Glossary

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Ableist microaggression(also: Disability microaggression, Casual ableism)

A subtle, often unintentional comment, question, or behavior that communicates hostile, derogatory, or negative assumptions about disability. Examples include unsolicited compliments on "bravery" for performing routine tasks, expressions of surprise at a disabled person's…

Access Intimacy

A concept coined by disability justice activist Mia Mingus describing the elusive, deeply felt connection that occurs when someone else genuinely understands and responds to your access needs. Access intimacy goes beyond formal accommodations to encompass the relational and…

Access Work(also: Access Labour)

The often invisible labor that disabled people and their allies perform to negotiate, secure, and maintain access to spaces, services, and activities. Access work includes tasks such as researching accommodations, communicating needs, navigating institutional processes, and…

Accessibility Advocacy(also: Accessibility Activism, A11y Advocacy)

The practice of promoting, educating others about, and pushing for the adoption of accessible practices in digital and physical environments. In online spaces, accessibility advocacy often falls disproportionately on people with disabilities themselves, who must repeatedly…

Accessible Tourism(also: Inclusive Tourism, Disability Tourism, Universal Tourism)

Accessible tourism refers to the effort to ensure that tourism destinations, products, and services are usable by all people regardless of their physical, sensory, or cognitive abilities. This encompasses the entire travel chain: pre-trip information and booking, transportation,…

Affective Touch(also: Social Touch, Emotional Touch)

The emotional and social dimension of touch, distinct from discriminative touch that identifies object properties. Affective touch is mediated primarily by C-tactile (CT) afferents in hairy skin and plays a fundamental role in social bonding, emotional communication, and…

Ageism(also: Age Discrimination, Age Bias)

Stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination against people based on their age, most commonly directed at older adults. Ageism manifests at individual, institutional, and societal levels through assumptions about cognitive decline, technology incompetence, resistance to change,…

Allyship(also: Accessibility Allyship, Disability Allyship)

The practice of non-disabled people (or people without a specific disability) actively supporting disabled colleagues by advocating for accessibility, following accommodation norms, and helping identify and address barriers. In accessibility contexts, allyship includes actions…

At-Risk Populations(also: Vulnerable Populations)

Groups that are more likely to experience harm from digital attacks, surveillance, institutional discrimination, or other threats, and are disproportionately affected when such harms occur. Originally a security research term, it extends beyond traditionally recognized…

Autistic Sociality(also: Autistic Social Interaction, Atypical Sociality)

The distinct ways in which autistic people form social connections, build community, and engage in relationships — which differ from neurotypical social norms but are not deficient. Autistic sociality may emphasize shared interests over personal relationships, prefer text-based…

Chrononormativity(also: Temporal Normativity)

The way institutions impose normative temporal expectations—standardized timelines, schedules, and paces of development—that shape how bodies and lives are organized and evaluated. In assistive technology contexts, chrononormativity manifests through rigid institutional clocks…

Civic Participation(also: Civic Engagement)

Civic participation encompasses the activities through which individuals engage in the democratic process and public life, including voting, attending public meetings, contacting elected officials, and serving on boards or committees. For people with disabilities, barriers to…

Civil Inattention

A social behavior theorized by sociologist Erving Goffman describing how strangers in public spaces acknowledge each other's presence through brief eye contact or a nod, then deliberately look away to respect personal boundaries. Civil inattention is a form of unfocused…

Co-Regulation(also: Coregulation)

Co-regulation is the process by which one person helps another manage their emotional or physiological state, through presence, calming behaviours, modelling coping strategies, or environmental adjustment. It is well established in developmental psychology (parent helping a…

Collaborative Access(also: Collective Access)

An approach to accessibility that frames access as a shared, negotiated process involving multiple stakeholders rather than an individual accommodation provided to a single person. Collaborative access recognizes that achieving inclusion often requires coordination between…

Collaborative Accessibility Authoring(also: Collaborative Authoring, Crowdsourced Accessibility)

