Glossary
This glossary is always growing, just like the way we learn, unlearn, and adapt in the work of inclusion.
This is meant to help with inclusive language around accessibility, neurodiversity, and disability justice. I've tried to ground these definitions in both lived experience and what we're learning as best practices keep evolving.
The thing is, language is really personal and depends on context, so I'm aiming to offer definitions that are respectful and clear while recognizing that.
Jump to a letter:
A · C · D · E · F · G · H · I · L · M · N · O · P · R · S · T · U · V · W
A
A11y: A short way to write "accessibility." It shows the first and last letter, with 11 letters in between.
Ableism: Treating disabled people unfairly or seeing them as less valuable.
Access Barriers: Things that make it harder or impossible for someone to use a product, service, or environment. These can be physical, digital, social, or attitudinal like small text, missing captions, confusing language, or biased assumptions.
Accessibility: Making things usable for everyone, including people with disabilities.
Accessibility Audits: A detailed review of a website, app, or digital product to find accessibility barriers. Audits check how well something meets standards like WCAG and often include suggestions for fixes. They can be done by experts or using automated tools, but human review is key.
Accommodations: Changes that help disabled people access things in a fair way.
ADHD: A brain difference that can affect attention, self-control, and planning.
Allistic: A person who is not autistic. This word helps show the difference between autistic and non-autistic people.
Alternative Text (Alt Text): A short description of an image. It helps people using screen readers know what’s in the picture.
AuDHD: A term used by people who are both autistic and have ADHD. It highlights the experience of having both neurodivergent identities, which often overlap but also create unique challenges. Many people find the term helpful in naming how their brain works.
Autism: A brain difference that changes how a person thinks, feels, talks to others, and understands the world. Autism is a natural way that some people’s brains work. Some people call it a disability. Others see it as part of who they are. Many people think it is both. Every autistic person is different.
C
Captions: Text on videos that shows what people are saying and other sounds. They help people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
Cognitive Accessibility: Making things easier to understand for people who think or learn in different ways.
Cognitive Diversity: The range of ways people think, learn, solve problems, and process information. It includes differences in memory, attention, reasoning, and learning styles. Cognitive diversity helps teams see things from new angles and design more inclusive solutions.
Cognitive Load: How much brain power it takes to do something or understand it.
Colour Contrast: The difference between two colors. Good contrast helps text and images stand out clearly.
D
Deaf: A person who has little or no hearing. Some Deaf people also see this as a cultural identity.
Disability Justice: A movement that focuses on fairness, access, and support for all disabled people, especially those with many identities.
Dyscalculia: A learning difference that makes it hard to understand numbers and math.
Dyslexia: A learning difference that makes reading, writing, and spelling harder.
Dynamically Disabled: A way to describe people whose access needs change from day to day or moment to moment. This can include people with chronic illness, pain, fatigue, or neurodivergent conditions that fluctuate. It pushes back on the idea that disability is always static or visible.
E
Executive Function: Mental skills that help with planning, staying focused, and managing time and tasks.
Epilepsy: A brain condition that causes repeated seizures.
Environmental Accessibility: Designing spaces so that everyone, including people with disabilities, can use them easily.
Equity: Giving people the support they need so everyone has a fair chance to succeed. Equity is not the same as equality. Equality means giving everyone the same thing, but equity means giving people what they actually need. Some people confuse the two, but equity is about fairness, not sameness.
F
Flash Sensitivity: When flashing lights or images cause discomfort or health issues, like seizures.
Fractional Consulting: Hiring someone part-time or for a short-term project instead of full-time.
Frustration Barrier: A point where something becomes so confusing or hard to use that someone gives up. This affects many neurodivergent users.
Functional Limitation: When someone has trouble doing everyday tasks in a typical way.
Fidget Toys: Small tools like spinners or squishy items that help with focus, calm, or sensory needs. Many neurodivergent people use them.
