Culturally Grounded 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 knowledge systems and builds outward. In accessibility, this approach recognizes that barriers to technology use are not solely technical but can be deeply cultural, requiring designers to understand how different communities conceptualize health, disability, wellbeing, and social participation.