An approach to web accessibility in which a community of volunteers collaboratively creates, maintains, and shares accessibility fixes for websites they do not own or control. Rather than relying solely on site owners to make their content accessible, collaborative authoring…

Community Care(also: Community-Based Care, Care in the Community)

A policy and practice model in which health and social care services are provided to disabled and elderly people in their own homes or local communities rather than in residential institutions. Community care aims to promote independence, choice, and social inclusion, but can…

Compromised Agency

A concept from science and technology studies describing situations where an individual's capacity to make meaningful choices is structurally constrained by systemic forces beyond their control, even as they retain some degree of decision-making power. In assistive technology…

Computer-Mediated Communication(also: CMC)

Communication that occurs through digital devices and platforms, including text messaging, email, video conferencing, voice chat, and social media. Computer-mediated communication raises accessibility challenges because many platforms assume users can see, hear, type, or speak.…

Criminalization

The process by which behaviors, identities, or survival strategies are defined as criminal, disproportionately affecting marginalized communities including disabled people. In accessibility contexts, criminalization creates access barriers when disabled people's survival…

Cross-Disability Solidarity(also: Cross-Disability Alliance, Disability Solidarity)

A framework for collective action in which people with different types of disabilities unite around shared goals of access, inclusion, and justice rather than organizing solely around specific disability categories. Cross-disability solidarity recognizes that while access needs…

Decolonial Computing(also: Decolonial AI)

An evolution of postcolonial computing that moves beyond critique to explore practices and pedagogies that center the voices, knowledge, and experiences of marginalized communities in technology design and research. Decolonial computing actively seeks to dismantle power…

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 for Social Accessibility(also: Social accessibility framework, DSA)

A design framework that extends traditional accessibility approaches by addressing not only the functional usability of technology but also the social contexts and implications of its use. Design for Social Accessibility is built on three tenets: incorporating users with and…

Digital Divide(also: Digital Gap, Technology Gap)

The gap between individuals, households, or communities that have access to modern information and communication technologies and those that do not, or between those with the skills to use them effectively and those without. The digital divide encompasses not only access to…

Digital Inclusion(also: Digital Equity, e-Inclusion)

The principle and practice of ensuring that all individuals and communities have access to and can effectively use information and communication technologies. Digital inclusion encompasses three key dimensions: affordable and reliable internet access, devices that meet user…

Digital Storytelling(also: Multimedia Storytelling, Personal Digital Narrative)

The use of digital media — including photographs, video clips, audio recordings, and text — to create and share personal narratives. In the context of accessibility and AAC, digital storytelling offers an alternative to text-based and real-time spoken communication, allowing…

Disability Disclosure(also: Disclosure)

The act of revealing information about one's disability to others, whether voluntarily or through necessity. Disclosure decisions are complex, involving considerations of privacy, safety, accommodation needs, social acceptance, and legal protections. People with invisible…

Disability Employment(also: Disability and Employment)

The broad domain encompassing how disability intersects with employment, including hiring discrimination, workplace accommodations, underemployment, employment gaps, and alternative work arrangements. Disabled people face persistent employment disparities, with significantly…

Disability Signifier(also: DS, Disability Marker)

A visual or auditory feature incorporated into a digital avatar or virtual representation that indicates a disability, such as a virtual wheelchair, walking cane, prosthetic limb, or hearing aid. Disability signifiers allow people with disabilities to express their disability…

Duality(also: Dual Lives)

The practice of managing plural identities across different contexts, where a person lives dual work lives and maintains separate identity presentations depending on the stakeholders they are interacting with. In disability contexts, duality involves strategic navigation of…

Embodied Harassment

Harassment in virtual reality environments that targets a user's avatar body or physical representation, such as invading personal space, mimicking movements, or physically interacting with avatar features without consent. In the context of disability, embodied harassment…

Emotional Accessibility(also: Psychological Accessibility)

The consideration of emotional and psychological impacts in accessibility design, recognizing that inaccessible technology affects not only task completion but also users' confidence, autonomy, stress levels, and overall well-being. Emotional accessibility extends traditional…

