Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
122 results found in Inclusive Design.
- Situational Disability (Situational Impairment, Contextual Disability)
- A temporary limitation in ability caused by environmental or situational factors rather than a medical condition. Examples include being unable to hear audio in a noisy environment, having limited dex…
- Social Acceptability (Social Acceptance, Technology Stigma)
- The degree to which the use of an assistive technology or interaction technique is perceived as socially appropriate by both the user and those around them. Social acceptability is a critical but ofte…
- Storyboarding (Storyboard)
- A visual narrative technique, adapted from film, in which a sequence of sketched panels depicts how a user will interact with a product, service, or environment over time. Storyboards make abstract sc…
- Support Network (Support Worker, Support Person, Circle of Support)
- The caregivers, family members, support workers, teachers, and peers who assist a person with a disability in daily life and in participating in research or design activities. In inclusive co-design w…
- Symbiotic Learning
- Symbiotic Learning is a conceptual framing introduced by Jiang et al. (CHI 2026) describing a mode of mixed-ability family learning in which parents and children mutually enable each other's participa…
- Tactile Exhibit (Touch Exhibit, Hands-On Exhibit, Tactile Display)
- A museum or gallery exhibit designed to be explored through touch rather than sight, allowing visitors to physically interact with objects, models, or replicas. Tactile exhibits are particularly impor…
- Temporary Disability (Short-Term Disability, Transient Disability)
- A disability or impairment that is expected to be temporary in duration, resulting from illness, injury, surgery, or other medical conditions. Temporary disabilities create access needs that may be id…
- Universal Access (Universal Accessibility)
- The principle and practice of designing products, environments, programs, and services to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized desig…
- Universal Accessibility (Accessibility for All)
- A broad approach to accessibility that goes beyond technical compliance with specific disability-focused guidelines to encompass the needs of all users regardless of age, experience, cultural backgrou…
- Universal Design (UD, Design for All, Inclusive Design)
- Universal Design is the design philosophy and practice of creating products, environments, and systems that are usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation o…
- Universal Remote Console (URC, URC Framework)
- The Universal Remote Console (URC) is an ISO/IEC standard framework (ISO/IEC 24752) that enables pluggable, alternative user interfaces for applications and devices. URC separates the user interface f…
- User Agency (User Control, User Autonomy)
- The degree to which users maintain control over their interactions with a system, including the ability to make choices, adjust system behavior, override automated decisions, and understand what the s…
- User Enactment (UE, Experience Prototyping)
- A research method in which participants explore emerging or future technologies through simulated scenarios using physical enactment stages (mockup environments). User enactment combines brainstorming…
- User Experience (UX)
- A person's perceptions and responses resulting from the use or anticipated use of a product, system, or service, encompassing emotions, beliefs, preferences, physical and psychological responses, and …
- User Research (UX Research, Usability Research)
- The systematic study of users and their needs, behaviours, and experiences to inform the design and development of products and services. User research methods include interviews, surveys, focus group…
- User Sensitive Inclusive Design (USID)
- A design methodology proposed as an alternative to User Centred Design for populations with highly diverse and dynamically changing needs, particularly older people. User Sensitive Inclusive Design re…
- User-Centred Design (UCD, User-Centered Design, Human-Centred Design)
- An iterative design methodology that places the needs, characteristics, and limitations of end users at the centre of each stage of the design process. In accessibility, user-centred design involves p…
- Value Sensitive Design (VSD)
- A design methodology that accounts for human values in a principled and systematic way throughout the technology design process. Value Sensitive Design integrates three types of investigation: concept…
- Visual Affordance (Visual Affordances)
- A visually conveyed cue that signals how an object can be used or what it represents - for example, a handle suggesting 'grasp', a button suggesting 'press', or color and labeling suggesting product i…
- Web Interaction Environment (WIE)
- A modelling concept defined as a particular audience group's set of intrinsic characteristics upon which tailored evaluation procedures can be applied to a website. Introduced by Lopes and Carrico (20…