Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
31 results found in design methodology.
- Pseudo-participation (Pseudo-participation by Design)
- A term coined by Palacin et al. (2020) to describe forms of user involvement in design that appear participatory on the surface but grant participants limited power to shape outcomes. In accessibility…
- Scaffolding (Instructional Scaffolding, Cognitive Scaffolding)
- A support strategy that provides temporary, structured assistance to help a learner accomplish tasks they cannot yet perform independently. In digital accessibility, scaffolding can take the form of p…
- Scenario-based design (SBD, Scenario-driven design)
- A design methodology that uses narrative descriptions of how people interact with technology in specific contexts to drive the design process. Scenarios ground abstract requirements in concrete human …
- Shift-Left Accessibility (Early-Stage Accessibility, Accessibility by Design)
- An approach to software development that moves accessibility considerations earlier in the development lifecycle — from testing and remediation phases to requirements gathering and design phases. The …
- Socio-Technical Infrastructure (Sociotechnical System)
- The interconnected combination of social structures (institutions, policies, norms, relationships) and technical systems (software, hardware, platforms) that together shape how people interact with te…
- Somaesthetic Appreciation (somaesthetics)
- A design philosophy concerned with cultivating heightened bodily awareness and first-person experience as a resource for interaction design. Derived from philosopher Richard Shusterman's somaesthetics…
- Surrogate Users (Proxy Users)
- Individuals who stand in for actual end users during design and evaluation processes, typically used when direct user involvement is impractical, ethically problematic, or insufficient. In accessibili…
- Tactile Ideation (Tactile Design Workshop, Non-Visual Ideation)
- A design methodology adapted for people with visual disabilities that replaces visual ideation techniques (such as sketching, post-it notes, and ideation cards) with tactile and auditory alternatives.…
- Tension-Informed Design (Designing with Tensions)
- A design framework that identifies and centres the tensions—competing demands, trade-offs, and misalignments—that arise when introducing new technology into established professional practices. Rather …
- Theater in Design (Forum Theater, Design Theater)
- A participatory design technique using professional actors to portray users with disabilities or older adults, allowing design teams to engage with user needs without directly involving potentially fr…
- 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…