Glossary

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Disability-Related Embodied Empathy from Existing Media(also: DREEM)

A design pedagogy approach, introduced by Baltaxe-Admony et al., that does not translate specific aspects of disability theory into technology requirements but instead develops curricula that sensitise design students to disability cultures and to the lived experiences of…

Disability-first Design(also: Disability-first Approach, Disability-centered Design)

A design and research methodology that positions disabled people as active contributors and decision-makers rather than passive subjects or end-users in technology development. In contrast to approaches where non-disabled researchers create solutions for disabled users,…

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"…

Discoverability(also: Feature Discoverability)

The degree to which a user can find and become aware of a feature, setting, or capability within a system. In accessibility, discoverability is a critical challenge because users who could benefit from accessibility features — such as screen magnification, high contrast modes,…

Drone Accessibility(also: UAV Accessibility, Accessible Drone Piloting)

The design and adaptation of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) and their control interfaces to be usable by people with disabilities. This includes providing alternative input methods such as voice commands, adapted controllers, and tangible interfaces, as well as multimodal…

Dual User Interface(also: Dual Interface, Concurrent Accessible Interface)

An interface design approach in which two distinct, purpose-built user interfaces are provided simultaneously for different user groups — typically one visual interface for sighted users and one non-visual interface for blind or visually impaired users. Unlike screen reader…

Edutainment(also: Educational Entertainment, Learning Games)

Content or applications that combine education with entertainment, typically through games, interactive media, or engaging activities designed to teach skills while keeping users motivated and engaged. In the accessibility context, edutainment apps must balance engaging visual…

Electronic Curb-Cut Effect(also: Digital Curb-Cut Effect, Curb-Cut Effect)

The phenomenon where accessibility features originally designed for people with disabilities end up benefiting a much wider population. Named after physical curb cuts in sidewalks — originally mandated for wheelchair users but widely used by people with strollers, delivery…

Embodied Ideation(also: Embodied Design Ideation)

A design method that engages participants in generating ideas through physical movement, bodily interaction, and hands-on exploration rather than purely verbal or written communication. In accessibility contexts, embodied ideation is particularly valuable for including…

Empathy(also: Empathic design, User empathy)

In the context of human-centered design and accessibility, empathy refers to the capacity to understand and share the experiences, needs, emotions, and challenges of users who differ from the designer in ability, age, background, or context. Empathy is a foundational competency…

Empathy Lab(also: Accessibility Lab, Assistive Technology Lab, AT Lab)

A dedicated physical or virtual space where designers, developers, and other team members can experience digital products using assistive technologies and simulations of various disabilities. Empathy labs typically include screen readers, switch devices, eye-tracking systems,…

Empathy Tools(also: Empathy Aids, Empathy-building Tools, Age Suits)

Empathy tools are physical or digital artefacts designed to give non-disabled designers a limited first-hand experience of specific impairments or ageing effects — cataract-simulating goggles, blurring film overlays, age suits that add weight and restrict joint movement,…

Exercise Accessibility(also: Fitness Accessibility, Accessible Physical Activity)

The design of exercise environments, equipment, programs, and technologies to be usable by people with disabilities. Exercise accessibility encompasses both physical spaces (accessible gyms, adapted tracks, swimming pools with lifts) and the technologies and guidance systems…

Experience-Based Co-Design(also: EBCD)

A participatory methodology originally developed in UK health services research that treats people's lived experience - their 'emotional touch-points' of confusion, frustration, or insight - as the core material for designing services or systems. Canonical EBCD stages include…

External Human-Machine Interface(also: eHMI, External HMI)

A class of interfaces on the exterior of a vehicle — typically an automated or autonomous vehicle — designed to communicate the vehicle's intent, awareness, or state to pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users who would otherwise rely on cues from a human driver (eye contact,…

Extreme Users(also: Lead Users, Edge Cases)

A design methodology that focuses on a small set of users with unusual, demanding, or outlying needs rather than statistically representative users. Developed by Pullin and Newell (2007), the approach recognizes that the variability among older and disabled users is too great to…

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity to achieve external rewards, avoid punishment, or meet external expectations rather than for inherent enjoyment. In accessibility and technology design, extrinsic motivators include gamification elements like badges, points,…

