Glossary

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Cross-neurotype communication(also: Cross-neurological communication, Neurotype-crossing communication)

Communication between individuals with different neurological profiles, most commonly between autistic and neurotypical people. Cross-neurotype communication is characterized by differences in conversational style — autistic individuals often prefer direct, literal language with…

Cross-syndrome comparison(also: Cross-disability comparison)

A research methodology that evaluates a technology or intervention with participants from multiple disability groups to determine whether findings and design principles generalize across conditions. Cross-syndrome comparisons are important because assistive technologies designed…

Crosscutting Concern(also: Cross-Cutting Concern)

In software engineering, a crosscutting concern is a requirement or feature that affects multiple modules of a system and cannot be cleanly decomposed into a single component. Accessibility is a classic crosscutting concern because requirements like providing text alternatives,…

Crossing-Based Interaction(also: Goal Crossing)

An alternative to traditional point-and-click interaction where users select a target by dragging across its boundary rather than tapping or clicking on it. Instead of requiring a precise tap within a target area, crossing-based interaction registers a selection when the user's…

Crosswalk(also: Pedestrian Crossing, Zebra Crossing, Continental Crossing)

A marked area on a roadway designated for pedestrians to cross safely, typically indicated by painted lines or patterns on the pavement. Zebra crossings (called "continental crossings" in the US) feature bold parallel white stripes that are highly visible to drivers, while…

Crosswalk detection(also: Pedestrian crossing detection, Zebra crossing detection)

The automated identification and localization of marked pedestrian crossings in imagery using computer vision techniques. Crosswalk detection can be performed on satellite images, street-level photographs, or real-time camera feeds to populate navigation databases for blind…

Crowd Accessibility(also: Crowdsourcing for Accessibility, Human-Powered Access Technology)

An approach that combines human intelligence with machine intelligence to create accessible content and services for people with disabilities. In crowd accessibility, micro-tasks that automated systems cannot yet perform reliably — such as describing images, identifying objects,…

Crowd Work(also: Crowdwork, Microtask Work, Gig Work)

A form of employment in which tasks are distributed to a large pool of online workers through digital platforms, typically broken into small, discrete units that can be completed independently and remotely. In the accessibility context, crowd work platforms present both…

Crowd-AI System(also: Hybrid Crowd-AI, Human-AI System)

A system that combines human crowdsourced input with artificial intelligence to accomplish tasks that neither can handle well alone. In accessibility contexts, crowd-AI systems are used for visual question answering, image description, and environmental sensing. Crowd workers…

Crowdsourced Accessibility(also: Crowdsourced Accessibility Auditing, Citizen-Sourced Accessibility)

The practice of collecting accessibility information about physical or digital environments through contributions from large numbers of people, rather than relying solely on professional auditors. In the physical accessibility context, crowdsourcing approaches include virtual…

Crowdsourced Accessibility Mapping(also: Collaborative Accessibility Mapping, Citizen-Sourced Accessibility Data)

The practice of using contributions from members of the public to identify, report, and map accessibility barriers and features in physical or digital environments. In urban contexts, crowdsourced accessibility mapping typically involves mobile applications that allow citizens…

Crowdsourced Captioning(also: Crowd Captioning, Collaborative Captioning)

Crowdsourced captioning is an approach to creating video captions or subtitles by distributing the work across multiple contributors rather than relying on a single professional captionist. This method can leverage diverse workers with varying language skills, hearing abilities,…

Crowdsourced accessibility data(also: Crowdsourced validation, Accessibility crowdsourcing)

The collection, verification, or enrichment of accessibility-related geographic or environmental information through the coordinated efforts of many distributed contributors, often via web-based platforms. Examples include validating automated crosswalk detections, mapping…

Crowdsourcing(also: Crowd-Sourced Data, Community Reporting)

A method of collecting data, information, or contributions from a large number of people, typically via the internet, rather than relying on a single authoritative source. In accessibility contexts, crowdsourcing is used to gather information about the accessibility of physical…