G
Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD): A condition where someone feels worried most of the time, even without a clear reason.
Guided Access: A setting on devices that keeps someone in one app. It helps people stay focused or avoid accidental taps.
Gestalt Principles: Design rules that explain how people see patterns or groups in visual content. They help make things easier to understand.
Grounding Technique: A way to calm down during stress by using the senses or focusing the mind.
H
Hyperfocus: When someone gets very deeply focused on one thing and has a hard time switching attention. This often happens with ADHD or autism.
Hypersensitivity: When someone is extra sensitive to things like noise, light, or touch.
Headings: Titles that show how content is organized. Headings help everyone, especially screen reader users, find what they need faster.
High Contrast Mode: A display setting that makes text and images stand out more. It helps people with low vision read more easily.
I
Inclusive Design: Creating things that work for the widest range of people, from the very start.
Information Architecture: How content is organized and labeled. Good structure helps people find and understand things faster.
Intellectual Disability: A condition where someone learns and processes information more slowly. It also affects daily living skills.
Intersectionality: How different parts of someone’s identity (like race, gender, or disability) combine to affect their life and access to resources.
L
Learning Disability: A group of conditions that make it harder to learn in typical ways. It can affect reading, writing, or math.
Low Vision: When someone has trouble seeing clearly, even with glasses or contacts.
Literal Thinking: Understanding words and phrases exactly as they are said, without reading between the lines. This is a natural thinking style for many people, including some neurodivergent individuals. Metaphors, jokes, or indirect language can sometimes create confusion, not because someone is wrong, but because communication isn't always designed for all thinking styles.
M
Meltdown: A strong reaction to too much stress or sensory input. It’s not a tantrum, it’s how some people, especially autistic folks, release overload.
Mobility Aid: A tool that helps someone move around more easily. Examples include canes, walkers, and wheelchairs.
Microaggressions: Small, often unintentional comments or actions that hurt or exclude people from marginalized groups.
Multiply Neurodivergent: A person who has more than one neurodivergent identity, like being both autistic and having ADHD. Each neurotype may show up in different ways, and the combination often creates a unique experience that isn’t just the sum of its parts.
Masking: When someone hides parts of who they are to fit in, often by copying others or suppressing natural behaviors. This is common among autistic people.
N
Neurodivergent: A person whose brain works differently from what the dominant society defines as "typical" or "normal." This includes people with autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyspraxia, Tourette’s, and other cognitive differences. Being neurodivergent is not a flaw, it’s a natural part of human diversity. The term helps people describe their experiences and push back against systems that aren’t designed for all types of minds.
Neurodiversity: The idea that brain differences are a natural and valuable part of being human. It includes conditions like autism, ADHD, and dyslexia. Neurodiversity means there is no one “right” way for a brain to work, and these differences should be respected like any other kind of diversity. The word was coined by Australian sociologist Judy Singer in her 1998 honors thesis. She saw it as the start of a new social movement based on the value of neurological diversity.
Neuroinclusive: Welcoming and including people with different types of brains. It means creating spaces, systems, and experiences that work for everyone, not just the “typical.”
Neuroinclusive Design: Creating things that work for people with different brain styles and needs.
Neuroqueer: A way of being and thinking that challenges narrow ideas of “normal.” It means expressing your true self, especially if you're both neurodivergent and queer. The concept was developed by Dr. Nick Walker and others. You can read more in her introduction to neuroqueer thinking on Neuroqueer.com.
Neuronormative: The belief that there’s one “right” or “normal” way for brains to work. This idea often shapes how schools, workplaces, and systems are built.
Neurotypical: A person whose brain works in a way that fits what society sees as “normal.”
Neurotype: The way someone’s brain works and processes the world. Everyone has a neurotype, it’s just part of who you are.
Neurological Conditions: Health issues that affect the brain and nerves. Examples include epilepsy, autism, ADHD, and Parkinson’s.
