Glossary

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Science Communication(also: SciComm, Science Outreach)

The practice of informing, educating, and engaging public audiences about scientific topics and findings. Accessible science communication ensures that people with disabilities can participate fully in science learning through accommodations such as tactile models, audio…

Sense of Agency(also: User Agency, Personal Agency)

The subjective experience of being in control of one's own actions and their effects on the external world. In accessible design, supporting sense of agency means ensuring users feel empowered to make choices, initiate interactions, and influence outcomes rather than being…

Sighted Bias(also: Visual Bias, Ocularcentrism)

The tendency in technology design to privilege sighted ways of perceiving and understanding the world, often unconsciously centering visual sensibilities in interfaces, descriptions, and assessment criteria. In accessibility contexts, sighted bias manifests when designers create…

Sighted-Centric Design(also: Vision-Centric Design)

Design approaches and practices that privilege sighted sensemaking and marginalize blind and non-visual ways of relating to the world. Sighted-centered design produces technologies, interfaces, and descriptive standards that assume visual perception as the default mode of…

Simplified Interface(also: Reduced Complexity Interface, Easy Mode)

A user interface design that intentionally reduces the number of features, options, and interaction steps to make a product or service accessible to users who would be overwhelmed by a standard interface. Simplified interfaces typically remove non-essential functionality,…

Simulation Glasses(also: Cataract Glasses, Vision Simulation Glasses, Low-Vision Simulation Goggles)

Simulation glasses are wearable lenses or goggles that reproduce the functional visual experience of specific eye conditions — cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma, hemianopia, and others — by blurring, smearing, adding central scotomas, or restricting the field of view.…

Situational Disability(also: Situational Impairment, Contextual Disability)

A temporary limitation in ability caused by environmental or situational factors rather than a medical condition. Examples include being unable to hear audio in a noisy environment, having limited dexterity while carrying items, or experiencing reduced vision in bright sunlight.…

Situational Disability(also: Situational Impairment, Situational Limitation, SIID)

A temporary reduction in ability caused by a person's environment or context rather than a permanent condition. Examples include difficulty reading a screen in bright sunlight (visual), being unable to listen to audio in a noisy environment (auditory), or having limited…

Situational Disability(also: Situational Impairment, Contextual Disability)

A temporary limitation in ability caused by environmental circumstances rather than a permanent condition. Examples include being unable to read a screen in bright sunlight (visual), not hearing audio in a noisy environment (auditory), being unable to use two hands while…

Situational Impairment(also: Situational Disability, Situationally-Induced Impairment)

A temporary reduction in a person's ability to interact with technology caused by their environment or context rather than a permanent condition. Examples include using a phone in bright sunlight (visual), operating a device while carrying groceries (motor), or trying to hear…

Slow Design

Slow design is a design philosophy that emphasizes thoughtful, reflective, and sustained engagement over efficiency and speed. Inspired by the slow food movement, it values deeper contemplation, longer development timelines, and meaningful user experiences. In museum and gallery…

Social Acceptability(also: Social Acceptance, Technology Stigma)

The degree to which the use of an assistive technology or interaction technique is perceived as socially appropriate by both the user and those around them. Social acceptability is a critical but often underestimated factor in assistive technology adoption. Users may reject…

Social Inclusion(also: Social Integration, Community Inclusion)

The process of ensuring that people with disabilities can fully participate in social, cultural, and community activities on an equal basis with others. Social inclusion goes beyond physical access to encompass meaningful participation, belonging, and the ability to contribute.…

Social usability

The degree to which a technology supports positive social interactions and self-presentation for its users, particularly in contexts where technology use is visible to others. Social usability goes beyond functional task completion to consider whether using a product causes…

Somatic Design(also: Soma-Centric Design, Body-Centric Design)

A design approach that prioritizes bodily experience, physical sensation, and embodied perception as primary channels for interaction and understanding. Somatic design shifts the focus from purely cognitive or visual interfaces to ones that engage the whole body, drawing on…

Storyboarding(also: Storyboard)

A visual narrative technique, adapted from film, in which a sequence of sketched panels depicts how a user will interact with a product, service, or environment over time. Storyboards make abstract scenarios concrete and shareable, helping teams and co-designers discuss context,…

Support Network(also: Support Worker, Support Person, Circle of Support)

The caregivers, family members, support workers, teachers, and peers who assist a person with a disability in daily life and in participating in research or design activities. In inclusive co-design with people with intellectual or cognitive disabilities, support networks often…

Symbiotic Learning

Symbiotic Learning is a conceptual framing introduced by Jiang et al. (CHI 2026) describing a mode of mixed-ability family learning in which parents and children mutually enable each other's participation and development through AI-mediated communication. Rather than positioning…

18 results.