Glossary

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Damage-centered Design(also: Damage-centered Research, Deficit-framed Design)

An approach in HCI and design research that frames marginalized communities - including disabled people, BIPOC communities, and others - primarily through the lens of harms, deficits, and barriers to be remediated. The term, popularized by Eve Tuck and extended by Alexandra To…

Data Feminism

A framework developed by Catherine D'Ignazio and Lauren Klein that applies intersectional feminist thought to the practice of working with data, offering seven principles including examining power, challenging power, elevating emotion and embodiment, rethinking binaries,…

Deaf Gain

A reframing concept that positions Deafness not as a loss (hearing loss) but as a gain — emphasizing the unique contributions, perspectives, and capabilities that Deaf individuals and Deaf culture bring to human diversity. Coined by H-Dirksen Bauman and Joseph Murray, Deaf Gain…

Deaf Music(also: Deaf musicality, Music in Deaf culture)

Music as experienced, created, and culturally interpreted by d/Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals and communities. Deaf music encompasses a multimodal, spatio-temporal engagement with rhythm, vibration, visual performance, song signing, and emotional resonance — often…

Deafhood

A concept introduced by Paddy Ladd that reframes Deaf identity as a process of becoming and self-actualization rather than a medical condition to be fixed. Deafhood emphasizes the possibilities and richness of Deaf experience, culture, and language, explicitly rejecting…

Deficit Narrative(also: Deficit-Based Framing, Deficit Model)

A framing approach that characterizes disability or neurodivergence primarily in terms of what individuals lack, cannot do, or do poorly compared to a non-disabled norm. Deficit narratives are embedded in many clinical assessment tools through language that pathologizes natural…

Deficit-Oriented Research(also: Deficit Model, Deficit-Based Approach)

A research approach that frames its subjects primarily in terms of what they lack, cannot do, or need to have fixed, rather than recognizing their strengths, agency, and lived expertise. In disability and accessibility research, deficit-oriented approaches treat disabled bodies…

Deinstitutionalisation(also: Deinstitutionalization)

The process of transitioning people with disabilities — particularly intellectual disabilities and mental health conditions — from large, segregated residential institutions into community-based living arrangements with appropriate support services. Beginning in Scandinavian…

Desexualization(also: Asexualization)

The social phenomenon in which disabled people are assumed to be uninterested in, incapable of, or undeserving of sexual relationships and intimacy. This manifests as invasive questioning about sexual function, disbelief when disabled people form romantic relationships, and the…

Design Saviorism

A problematic dynamic in design practice where nondisabled designers position themselves as rescuers of disabled people, seeking praise while attempting to fix something that is not broken. Design saviorism perpetuates power imbalances by centering the designer's perspective…

Design justice

A framework that centers the perspectives and leadership of people most affected by design outcomes, challenging traditional design processes that often reinforce existing power structures. Coined and developed by Sasha Costanza-Chock, design justice draws on social movement…

Digital Exclusion(also: Digital Marginalization)

The condition in which individuals or groups are unable to access, use, or benefit from digital technologies due to barriers related to disability, socioeconomic status, age, geography, or digital literacy. For people with disabilities, digital exclusion often results from…

DisCrit(also: Disability Critical Race Studies, Dis/ability Critical Race Studies)

DisCrit (Disability Critical Race Studies) is a theoretical framework that merges Disability Studies with Critical Race Theory to analyze how racism and ableism are interdependent systems that work together to marginalize people at the intersection of race and disability.…

Disability Community(also: Disabled Community)

A group of people connected by shared experiences of disability who may share culture, identity, advocacy goals, and mutual support networks. Disability communities can be organized around specific conditions (e.g., the Deaf community, the blind community), broader disability…

Disability Culture(also: Crip Culture)

Disability culture encompasses the shared experiences, values, art, language, humor, and traditions that have developed among people with disabilities as a distinct social group. It includes disability art, literature, music, film, and performance, as well as communal practices…

Disability Divide(also: Digital Disability Divide)

The sociotechnical disparity between people with and without disabilities in terms of access to, use of, and benefits from digital technologies. While digitalization has transformed work, education, and daily life, many digital systems remain inaccessible or insufficiently…

Disability Expertise

The concept that disabled people hold specialized, experiential knowledge about their own conditions, access needs, and the social environments they navigate — knowledge that non-disabled researchers, clinicians, and designers cannot replicate without engagement. Disability…

Disability Identity

The ways in which individuals understand, relate to, and incorporate disability into their sense of self. Disability identity is shaped by personal experience, cultural context, community belonging, and social attitudes toward disability. People with temporary, episodic, or…

Disability Intimacy(also: Crip Intimacy, Disabled Intimacy)

The multifaceted experiences of intimacy as lived by disabled people, encompassing not only sexuality and romantic relationships but also emotional well-being, support networks, interpersonal trust, family planning, self-connection, communication in relationships, and bodily…

Disability Language(also: Disability Terminology, Disability Nomenclature)

