Glossary

Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.

134 results found in inclusive design.

Extrinsic Motivation
Extrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity to achieve external rewards, avoid punishment, or meet external expectations rather than for inherent enjoyment. In accessibility and technology …
Function-Centered Design (Function-Based Design, Functional Profile Design)
A design approach that organizes user needs around observed functional characteristics — such as attention span, motor control, sensory sensitivities, and communication abilities — rather than diagnos…
Game Accessibility (Accessible Gaming, Inclusive Game Design)
The practice of designing video games so they can be enjoyed by players with disabilities, including visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive impairments. Game accessibility encompasses a wide range of c…
Gaming accessibility (Game accessibility, Accessible gaming)
The design and development of video games and gaming experiences that can be enjoyed by people with a wide range of abilities, including those with motor, sensory, cognitive, and communication disabil…
GenderMag (Gender-Inclusiveness Magnifier, GenderMag Method)
GenderMag (Gender-Inclusiveness Magnifier) is an inclusive design inspection method for finding and fixing inclusivity bugs in problem-solving software. It uses five facets of problem-solving style th…
Higher Education Accessibility (University Accessibility, Postsecondary Accessibility)
The policies, practices, accommodations, and technologies that ensure students with disabilities can participate fully and equitably in college and university programs. Higher education accessibility …
Hybrid Space (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, hy…
Inclusive Co-Design (Inclusive Participatory Design)
A design methodology that ensures people from typically marginalized groups, including people with intellectual disabilities, are meaningfully included throughout the technology design process as equa…
Interdependence Framework (Interdependence in Assistive Technology)
A theoretical framework in assistive technology design that challenges the traditional emphasis on individual independence as the primary goal of accessibility. The Interdependence Framework, introduc…
Interdependent Accessibility (Interdependence Framework, Access Interdependence)
A framework for understanding accessibility as a collective, co-created responsibility rather than an individual accommodation. Interdependent accessibility recognizes that access is produced through …
Internal Access Conflict (Conflicting Access Needs)
A situation where a single individual's different access needs contradict or undermine each other, making it impossible to fully accommodate all needs simultaneously. For example, a person with chroni…
Interpersonal Accessibility (Social Access)
The dimension of accessibility that depends on social interactions and communication between people rather than on physical infrastructure or digital technology alone. Interpersonal accessibility enco…
Intrinsic Motivation
Intrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity for its inherent satisfaction rather than for external rewards or consequences. In accessibility and inclusive design, understanding intrinsic mo…
Liberatory access (Liberation-oriented access)
An approach to accessibility that goes beyond inclusion and assimilation to challenge the broader conditions of ableism and exclusion that create inaccessibility in the first place. Coined by disabili…
Maker Education (Making, Maker Movement, Makerspace Education)
An educational approach that emphasizes hands-on learning through designing, building, and debugging physical artifacts using tools such as electronics, 3D printers, laser cutters, and microcontroller…
Method cards (Design method cards, Ideation cards)
Structured design tools consisting of cards that present scenarios, questions, or prompts to guide designers through specific aspects of the design process. In accessibility contexts, method cards pre…
Mixed-Ability Interaction (Mixed-Ability Play, Mixed-Visual-Ability, Cross-Ability Interaction)
Social interactions, activities, or collaborative experiences involving people with different levels of ability, such as sighted and visually impaired people playing a game together, or wheelchair use…
Mixed-Hearing Environment (Mixed-Ability Hearing Space, Mixed-Hearing Performance Space)
A setting in which people with varying levels of hearing ability—including Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and hearing individuals—participate together in shared activities such as music performance, collabora…
Mixed-ability play (Inclusive play, Mixed-ability gaming)
Game design that enables meaningful shared play experiences between people with and without disabilities, ensuring that ability differences do not prevent enjoyable social interaction. Mixed-ability p…
Mobile Makerspace (Maker Van, Makerspace on Wheels, Mobile Maker Lab)
A portable makerspace housed in a vehicle or transportable unit that brings making tools, materials, and activities to different locations rather than requiring participants to travel to a fixed facil…