Guardianship

A legal arrangement in which a person (the guardian) is appointed to make decisions on behalf of another person who is deemed unable to make certain decisions independently, often due to intellectual disability, cognitive impairment, or age. In accessibility research, guardianship has significant implications for informed consent, participant recruitment, and research ethics, as guardians may need to provide consent alongside or on behalf of participants. During the COVID-19 pandemic, guardians and caregivers of people with intellectual disabilities often adopted stricter safety measures than the general population, creating additional barriers to in-person research participation.