Access Labor

The uncompensated work that disabled people must perform to secure, maintain, and manage their own accessibility accommodations within systems not designed for them. Access labor includes navigating bureaucratic accommodation processes, self-advocating with institutions and gatekeepers, developing personal workarounds for inaccessible systems, educating others about accessibility needs, and managing the emotional toll of repeated disclosure and justification. In academic contexts, access labor falls disproportionately on disabled students who must both do their academic work and create the conditions that make that work possible — an invisible dual burden that institutional policies categorize as "personal" rather than structural.