Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
91 results found in design.
- Ability-Mediating Design
- A design framework introduced by Radu-Daniel Vatavu that focuses on how interactive systems mediate and reshape users' abilities rather than adapting to fixed abilities. Its core principles are mediat…
- Access hack (Accessibility workaround, Adaptive strategy, Crip hack)
- A creative workaround, adaptation, or improvised solution that a disabled person develops to navigate an inaccessible tool, environment, or system. Access hacks range from physical modifications (adap…
- Accessible Making (Accessible Fabrication, Inclusive Making)
- The practice and research area focused on ensuring that maker activities—including digital fabrication, crafting, and DIY projects—are accessible to people with disabilities. This encompasses three re…
- Adaptable system
- A system that can be configured using prior knowledge before use, as opposed to an adaptive system which changes dynamically during use. In accessibility, adaptable systems allow users or administrato…
- Adaptive content (Content adaptation, Adaptive hypermedia)
- Content that automatically adjusts its presentation, structure, or level of detail based on the needs, preferences, or capabilities of the user or their device. In accessibility, adaptive content goes…
- Adaptive content complexity (Layered descriptions, Tiered content)
- A design strategy that provides the same information at multiple levels of detail or complexity, allowing users to access content appropriate to their cognitive processing capacity, prior knowledge, o…
- Affordance (Perceived affordance)
- A property of an object or environment that suggests how it can be used, originally defined by psychologist James J. Gibson in 1977 as the actionable possibilities between an actor and their environme…
- Bespoke Accessibility (Personalised Accessibility, Individualized Access)
- An approach to accessibility that recognises each person's access needs are unique and may conflict with those of others, requiring individually tailored rather than one-size-fits-all solutions. Bespo…
- Bespoke Co-Design (Personalised Co-Design)
- An approach to participatory design in which interventions are co-designed individually with each user rather than in group settings, allowing for highly targeted and personalised solutions. In access…
- Built environment
- The human-made surroundings that provide the setting for daily activity, encompassing buildings, streets, sidewalks, parks, transit systems, and all other constructed infrastructure. In accessibility,…
- Capability model (User capability profile)
- A structured representation of an individual user's abilities across relevant dimensions such as sight, hearing, mobility, and cognition. In accessibility and adaptive interface design, capability mod…
- Circuit Design (Electronic Circuit Design, Circuit Schematic Design)
- The process of creating and representing electrical circuits that perform specific functions, using standard symbolic representations called schematics to show how components like resistors, capacitor…
- Collaborative Ideation (Group brainstorming, Co-ideation)
- The joint process by which a group generates, refines, clusters, and converges on ideas, typically alternating between divergent and convergent thinking. Collaborative ideation is a cornerstone of des…
- Color Theory (Colour Theory)
- A body of principles and guidelines for understanding how colors interact, combine, and affect perception. In accessibility contexts, color theory is important for ensuring sufficient contrast ratios,…
- Colour contrast ratio (Contrast ratio, Luminance contrast ratio, Color contrast)
- A numerical measure of the perceived brightness difference between a foreground colour (typically text) and its background, expressed as a ratio ranging from 1:1 (no contrast, identical colours) to 21…
- Context Engineering (Context management)
- The practice, in LLM-based systems, of deliberately selecting, structuring, and injecting the information an AI model sees on each call — beyond just the user's latest message — so that outputs are gr…
- Contrast Ratio (Color Contrast Ratio, Luminance Contrast Ratio)
- A numerical measure of the difference in perceived brightness between two colors, expressed as a ratio ranging from 1:1 (no contrast) to 21:1 (maximum contrast, black on white). WCAG 2.2 requires a mi…
- Crip technoscience (Crip tech, Critical disability technoscience)
- A framework from disability studies, articulated by Aimi Hamraie and Kelly Fritsch, that positions disabled people as expert knowledge-makers and innovative technologists rather than passive recipient…
- Culturally Grounded Design (Culturally Responsive Design, Culture-Centered Design)
- A design approach that centers the cultural values, epistemologies, and practices of a specific community throughout the technology development process. Rather than adapting mainstream designs for dif…
- Culturally-Situated Design (Culturally-Embedded Design, Culturally-Responsive Design)
- An approach to technology design that treats culture — including national identity, religion, ethnicity, language, geo-politics, and community traditions — as central to user needs and design decision…