Crowdsourcing

The practice of gathering information, data, or contributions from a large group of distributed participants, typically via the internet. In accessibility, crowdsourcing platforms like Wheelmap and AccessTogether allow users to rate and report the accessibility of physical…

Crowdsourcing Accessibility(also: Accessibility Crowdsourcing)

The practice of using distributed groups of people, often through online platforms, to collect, label, or improve accessibility-related information at scale. Examples include using crowd workers to audit bus stop landmarks via Google Street View, label images for alt text,…

Crystallized Intelligence(also: Gc)

Crystallized intelligence refers to the accumulated knowledge, skills, vocabulary, and general information a person acquires through experience and education over their lifetime. Unlike fluid intelligence, which declines with age, crystallized intelligence tends to remain stable…

Cued Naming Therapy(also: Cued Naming, Cueing Hierarchy Therapy)

A structured aphasia therapy approach in which clinicians provide progressively stronger hints (cues) to help a person retrieve a target word. Cues may be phonological (providing the first sound or syllable), semantic (giving a related word or category), orthographic (showing…

Cued Speech(also: Cued Language)

A visual communication system that combines mouth movements of speech with hand shapes and positions (cues) near the face to make spoken language visually accessible. Unlike sign language, which is an independent language with its own grammar, cued speech represents the phonemes…

Cueing(also: External Cueing, Sensory Cueing)

In rehabilitation, cueing is the delivery of external sensory stimuli - visual, auditory, or somatosensory - that guide or trigger a motor action. Cueing is used most prominently in Parkinson's disease, where basal ganglia dysfunction impairs internally generated movement…

Cultural Appropriation(also: Cultural Misappropriation)

The adoption or use of elements from a minority culture by members of a dominant culture without proper understanding, acknowledgment, or respect for their original meaning and significance. In disability and accessibility contexts, this can occur when hearing researchers or…

Cultural Barrier(also: Cultural Challenge)

Social and cultural norms that impede learning or participation in certain activities. In sign language education, cultural barriers significantly affect hearing learners' ability to produce non-manual signs, as exaggerated facial expressions required in ASL may feel…

Cultural Competence(also: Cultural Competency, Cultural Responsiveness)

The ability of service providers, organisations, and systems to effectively deliver services that meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of diverse populations. In accessibility and healthcare contexts, cultural competence involves understanding how cultural beliefs,…

Cultural Heritage(also: Heritage, Digital Heritage)

Cultural heritage is the inherited tangible and intangible expressions of a community’s history, including buildings, monuments, artefacts, landscapes, oral traditions, performance, ritual, and language. In digital contexts, cultural heritage work covers the documentation,…

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 Heritage Accessibility(also: CH Accessibility, Heritage Accessibility, Museum Accessibility)

Cultural heritage accessibility refers to the practices, standards, and technologies that enable people with disabilities — as well as non-specialist and diverse audiences — to access, discover, and engage with collections held by galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (the…

Cultural Mediator(also: Museum Mediator, Cultural Facilitator)

A professional who facilitates meaningful engagement between cultural institutions (such as museums, galleries, or heritage sites) and visitors, particularly those from diverse or marginalised backgrounds. In accessibility contexts, cultural mediators play a crucial role in…

Cultural Model of Disability

An extension of disability models that accounts for the multitude of cultural meanings embedded in disability across different societies and communities. The cultural model recognizes that disability is not experienced uniformly across cultures—different cultural contexts…

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…

Cultural Taxation(also: Minority Tax, Identity Taxation)

The unpaid or under-recognised additional labour expected of faculty and staff from marginalised groups — including Deaf, disabled, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ individuals — to serve as cultural ambassadors, mentors, committee members, and educational resources for their colleagues and…

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 Computing(also: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Computing, Culturally Relevant Computing)

A pedagogical approach to computing education that grounds instruction in learners' cultural, linguistic, and socio-economic realities rather than treating Global North curricula and technologies as universally applicable. Building on Ladson-Billings' culturally relevant…

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…

Culturally-Situated Design(also: Culturally-Embedded Design, Culturally-Responsive Design)