Emotional Safety(also: Psychological Safety)

A condition in which individuals feel secure enough to participate, take risks, and make mistakes without fear of embarrassment, judgment, or social stigma. In accessible learning environments, emotional safety is critical for people with disabilities who may feel self-conscious…

Financial Delegation(also: Financial Proxy, Delegated Banking)

The practice of relying on a trusted person — such as a family member, friend, neighbour, or support worker — to perform financial tasks on one's behalf. Financial delegation is common among older adults and people with cognitive impairments or mental health conditions, yet most…

Financial Inclusion

The availability and equitable access to financial services and products for all individuals, regardless of disability, age, income level, geographic location, or digital literacy. In accessibility contexts, financial inclusion requires that banking, payment, and investment…

Forgotten Margins

A term describing disabled communities and populations that remain overlooked by mainstream accessibility research and practice, typically those at the intersection of disability and other forms of marginalization such as poverty, criminalization, racial discrimination, or…

Friendsourcing

A practice where people with disabilities turn to friends, family members, or social network contacts to obtain assistance with accessibility-related tasks, such as describing images, identifying objects, or verifying visual information. Unlike crowdsourcing from strangers,…

Grey Digital Divide(also: Gray Digital Divide, Age-Related Digital Divide)

The gap in technology adoption, usage, and digital skills between older adults and younger populations. While older adults may be interested in using technology for communication, health management, and entertainment, they often face barriers including interface complexity,…

Healthcare Access(also: Healthcare Accessibility)

The ability of disabled people to obtain timely, appropriate, and respectful healthcare services. Healthcare access barriers include physical inaccessibility of medical facilities, communication barriers with providers, diagnostic overshadowing (where symptoms are attributed to…

Human Cooperation (Accessibility)(also: Cooperative Shared Control)

In the context of accessible gaming and assistive technology, human cooperation refers to arrangements in which a disabled user (the pilot) and another person (the copilot) jointly operate a single system — for example by splitting game controller inputs between two pads so they…

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,…

Identity Management

The ongoing process of controlling how one presents aspects of their identity—including disability, health conditions, gender, sexuality, occupation, and other characteristics—across different social contexts and to different stakeholders. In accessibility and disability…

Identity Obfuscation

The deliberate concealment or misrepresentation of aspects of one's identity to avoid discrimination, harm, or negative consequences from adversarial stakeholders. In disability and accessibility contexts, identity obfuscation may involve hiding a disability from employers,…

Information asymmetry(also: Information gap, Information lag)

In accessibility contexts, the unequal access to timely, relevant information experienced by disabled people compared to non-disabled peers, caused by inaccessible formats, platforms, and communication channels. Information asymmetry goes beyond the inability to access specific…

Inspiration Porn

The portrayal of people with disabilities as inspirational solely or primarily because of their disability, objectifying them for the benefit of non-disabled audiences. Coined by disability activist Stella Young, inspiration porn reduces disabled people to motivational props and…

Institutional Gatekeeping(also: Systemic Gatekeeping)

The practices through which institutions such as insurance companies, healthcare providers, school districts, and government agencies control access to assistive technology and disability services by defining eligibility criteria, evaluation processes, and funding boundaries.…

Interactional Synchrony

The coordinated, often unconscious alignment of conversational partners' body postures, gestures, gaze, vocal rhythm, and facial expressions during social interaction. Research in social psychology and affective neuroscience has linked interactional synchrony to rapport,…

Intergenerational Communication(also: Cross-generational Communication)

Communication between people of different generations, particularly between older adults and younger family members or caregivers, which can be complicated by differing expectations, technology literacy levels, and communication styles. In accessibility and aging contexts,…

Internalized Ageism(also: Self-Directed Ageism)

The process by which older adults absorb and accept negative societal stereotypes about aging, applying these beliefs to themselves and their peers. Internalized ageism can lead older adults to underestimate their own capabilities, avoid learning new technologies, or accept…