Nothing About Us Without Us: A disability rights principle stating that disabled people must be at the center of decisions that affect their lives. It challenges both exclusion and tokenism.
O
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD): A condition with unwanted thoughts and repeated actions that feel hard to stop.
Onboarding: Helping someone get started with a new product, job, or system. Good onboarding explains things clearly and simply.
Overstimulation: When there is too much noise, light, or activity for someone to handle. It can lead to stress, shutdowns, or meltdowns.
Open Dyslexic: A font designed to make reading easier for people with dyslexia. The letters are weighted to help prevent flipping or confusion.
P
Processing Speed: How quickly someone can take in and respond to information.
Plain Language: Writing that is easy to read and understand the first time. It helps everyone, especially people with cognitive or learning disabilities.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A mental health condition caused by trauma. It can lead to flashbacks, anxiety, and feeling on edge.
Progressive Disclosure: A design method that shows only the most important information first. It helps people focus and not feel overwhelmed.
R
Reasonable Accommodation: A change that helps a person with a disability take part fully in work, school, or daily life.
Remediation: Fixing problems in websites or documents to make them more accessible.
Reading Order: The order that content is read by screen readers. It should match how people naturally read the page.
Responsive Design: Making websites and apps that work well on different devices and screen sizes.
S
Sensory Processing Disorder: When the brain has trouble handling information from the senses, like sound, touch, or light.
Screen Reader: A program that reads text on a screen out loud. It helps people who are blind or have low vision.
Stimming: Repeating actions like rocking or hand-flapping. It helps some people, especially those who are autistic, feel calm or focused.
Semantic HTML: Code that shows the meaning of content, not just how it looks. This helps screen readers and improves accessibility.
T
Tourette Syndrome: A condition where a person makes movements or sounds they can’t easily control. These are called tics.
Trigger Warning: A heads-up that content might be upsetting or bring back traumatic memories. It lets people decide if they want to engage.
Tab Order: The order you move through parts of a website when using the Tab key. It should follow a logical path for keyboard users.
Time-Based Media: Things like video or audio that play over time. They often need captions or transcripts to be accessible.
U
Universal Design: Making things that work for as many people as possible, without needing changes later.
Usability Testing: Watching real people use a product to find out what’s confusing or hard to use.
User Journey: The steps a person takes when using a product or service. It helps designers understand how to make the experience better.
User Persona: A made-up profile that represents a type of user. It helps teams design with real needs in mind, including accessibility. When creating personas that reflect disabled or neurodivergent people, it’s important to avoid stereotypes and generalizations. Grounding personas in lived experience and input from real people leads to more respectful, accurate, and inclusive design decisions.
Unmasking: When someone stops hiding parts of themselves, especially if they’re neurodivergent. It’s about being authentic instead of blending in.
UX (User Experience): How someone feels when they use a website, tool, or service. The experience of good UX should be easy, clear, and accessible for everyone.
V
Visual Schedule: A chart or tool with pictures that shows what will happen during the day. It helps with routines and planning.
Visual Noise: Too many things on a screen that make it hard to focus or understand. This can overwhelm people, especially those with sensory sensitivity.
Vestibular Disorder: A health issue that affects balance and how the body senses movement.
VoiceOver: Apple’s built-in screen reader. It reads text and buttons out loud on iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
W
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines): Rules that help make websites and digital tools usable for people with disabilities.
Wheelchair User: A person who uses a wheelchair to get around. It’s better to say this than phrases like “confined to a wheelchair” or “wheelchair-bound,” which suggest restriction or pity. A wheelchair is a mobility tool that provides freedom and independence. Use language that reflects autonomy and avoids framing disability in negative or limiting
Working Memory: The part of your brain that holds small bits of information while you’re using them. It helps with tasks like math, reading, and planning.
Wayfinding: Tools and signs that help people figure out where they are and where to go, in both digital and physical spaces.