Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
134 results found in inclusive design.
- Cross-Cultural Accessibility (Culturally Responsive Accessibility, Internationalized Accessibility)
- The practice of designing accessible technologies and content that account for cultural, linguistic, and regional differences in how people perceive and interact with information. Rather than assuming…
- Cross-Disability Perspective (Cross-Disability Approach, Pan-Disability Research)
- A research or design approach that examines accessibility across multiple disability types rather than focusing on a single condition. Cross-disability perspectives recognize that people with differen…
- 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 Responsive Design (Culturally Sensitive Design, Culture-Centered Design)
- Culturally responsive design is an approach to creating products, services, and research methods that respects and incorporates the cultural values, practices, and communication norms of the communiti…
- Curb-Cut Effect (Electronic Curb Cut)
- The phenomenon whereby features designed for people with disabilities end up benefiting a much broader population. Named after pavement curb cuts originally mandated for wheelchair users, which also h…
- Debiasing (Bias mitigation, Bias correction)
- Debiasing refers to techniques and processes applied to AI systems—particularly machine learning models and large language models—to detect, reduce, or eliminate unfair biases that cause the system to…
- Design System (Component Library, UI Kit)
- A collection of reusable components, patterns, guidelines, and assets that together define the visual language and interaction standards for a product or organization. Design systems typically include…
- Design for Social Accessibility (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 …
- Design for User Empowerment (DfUE, Empowerment-Oriented Design)
- A design philosophy that prioritizes giving users — particularly people with disabilities — the skills, tools, and agency to create, modify, and customize their own technology solutions rather than be…
- Design justice
- A framework that centers the perspectives and leadership of people most affected by design outcomes, challenging traditional design processes that often reinforce existing power structures. Coined and…
- Disability dongle
- A well-intentioned but impractical accessibility invention, typically created by non-disabled people, that fails to address the actual needs of disabled users. The term, coined by disability advocate …
- Disability-Led Research (Disabled-Led Research, Disability-Centered Research)
- Research that is conceived, designed, conducted, and interpreted by disabled people rather than about them by non-disabled researchers. Disability-led research recognizes that disabled people hold uni…
- Disabled innovator (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 challe…
- Drone Accessibility (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 co…
- Edutainment (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…
- Electronic Curb-Cut Effect (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 mandate…
- Embodied Ideation (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 accessibili…
- Empathy (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…
- Empathy Lab (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 …
- Extreme Users (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…