Glossary

Search results

Academic Accommodation(also: Educational Accommodation, Reasonable Adjustment in Education)

Modifications to academic requirements, procedures, or environments that enable students and scholars with disabilities to participate equally in educational activities. Academic accommodations may include extended time for exams, alternative format materials, note-taking…

Americans with Disabilities Act(also: ADA, ADA 1990)

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is landmark US civil rights legislation enacted in 1990 that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including employment, education, transportation, and public accommodations. Title II…

Communication Access

The right and ability of all people to communicate and be understood, regardless of the mode or method of communication they use. Communication access encompasses the provision of supports, technologies, and environments that enable effective communication for people with…

Data Sovereignty

The principle that data about a community — its people, territories, practices, or bodies — should be subject to the laws, governance, and collective authority of that community rather than of the outside entities that happen to collect or host it. The concept originated in…

Disability Services(also: Disability Service Office, DSO, Disability Resource Center)

Disability services refers to the office or department within an educational institution or organization responsible for coordinating accommodations and support for people with disabilities. In higher education, these offices verify disability documentation, issue accommodation…

Exam Accommodation(also: Test Accommodation, Assessment Accommodation)

Modifications to examination conditions that enable students with disabilities to demonstrate their knowledge and abilities on an equal basis. Exam accommodations for students with vision impairments include extra time, Braille question papers, use of scribes, screen reader…

Financial Autonomy(also: Financial Independence, Financial Self-Determination)

The ability of a person to make and enact their own financial decisions — earning, saving, spending, and planning — consistent with their values and goals. For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, financial autonomy is often constrained by guardianship,…

Help America Vote Act(also: HAVA)

The Help America Vote Act (HAVA) is a United States federal law enacted in 2002 in response to the voting irregularities of the 2000 Presidential Election. HAVA established mandatory minimum standards for states in key areas of election administration, including requirements…

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act(also: IDEA)

A United States federal law that guarantees students with disabilities the right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment. Originally enacted in 1975 as the Education for All Handicapped Children Act and reauthorized as IDEA in 1990…

Institutional Barriers(also: Organizational Barriers, Systemic Barriers)

Obstacles to accessibility, technology adoption, or inclusion that arise from organizational policies, practices, norms, and cultures rather than from individual limitations or technology design. In schools for the blind, institutional barriers include management resistance to…

Language Justice(also: Linguistic Justice)

A framework that advocates for the equal valuing and inclusion of all languages in social, educational, and technological contexts, challenging the dominance of English and other majority languages. In accessibility research, language justice highlights how reading support…

Print Disability(also: Print Impairment, Print-related Disability, Print-related Disabilities)

A condition that prevents a person from effectively reading conventional printed material due to visual, physical, perceptual, developmental, cognitive, or learning disabilities. Print disabilities include blindness, low vision, dyslexia, and physical conditions that prevent…

Right to Education(also: RTE, Right to Education Act)

Legal frameworks guaranteeing the right to free and compulsory education for all children, including children with disabilities. India's Right to Education Act (2009) mandates free education for all children aged 6-14 and includes a controversial "no detention" policy requiring…

School Management Resistance(also: Administrative Resistance)

Opposition or skepticism from school leadership and administration toward the integration of technology in educational settings. In schools for the blind in India, management resistance manifests as policies restricting mobile phone use, interpreting technology use as laziness…

Scribe(also: Amanuensis, Exam Writer)

A person who writes or types on behalf of a student with a disability during examinations, transcribing the student's dictated answers. In India, students with vision impairments typically complete exams in Braille up to 9th grade but must transition to using scribes for public…

Section 504(also: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act)

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a US federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. It requires educational institutions, government agencies, and other…

16 results.