Fluctuating Disability(also: Variable Disability)

A disability whose symptoms and severity vary over time, sometimes day to day or even hour to hour. People with fluctuating disabilities may experience periods of relatively high function alternating with periods of significant impairment. This variability creates challenges for…

Function-Centered Design(also: Function-Based Design, Functional Profile Design)

A design approach that organizes user needs around observed functional characteristics — such as attention span, motor control, sensory sensitivities, and communication abilities — rather than diagnostic labels or medical categories. Function-centered design recognizes that…

Game Accessibility(also: Accessible Gaming, Inclusive Game Design)

The practice of designing video games so they can be enjoyed by players with disabilities, including visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive impairments. Game accessibility encompasses a wide range of considerations: remappable controls and alternative input devices for motor…

Gaming accessibility(also: Game accessibility, Accessible gaming)

The design and development of video games and gaming experiences that can be enjoyed by people with a wide range of abilities, including those with motor, sensory, cognitive, and communication disabilities. Gaming accessibility encompasses features such as remappable controls,…

GenderMag(also: Gender-Inclusiveness Magnifier, GenderMag Method)

GenderMag (Gender-Inclusiveness Magnifier) is an inclusive design inspection method for finding and fixing inclusivity bugs in problem-solving software. It uses five facets of problem-solving style that show statistically significant gender differences: Motivations…

Gerontechnology(also: Gerontech)

An interdisciplinary field combining gerontology (the study of aging) and technology to design products, services, and environments that support the health, independence, and quality of life of older adults. Gerontechnology addresses the specific needs and abilities of aging…

Graphic Captions(also: Visual Captions, Animated Captions)

A captioning approach that uses visual elements such as GIFs, animated stickers, icons, or emojis to represent sounds in audio-visual content, as an alternative or complement to traditional text-based bracket notation. Graphic captions can convey additional information about a…

Graphical Model(also: Visual Model, Graphical Representation)

In educational and accessibility contexts, a visual representation system that uses shapes, colours, spatial relationships, and physical manipulation to convey abstract concepts. Graphical models for mathematics represent numbers as groups of objects whose size corresponds to…

Handicapping(also: Handicap System, Player Balancing)

A mechanism that asymmetrically adjusts game or contest conditions so competitors of differing ability have more equal chances to win or participate meaningfully. Long established in sports such as golf, horse racing, and archery, handicapping is distinct from matchmaking in…

Higher Education Accessibility(also: University Accessibility, Postsecondary Accessibility)

The policies, practices, accommodations, and technologies that ensure students with disabilities can participate fully and equitably in college and university programs. Higher education accessibility encompasses physical campus access, digital content accessibility, classroom…

Human-AI Co-Creation(also: Human-AI Co-Creative, Co-Creative AI, Mixed-Initiative Co-Creation)

Human-AI co-creation refers to creative work in which a person and an AI system iteratively contribute to the same artifact, with each shaping the other's next move rather than the AI acting as a one-shot tool. In accessibility contexts, co-creative systems are used to scaffold…

Human-Centered AI(also: HCAI, Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, HCXAI)

Human-Centered AI (HCAI) is a design and research orientation that places human experience, context, agency, and values at the center of how AI systems are built and evaluated, rather than optimizing only for model performance. In accessibility contexts, HCAI emphasizes that AI…

Human-Centered Computing(also: Human-Centred Computing, People-Centered Computing)

Human-centered computing is an approach to technology design and development that places human needs, capabilities, and experiences at the center of the design process. It emphasizes understanding the full diversity of human physical, sensory, and cognitive abilities, and…

Human-Machine Interface(also: HMI, Human-Computer Interface)

The point of interaction between a human user and a machine, system, or device, encompassing the hardware and software through which users communicate with and control technology. In the context of accessible design, HMIs include physical controls (buttons, levers, keypads),…

Hybrid Space(also: Blended Space, Hybrid Community Space)

A community or program environment that combines both in-person and online elements, not necessarily simultaneously, to create a more accessible and inclusive experience. In accessibility contexts, hybrid spaces address barriers such as geographic distance, mobility limitations,…

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…