitive Design)

An approach to designing products, services, and technologies that accounts for the cultural contexts, values, norms, and practices of diverse user populations. In accessibility, cross-cultural design recognises that disability is understood and experienced differently across…

Cross-Disability Perspective(also: Cross-Disability Approach, Pan-Disability Research)

A research or design approach that examines accessibility across multiple disability types rather than focusing on a single condition. Cross-disability perspectives recognize that people with different disabilities may have overlapping needs, divergent requirements, or…

Cultural Heritage Accessibility(also: Heritage Accessibility, Accessible Cultural Heritage)

The practice of making cultural heritage sites, monuments, museums, and artifacts accessible to people with disabilities through physical modifications, assistive technologies, and alternative formats. This includes tactile reproductions of artworks and architectural features,…

Cultural Probes(also: Design Probes, Probes)

A design research technique in which participants are given a kit of open-ended, often playful artefacts - such as disposable cameras, diaries, maps, or prompts - to document aspects of their daily life over time. The returned materials surface experiences, values, and contexts…

Culturally Appropriate Design(also: Culturally Responsive Design, Cultural Contextualization)

The practice of designing products, interfaces, and content to align with the cultural values, practices, languages, and visual conventions of the target user community. In assistive technology, culturally appropriate design requires that symbols, images, vocabulary, and…

Culturally Grounded Design(also: Culturally Responsive Design, Culture-Centered Design)

A design approach that centers the cultural values, epistemologies, and practices of a specific community throughout the technology development process. Rather than adapting mainstream designs for different cultural contexts, culturally grounded design starts from community…

Culturally Responsive Design(also: Culturally Sensitive Design, Culture-Centered Design)

Culturally responsive design is an approach to creating products, services, and research methods that respects and incorporates the cultural values, practices, and communication norms of the communities they are intended to serve. In accessibility, this is particularly relevant…

Curb-Cut Effect(also: Electronic Curb Cut)

The phenomenon whereby features designed for people with disabilities end up benefiting a much broader population. Named after pavement curb cuts originally mandated for wheelchair users, which also help parents with pushchairs, delivery workers with carts, cyclists, and…

Customizable Interface(also: Configurable Interface, User-Customizable UI)

A user interface that allows individuals to modify its appearance, behavior, or content display according to their preferences and needs. In accessibility contexts, customizable interfaces enable users to adjust parameters like font size, color scheme, content density, filtering…

Customization(also: User Customization)

Customization is the practice of allowing users to adapt a system's behaviour, output, or presentation to match their individual goals, preferences, and context. In accessibility, customization is essential because disability is heterogeneous: users of screen readers, AI…

38 results.