Glossary

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Image-Based Interface(also: Photo-Based Interface, Picture-Based Interface)

A user interface design approach that uses photographs, icons, or other visual images as the primary means of interaction and identification, minimizing or eliminating the need for text. Image-based interfaces are particularly valuable for users with cognitive disabilities, low…

Inclusive Co-Design(also: Inclusive Participatory Design)

A design methodology that ensures people from typically marginalized groups, including people with intellectual disabilities, are meaningfully included throughout the technology design process as equals rather than subjects. Inclusive co-design adapts traditional participatory…

Inclusive Design(also: Inclusive Design Methodology)

A design methodology that considers the full range of human diversity from the outset of the design process, including ability, language, culture, gender, and age. Inclusive design differs from accessibility retrofitting in that it incorporates diverse needs as core design…

Inclusive Esports(also: Accessible Esports)

A framing of competitive gaming that enables players with and without disabilities to compete on common terms — through universal input modalities (e.g., EMG, motion sensing, eye tracking), accessible controllers, software-based player balancing, or game designs that avoid…

Inclusive Learning(also: Inclusive Education Design, Accessible Learning)

An educational approach that ensures all learners, including those with disabilities, can fully participate in and benefit from learning activities and materials. Inclusive learning involves designing curricula, content, and delivery methods that accommodate diverse abilities,…

Inclusive Privacy(also: Accessible Privacy, Privacy and Accessibility)

An emerging field of research and practice focused on designing security and privacy mechanisms that are inclusive of people with diverse characteristics, abilities, needs, and values — particularly people with disabilities. Inclusive privacy recognizes that standard privacy…

Inclusive Thinking

A design and problem-solving mindset that treats the needs of people with diverse abilities as a core consideration from the outset of a project, rather than as an afterthought or accommodation added later. Inclusive thinking goes beyond technical knowledge of accessibility…

Infrastructuring for Access

A design approach introduced by Wang and Marie (CHI 2026) that combines HCI's infrastructuring theory with Disability Studies and Repair Studies. Rather than focusing on removing barriers or accommodating individual users, Infrastructuring for Access treats disabled…

Intellectual Disability(also: ID, Learning Disability (UK), Cognitive Disability)

A condition characterized by significant limitations in both intellectual functioning (reasoning, learning, problem-solving) and adaptive behavior (conceptual, social, and practical skills) that originates before age 22. The DSM-5 and ICD-11 classify severity levels based on…

Interaction Framing(also: Narrative Framing, Framing (Interaction Design))

Interaction framing refers to the way a system positions the user's role and the meaning of their input, independent of the underlying mechanics. The same choice can be framed as completing a task ("select the appropriate response") or as taking a meaningful action inside a…

Interdependence Framework(also: Interdependence in Assistive Technology)

A theoretical framework in assistive technology design that challenges the traditional emphasis on individual independence as the primary goal of accessibility. The Interdependence Framework, introduced by Bennett et al., positions assistive technologies as emerging from mutual…

Interdependent Accessibility(also: Interdependence Framework, Access Interdependence)

A framework for understanding accessibility as a collective, co-created responsibility rather than an individual accommodation. Interdependent accessibility recognizes that access is produced through relationships and collaboration between disabled and non-disabled people,…

Interest-Based Personalisation(also: Interest-Based Customization, Special Interest Embedding)

A software design strategy in which content, visuals, or activities are customised to reflect a user's personal interests or preferences in order to increase engagement and motivation. In the context of autism and developmental disabilities, interest-based personalisation…

Interface Personalisation(also: Interface Personalization, UI Personalisation, Adaptive Interface)

The ability for users to configure and customise the user interface of a digital system to match their individual needs, preferences, and abilities. In accessibility contexts, interface personalisation allows users to adjust settings such as text size, colour schemes, audio…

Intergroup Contact Theory(also: ICT, Contact Hypothesis)

A social-psychology theory, originating with Gordon Allport's 1954 contact hypothesis and elaborated by Pettigrew, Tropp, and others, which holds that positive, meaningful interaction between members of different social groups reduces prejudice and increases acceptance —…

Internal Access Conflict(also: Conflicting Access Needs)

A situation where a single individual's different access needs contradict or undermine each other, making it impossible to fully accommodate all needs simultaneously. For example, a person with chronic illness may benefit from remote meetings to avoid physical exertion, but the…

Interpersonal Accessibility(also: Social Access)

The dimension of accessibility that depends on social interactions and communication between people rather than on physical infrastructure or digital technology alone. Interpersonal accessibility encompasses the informal negotiations, requests for help, and explanations of…

Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for external rewards or consequences. In accessibility and inclusive design, understanding intrinsic motivation is crucial for creating technologies that people genuinely want to…

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