Glossary

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

27 results found in participatory design.

Co-Design (Co-creation, Cooperative Design)
Co-design is a collaborative design approach that actively involves all stakeholders — including end users, domain experts, and designers — as equal partners in the design process. In accessibility wo…
Co-creation workshop (Co-creation session, Co-design workshop)
A structured collaborative session in which researchers, designers, and participants (including end users) work together to generate ideas, explore concepts, and shape the design of products, services…
Community-Based Design (Community-Based Participatory Design, CBPD)
A design approach that situates the design process within a specific community, engaging community members as active participants and co-creators rather than passive research subjects. Unlike lab-base…
Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR, Community-based participatory design)
A research orientation in which academic researchers and community members collaborate as equal partners throughout the full research cycle — problem definition, design, data collection, analysis, and…
Community-sourcing (Community Sourcing, Community-contributed Data)
A data collection approach where members of a specific community contribute information based on their direct experience and local knowledge, as distinct from general crowdsourcing which draws on anon…
Cooperative Inquiry (Co-Inquiry)
A participatory design methodology that involves children as full design partners throughout the technology development process, from initial brainstorming through prototyping and evaluation. Develope…
Crowdsourced accessibility data (Crowdsourced validation, Accessibility crowdsourcing)
The collection, verification, or enrichment of accessibility-related geographic or environmental information through the coordinated efforts of many distributed contributors, often via web-based platf…
DIY-AT (Do-It-Yourself Assistive Technology, DIY Assistive Technology)
Assistive technology that is custom-made — often using digital fabrication, low-cost electronics, 3D printing, or everyday craft materials — by or with disabled people, their families, therapists, or …
Embodied Critique (Embodied Feedback, Body-Based Critique)
A method of expressing critical feedback through physical bodies and bodily actions rather than relying solely on spoken or written language. Embodied critique draws on disability cultures where commu…
End-User Auditing (User-Led Auditing, End User Audits)
An approach to AI auditing in which everyday users — rather than professional evaluators — identify problems, biases, or harms in AI outputs based on their lived experience. End-user auditing is parti…
Focus Group (Focus Group Discussion, Group Interview)
A qualitative research method in which a small group of participants (typically 3-10) with shared characteristics discuss a topic guided by a moderator, allowing researchers to explore perspectives, o…
Improvisation (Design Improvisation, Research Improvisation)
In the context of accessibility research and design, improvisation refers to the practice of creatively adapting plans and methods in response to unexpected circumstances, defined as "a creative act c…
Mediated Communication (Proxy Communication, Supported Communication)
Communication that is facilitated or interpreted through a third party, such as a caregiver, support worker, family member, or communication partner who knows the person well. In research involving pe…
Nothing About Us Without Us (NAUWU, Nihil de nobis sine nobis)
A foundational principle of the disability rights movement asserting that people with disabilities must be meaningfully involved in decisions, policies, research, and design processes that affect thei…
Participant-led research (User-led research)
A research methodology in which participants — particularly those from marginalized or underrepresented groups — take an active role in directing the research process, shaping study protocols, and det…
Participatory Design with Proxies (PDwP, Proxy Design)
A variation of participatory design in which people who are familiar with target users or who closely resemble them are included in the design process as proxy participants. Proxies — such as parents,…
Person-Centred Planning (Person-Centered Planning, PCP)
A combination of approaches designed to empower people with disabilities to make their own choices and decisions about the support they receive. In accessibility contexts, person-centred planning shif…
Pluralistic Walkthrough (Pluralistic Usability Walkthrough)
A group usability inspection method, introduced by Randolph Bias in 1994, in which users, developers, and usability specialists step through a task scenario together, each writing down the actions the…
Research reciprocity (Participatory reciprocity)
The principle that research participation should be a mutually beneficial exchange in which participants gain value — such as social connection, learning opportunities, a sense of contributing to know…
Reverse Inclusion
A design approach that begins with the lived experience and needs of a person with a disability and then expands the design outward to include broader social circles and communities. Reverse inclusion…