Glossary

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Affordable Assistive Technology(also: Low-Cost AT, Frugal Assistive Technology)

Assistive devices and technologies designed to be financially accessible to people with disabilities in low-resource settings, where the cost of commercially available assistive technology from the Global North is often prohibitive. Affordable AT leverages local fabrication…

Assistive Technology Ecosystem(also: AT Ecosystem, AT Service Delivery Ecosystem)

The complete network of interconnected elements required for assistive technology to be effectively provided, adopted, and sustained, including the technology itself, trained professionals, assessment and fitting services, maintenance and repair infrastructure, funding…

Capacity Building(also: Research Capacity Building, Capability Development)

The process of developing and strengthening the skills, resources, and infrastructure that enable individuals, communities, and organizations to carry out research, develop technologies, and advocate for their needs effectively. In accessibility, capacity building involves…

Contextual Design(also: Context-Sensitive Design, Situated Design)

A design approach that grounds technology development in a deep understanding of users' actual contexts, workflows, constraints, and cultural settings, rather than designing for idealized or generic use cases. Contextual design is particularly critical for assistive technology…

Cross-Border Accessibility Research(also: International Accessibility Research, Transnational Accessibility Research)

Research collaborations that span national, cultural, and economic boundaries to address accessibility challenges that affect disabled people worldwide. Cross-border accessibility research aims to bridge the gap between well-resourced research institutions in the Global North…

Cross-Cultural Accessibility(also: Culturally Responsive Accessibility, Internationalized Accessibility)

The practice of designing accessible technologies and content that account for cultural, linguistic, and regional differences in how people perceive and interact with information. Rather than assuming universal accessibility needs, cross-cultural accessibility recognizes that…

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…

Data Colonialism

A critical framework, advanced by Couldry and Mejias (2019) and others, that describes how contemporary data extraction practices replicate historical patterns of colonialism — appropriating resources (here, data and attention) from communities, particularly in the Global South,…

Decolonial Learning(also: Decolonial Design Practice)

A preparatory and ongoing phase in community-based research in which researchers — typically affiliated with Global North institutions or corporations — work to understand the historical, political, and cultural context of a community before setting a research agenda, and cede…

Digital Accessibility Rights Evaluation(also: DARE Index, DARE)

An index developed by the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict) that measures and benchmarks the digital accessibility rights and policies of countries worldwide. The DARE Index evaluates country-level commitments to digital…

Digital Divide(also: Digital Gap, Technology Divide)

The gap between those who have access to and can effectively use digital technologies and those who cannot, typically divided along lines of income, geography, disability, age, and education. The digital divide disproportionately affects people with disabilities in the Global…

Digital Skills Training(also: Digital Literacy Training, ICT Skills Training)

Structured instruction in using digital technologies effectively, including basic device operation, internet navigation, application use, and accessibility feature configuration. For people with disabilities in low-resource settings, digital skills training is often as important…

Disability Rights in the Global South(also: Southern Disability Rights, Disability Justice Global South)

The movement and body of scholarship focused on the rights, inclusion, and empowerment of people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries, where disability intersects with poverty, limited healthcare access, cultural stigma, and inadequate legal protections. While…

Double Digital Divide

The intersection of two layers of digital exclusion that compound each other, creating amplified barriers to participation. In disability and global accessibility contexts, the term describes how disability-related accessibility barriers (such as inaccessible interfaces and lack…

Global North(also: Developed Countries, First World)

A socioeconomic and political designation referring to countries that are typically wealthier, more economically developed, and generally located in the northern hemisphere — plus Australia and New Zealand. In accessibility research, the Global North dominates published…

Global South Accessibility(also: Accessibility in Low-Resource Settings, Developing World Accessibility)

The study and practice of making technology, environments, and services accessible to people with disabilities in low- and middle-income countries. Over 80% of the world's one billion people with disabilities live in the Global South, yet most accessibility research and…

Global Symbols

A community-interest company and open symbol platform that hosts multiple pictogram libraries for AAC and Easy Read, supports translation into many languages, and provides an AI-assisted SymbolBuilder tool for generating new symbols. Global Symbols is widely used in projects…

HCI4D(also: Human-Computer Interaction for Development)

A subfield of human-computer interaction that focuses on designing and evaluating interactive technologies specifically for development contexts, addressing the needs of underserved and marginalized communities in low-resource settings. HCI4D research draws on methods from both…

ICT4D(also: Information and Communication Technologies for Development, ICTD)

A field of research and practice focused on how information and communication technologies can be designed, deployed, and used to support social and economic development, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. ICT4D examines the unique social, cultural, and…

ICTD(also: Information and Communication Technologies and Development, ICT4D)

A research field and practice area focused on designing, deploying, and evaluating information and communication technologies to improve socio-economic outcomes in low-resource and developing contexts. ICTD research addresses challenges such as limited infrastructure,…

JIS X 8341-3(also: JIS X 8341, Japanese Industrial Standard for Web Accessibility)

JIS X 8341-3 is the Japanese Industrial Standard for web content accessibility, first published in 2004 by the Japanese Standards Association. The standard was developed with attention to harmonization with WCAG 1.0 and subsequently updated to align with WCAG 2.0. JIS X 8341-3…

KWCAG(also: Korean Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)

The Korean national standard for web content accessibility, first published as KWCAG 1.0 in 2004 by the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA). Modelled after WCAG, KWCAG adapts international accessibility guidelines to Korean web culture and technical circumstances.…

Language Localization(also: L10N, Localization)