An approach to technology design that treats culture — including national identity, religion, ethnicity, language, geo-politics, and community traditions — as central to user needs and design decisions rather than as a surface localisation concern. Culturally-situated design…

Culture of Accessibility

An organizational or institutional environment in which accessibility is embedded as a core value throughout all processes, practices, and products rather than treated as an afterthought or compliance requirement. In educational contexts, a culture of accessibility means…

Cumulative Link Mixed Model(also: CLMM, Ordinal Mixed Model)

A statistical model for analysing ordinal outcome data (such as Likert-scale ratings) that includes both fixed effects (experimental conditions) and random effects (participants, stimuli). CLMMs use a link function — commonly logit — to relate ordered categorical responses to…

Cumulative Marginality(also: Stacked Stressors, Intersecting Disadvantage)

The compounding effect of multiple marginalizing factors—such as disability, low income, first-generation student status, racial minority status, or caregiving responsibilities—that together create greater barriers than any single factor alone. Research shows that students…

Curation(also: Content Curation, Accessibility Curation)

The process of selecting, organizing, and presenting digital content or resources to serve a particular audience or purpose. In accessibility contexts, curation refers to the proactive work of identifying web content that presents barriers and creating alternative, accessible…

Curator(also: Museum Curator, Exhibition Curator, Art Curator)

A professional responsible for the selection, arrangement, interpretation, and presentation of works in museums, galleries, and exhibitions. The curatorial role has expanded from its original function of preservation and management to encompass audience research, technology…

Curb Cut Effect(also: Curb Cut Phenomenon, Electronic Curb Cut)

The phenomenon whereby accessibility features designed for people with disabilities end up benefiting a much broader population. Named after sidewalk curb cuts — ramps originally mandated for wheelchair users that also help people with strollers, bicycles, rolling luggage,…

Curb Ramp(also: Curb Cut, Dropped Kerb, Kerb Ramp)

A small ramp built into or applied to the curb at pedestrian crossings and other transitions between a sidewalk and a roadway, providing a smooth transition for wheelchair users, people with mobility aids, strollers, and others. Curb ramps are a fundamental element of accessible…

Curb Ramp(also: Curb Cut, Dropped Kerb, Pram Ramp)

A sloped transition between a sidewalk and a street that allows wheelchair users, people with strollers, and others to cross without navigating a vertical curb. Curb ramps are essential infrastructure for pedestrian accessibility—their absence, poor maintenance, or improper…

Curb cut(also: Curb ramp, Dropped kerb, Pram ramp)

A small ramp built into the curb of a sidewalk at intersections and pedestrian crossings, providing a smooth transition between the sidewalk and the street. Originally mandated for wheelchair users under disability rights legislation such as the ADA, curb cuts have become a…

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…

Cure Narrative(also: Cure Rhetoric, Fix-It Mentality)

A dominant cultural narrative that frames disability as a problem to be eliminated, cured, or overcome through medical intervention, technology, or personal determination. Cure narratives position the non-disabled state as the default ideal and disability as a departure that…

Currency Accessibility(also: Accessible Currency, Banknote Accessibility)

The design of physical money — coins and banknotes — so that people with visual impairments or other disabilities can independently identify and use different denominations. Many countries produce banknotes in different sizes, colours, or with tactile features (raised print,…

Curse of Dimensionality (Accessibility)

In an accessibility context, the practical barrier that arises when a player or user must coordinate a large number of distinct inputs simultaneously or in rapid succession — for example, moving, aiming, shooting, and reloading concurrently in a first-person shooter. Even when…

Cursor Ambiguity(also: Cursor Position Ambiguity)

The difficulty users experience in determining the exact position of the text cursor, particularly when using screen readers on touchscreen devices. Screen readers announce the character or word at the cursor location, but users may not know whether the cursor is at the…

Cursor Assistance(also: Pointer Assistance, Mouse Assistance)

Software techniques that modify cursor behavior to make pointing and clicking easier for users with motor impairments. Cursor assistance encompasses a range of approaches including enlarging the effective target area (area cursors, bubble cursors), making targets "sticky" so the…