The words and phrases used to refer to disabled people and disability, which carry significant social, political, and cultural implications. Disability language encompasses identity-first language (e.g., "disabled person"), person-first language (e.g., "person with a…

Disability Microaggression(also: Ableist Microaggression)

A subtle, often unintentional verbal, non-verbal, or environmental slight, snub, or insult that communicates hostility, marginalization, or prejudice toward a person with a disability. Conover et al. (2017) validated the Ableist Microaggressions Scale (AMS), which organises…

Disability Porn

A critical term used within disability studies and disability communities to describe media content that frames disabled people as objects of pity, tragedy, or spectacle for a non-disabled audience's emotional consumption. Often paired with or related to 'inspiration porn,' the…

Disability Simulation(also: Disability Simulator, Empathy Exercise)

A method of accessibility evaluation where non-disabled people experience approximations of the barriers faced by people with disabilities when using technology or navigating environments. In web accessibility, disability simulation tools like IBM's aDesigner visualize how…

Disability Stigma(also: Stigma, Disability-Related Stigma)

Negative attitudes, stereotypes, prejudice, and discriminatory behavior directed toward people with disabilities. Disability stigma can lead to social exclusion, reduced opportunities, and internalized shame. In many contexts, particularly in parts of the Global South,…

Disability Studies(also: DS, Critical Disability Studies)

An interdisciplinary academic field that examines disability as a social, cultural, and political phenomenon rather than solely a medical condition. Disability studies draws on the social model of disability to analyze how societal structures, attitudes, and environments create…

Disability culture(also: Crip culture)

A cultural movement and identity framework that celebrates the diversity disability brings, recognizing the positive aspects of the disability experience — community, solidarity, creativity, and unique ways of knowing. Emerging in the late 1980s through the work of activists…

Disability disclosure(also: Self-disclosure)

The process by which a person with a disability chooses to reveal information about their condition to others, whether in the workplace, social settings, or digital environments. Disclosure decisions are complex, involving considerations of stigma, accommodation needs, safety,…

Disability dongle

A well-intentioned but impractical accessibility invention, typically created by non-disabled people, that fails to address the actual needs of disabled users. The term, coined by disability advocate Liz Jackson, critiques technologies designed without meaningful input from…

Disability pride

A positive affirmation of disability identity that rejects shame, pity, and the desire to be "fixed" or "cured." Disability pride is a core element of disability culture, rooted in the belief that disabled people will not be integrated into society as long as they are trying to…

Disability-Centered Evaluation(also: Disability-Centric Evaluation, Disability-First Evaluation)

An approach to evaluating AI systems, tools, or research artefacts that places disabled people's lived experiences, information needs, and failure contexts at the centre of study design — including which data are collected, how ground truth is annotated, which models are tested,…

Disabled Joy(also: Disability Joy, Crip Joy)

Disabled joy refers to the positive experiences, pleasures, and sources of happiness that arise from or are connected to living as a disabled person. This includes pride in disability identity, the richness of disability community and culture, the creativity born of adapting to…

Disabled innovator(also: Disability-led innovation)

A disabled person who creates, develops, and disseminates technology or solutions that address accessibility needs, drawing on their lived experience and situated knowledge. Disabled innovators challenge the dominant paradigm where accessibility technology is designed "for"…

Disabled researcher(also: Researcher with disability, VI researcher)

A researcher who has a disability and conducts academic research, often — but not exclusively — in disability-related fields. Disabled researchers bring unique lived experience and situated knowledge to their work, which can deepen understanding and reduce bias. However, they…

Disablism(also: Disability Discrimination)

Discriminatory, oppressive, or abusive behaviour directed at people because of their disability, encompassing both individual acts of prejudice and systemic societal barriers. Coined by the Union of Physically Impaired Against Segregation in 1975, the term draws a parallel with…

Disclosure of Disability(also: Disability Disclosure, Self-Disclosure)

The decision by a person with a disability to reveal their disability status to others, whether in educational, professional, or social settings. Disclosure is a complex and deeply personal decision influenced by factors including the nature of the disability, social stigma,…

Disenfranchised Grief

Disenfranchised grief, a concept developed by Kenneth Doka, describes the experience of people who 'incur a loss that is not, or cannot be, openly acknowledged, publicly mourned or socially supported'. Because the relationship or loss lies outside what a society recognises as…

Double empathy problem(also: Double empathy theory)

A theory proposed by Damian Milton (2012) that reframes communication difficulties between autistic and neurotypical individuals as arising from a mutual lack of understanding rather than a deficit in autistic people alone. The double empathy problem challenges the dominant…

Down Syndrome(also: Trisomy 21)

A genetic condition caused by the presence of an extra copy of chromosome 21, resulting in intellectual disability and characteristic physical features. People with Down syndrome typically experience challenges with reading, language development, and working memory, though…

Dual-Positioned Researcher(also: Dual Positioning, Insider-Outsider Researcher)

A researcher who holds both the role of investigator and the lived experience of the condition or community being studied — for example, a person with OCD studying OCD, or a Deaf researcher studying Deaf users. Dual-positioned researchers bring interpretive depth and epistemic…

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