The process of adapting a product, application, or content for a specific language, culture, and region, including translation, cultural adaptation of imagery and symbols, currency and date formats, and text-to-speech voice support. Language localization is a critical barrier…

Leapfrog Technology(also: Leapfrogging)

The adoption of advanced or cutting-edge technology in contexts that skipped intermediate technological stages, bypassing legacy infrastructure to achieve modern capabilities directly. In assistive technology, leapfrogging refers to the potential for Global South countries to…

Low and Middle Income Countries(also: LMICs, Developing Countries, Global South)

A World Bank classification for countries with gross national income per capita below a defined threshold, encompassing low income and lower-middle income economies. In accessibility contexts, LMICs present distinct challenges including limited investment in accessible…

Low- and Middle-Income Countries(also: LMIC, LMICs, developing countries)

Countries classified by the World Bank as having lower gross national income per capita, typically facing greater resource constraints in healthcare, education, and technology infrastructure. In accessibility contexts, LMICs present unique challenges including limited…

Low-Resource Setting(also: Resource-Limited Setting, Resource-Constrained Environment)

A context characterized by limited financial resources, infrastructure, trained professionals, and technological capacity that affects the availability and sustainability of services including healthcare and assistive technology. Low-resource settings present unique challenges…

Low-Resource Sign Language

A sign language for which standardised corpora, training data, technical infrastructure, and institutional support are limited compared to 'high-resource' sign languages like American Sign Language (ASL) or German Sign Language (DGS). Low-resource sign languages — such as Bangla…

M-Pesa(also: Mobile Money)

A mobile money transfer and financial services platform widely used in Kenya and other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, allowing users to deposit, withdraw, transfer money, and pay for goods and services via their mobile phones. M-Pesa is deeply embedded in daily life in Kenya and…

Material Culture

The physical objects, artefacts, and environments that a community produces, uses, and inhabits, along with the meanings and practices embedded in them. In AI and accessibility research, material culture matters because computer vision systems trained on objects from one…

Mobile Disability Gap(also: Digital Disability Divide, Smartphone Disability Gap)

The disparity in mobile phone and smartphone ownership, access, and usage between disabled and non-disabled populations. In Kenya, smartphone ownership among disabled individuals is only 12% compared to 41% for non-disabled people — a 72% gap. The mobile disability gap is driven…

Multilingual AAC(also: Multilingual Communication Device)

Augmentative and alternative communication systems designed to support communication in multiple languages, reflecting the linguistic diversity of users and their communication partners. Multilingual AAC is particularly important in the Global South, where multilingualism is…

NGO Intervention(also: Non-Governmental Organization Intervention, Civil Society Intervention)

Programs and initiatives led by non-governmental organizations to address gaps in public services, including education, healthcare, and assistive technology provision for people with disabilities. In India, NGOs like Vision Empower and Winvinaya Foundation have become critical…

National Accessibility Portal(also: NAP, South African National Accessibility Portal)

A South African government-supported web portal developed by the Meraka Institute (CSIR) to provide accessible information sharing for the disability sector. The NAP was designed from inception as an accessible platform, featuring alternative CSS stylesheets for different font…

PC-Talker(also: PCTalker)

A Windows screen reader developed by the Japanese company KGS Corporation, widely used by blind and low-vision users in Japan. PC-Talker provides speech output for Windows applications and the web and integrates with the companion Net Reader Neo browser tailored to…

SMART Matrix(also: Systems-Market Framework)

A framework for understanding assistive technology ecosystems developed by MacLachlan et al. that analyzes AT provision at three levels: micro (individual user — matching products to needs), meso (service provider — availability of assessment, training, maintenance services),…

Smartphones as Assistive Technology(also: Mobile AT, Phone-Based AT)

The use of mainstream smartphones as assistive devices through built-in accessibility features (screen readers, magnification, live captions, sound amplification) and downloadable applications that support independence for people with disabilities. In low- and middle-income…

South African Sign Language(also: SASL)

The primary sign language used by the Deaf community in South Africa, recognized as one of the country's official languages under the Constitution. SASL has its own grammar, syntax, and vocabulary distinct from spoken South African languages. Like all sign languages, SASL is a…

Technology Amplification Theory(also: Technology as Amplifier)

A theory proposed by Kentaro Toyama positing that technology amplifies existing human intent and capacity rather than creating new capabilities from scratch. In the context of assistive technology and disability services, this theory argues that introducing digital tools into…

Technology Ecosystem(also: Tech Ecosystem)

The interconnected network of hardware, software, services, infrastructure, professionals, and support systems that collectively determine whether a technology can be effectively used and sustained. In assistive technology contexts, the technology ecosystem extends well beyond…

WEIRD(also: Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic)

An acronym standing for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic — used to describe the demographic and cultural profile of populations that dominate research samples in psychology, HCI, and accessibility studies. The term highlights a significant bias: most…

Wheelchair Provision(also: Wheelchair Service Delivery, Wheelchair Service)

The comprehensive process of ensuring that individuals who need wheelchairs receive appropriate products along with the related services necessary for safe and effective use. As defined by the World Health Organization, wheelchair provision encompasses assessment, fitting,…

eMAG(also: Modelo de Acessibilidade em Governo Eletrônico, Brazilian Digital Accessibility Model)

The Brazilian government's digital accessibility model (Modelo de Acessibilidade em Governo Eletrônico) that provides mandatory guidelines for how government websites must ensure accessibility and eliminate access barriers. Based on WCAG 2.0, eMAG covers all Level A and AA…

43 results.