Glossary – Embracing diversity in ASIA through the adoption of Inclusive Open Practices

ADHD: short for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, a condition characterized by symptoms that include inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. But not all of these need to be present for a person to be diagnosed with ADHD.

Ability: having the mental and/or physical condition to engage in one or more major life activities (e.g., seeing, hearing, speaking, walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, learning or caring for oneself).

Ableism: prejudice and/or discrimination against people with mental and/or physical disabilities.

Access barriers: any obstruction that prevents people with disabilities from using standard facilities, equipment and resources.

Accessibility: the quality of being easily used, entered, or reached by people with disabilities; refers to the design of products, devices, services, curricula, or environments.

Accessible: in the case of a facility, readily usable by a particular individual; in the case of a program or activity, presented or provided in such a way that a particular individual can participate, with or without auxiliary aid(s); in the case of electronic resources, accessible with or without assistive computer technology.

Accessible technology: a technology that’s been designed with the needs of a lot of different users in mind and with built-in customization features so that users can individualize their experience to meet their needs.

Accessible web design: creating web pages according to universal design principles to eliminate or reduce barriers, including those that affect people with disabilities.

Accommodation: an adjustment to make a program, facility, or resource accessible to a person with a disability.

Adaptive technology: adjusted versions of existing technologies or tools so people with disabilities can more easily use them; helps individuals with disabilities accomplish a specific task.

Alt attribute: html code that works in combination with graphical tags to provide alternative text for graphical elements.

Alternative keyboard: a keyboard that is different from a standard computer keyboard in its size or layout of keys.

Aphasia: a brain-based disorder that can affect language learning, speaking, listening, comprehension, reading and/or writing.

Applet: computer program that runs from within another application.

Asperger’s syndrome: a condition characterized by difficulty with social interactions, unusual or repetitive behaviours, a narrow range of interests, awkward or clumsy movements, and trouble with some aspects of communication, such as understanding sarcasm or body language. In 2013, doctors changed the way they diagnose this disorder. It is now one of several conditions included under the category “autism spectrum disorder.”

Assistive technology: a device or piece of equipment used to maintain or improve the functional facility of people with disabilities (e.g., brace, crutches, descriptive video, hearing aid, prosthetic device, walker, wheelchair).

Attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder: attention-deficit (hyperactivity) disorder is a condition affecting children and adults that is characterized by problems with attention, impulsivity, and overactivity. Science recognizes three subtypes of add or AHD: inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, and combined. A diagnosis of one type or another depends on the specific symptoms that person has.

Autism spectrum disorder: a developmental disorder characterized by significant difficulty with social interactions and communication. Often referred to as autism or ASD, it includes symptoms such as poor eye contact, repetitive body movements, and difficulty adapting to social situations and responding to sensory input such as certain tastes or textures.

Binary files: electronic files with formatting information that is software dependent.

Blindness: partial or “legal” visual impairment based on standard vision being defined as 20/20 visual acuity and an average range of 180 degrees in peripheral vision; thus, people are defined as being legally blind if after methods of correction, such as glasses or contact lenses, they have a visual acuity of 20/200 or higher, or a range of peripheral vision under 20 degrees.

Braille: system of embossed characters formed by using a braille cell, a combination of six dots consisting of two vertical columns of three dots each. Each simple braille character is formed by one or more of these dots and occupies a full cell or space. Some braille may use eight dots.

Browser: software designed to access and display information available on the web. Browsers may be graphical or text-based. Text-only browsers cannot display images, sound clips, video and plug-in features that graphical browsers can. Talking browsers are also available for use by people who have difficulty reading text due to a learning disability or visual impairment.

Captioned film or videos: transcription of the verbal portion of films or videos displayed to make them accessible to people who are deaf.

Captioning: process of narrating all significant audio content in presentations, video, and other visual formats by using words or symbols to transcribe spoken dialogue, identify speakers, and describe music and sound effects.

Cerebral palsy: a functional disorder caused by damage to a child’s brain during pregnancy, delivery, or shortly after birth. Cerebral palsy is characterized by one or more movement disorders, such as spasticity (tight limb muscles), purposeless movements, rigidity (severe form of spasticity), or a lack of balance. People with cerebral palsy may also experience seizures, speech, hearing and/or visual impairments, and/or mental retardation.

Closed captioning: an on-screen system that allows people with a hearing disability to view television with spoken words written across the bottom of the screen.

Closed circuit tv magnifier (CCTV): camera used to magnify books or other materials to a monitor or television.

Communication device: hardware that allows a person who has difficulty using their voice clearly to use words or symbols for communication. May range in complexity from a simple picture board to complex electronic devices that allow personalized, unique construction of ideas.

Compensatory tools: assistive computing systems that allow people with disabilities to use computers to complete tasks that they would have difficulty doing without a computer, e.g., reading, writing, communicating, accessing information.

Deaf-blindness: a hearing and visual disability, the combination of which can cause severe communication and other developmental and educational difficulties.

Deafness: a total or partial inability to hear, which can be genetic or also acquired through disease, most commonly from meningitis in childhood or rubella in a woman during pregnancy.

Descriptive video: film media designed for people with visual disability that provides additional narration detailing the visual elements of a film (the action of the characters, locations, costumes, etc.) Without interfering with the actual dialogue and sound effects.

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD): people with dcd may have difficulty planning and performing tasks that require fine motor skills, such as writing, tying shoelaces, or using buttons or zippers; sometimes called dyspraxia.

Developmental disability: a long-lasting cognitive disability occurring before age 22 that limits one or more major life activities (self-care, independent living, learning, mobility, etc.), and is likely to continue indefinitely (e.g., autism).

Digital: computer formatted data or information.

Disability: a mental or physical condition that restricts an individual’s ability to engage in one or more major life activities (e.g., seeing, hearing, speaking, walking, communicating, sensing, breathing, performing manual tasks, learning, working or caring for oneself).

Disclosure: when an employee with a disability shares information about their disability with others, often their employer, supervisor, prospective employer, or co-worker.

Discrimination: treating people differently, or less favourably, on the basis of identity, such as disability, race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation.

Down syndrome: a chromosomal condition (trisomy 21) caused by the presence of one extra chromosome, and characterized by delayed physical and mental development, and often identifiable by certain physical characteristics, such as a round face, slanting eyes, and a small stature.

Dwarfism: a genetic condition resulting in short stature.

Dyscalculia: a specific learning disability in math. Some people with dyscalculia have difficulty performing calculations and solving problems. Others struggle with basic math operations like multiplication and division.

Dysgraphia: a specific learning disability in writing. People with dysgraphia struggle with handwriting, typing, and spelling. Some people have difficulty with other aspects of writing, like grammar, punctuation, and organizing and expressing their ideas in writing.

Dyslexia: a specific learning disability in reading. People with dyslexia have trouble reading accurately and fluently. They may also have trouble with reading comprehension, spelling, and writing.

Dyspraxia: sometimes called developmental coordination disorder. People with dyspraxia may have difficulty planning and performing tasks that require fine motor skills, such as writing, tying shoelaces, or using buttons or zippers.

Electronic information: any digital data for use with computers or computer networks including disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, USBs, Flash disks, web resources.

Emotional disability: one or more psychiatric disabilities exhibited over a long period of time and to a marked degree, e.g., an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with others; inappropriate types of behaviour or feelings under ordinary circumstances; a generally pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal problems.

Epilepsy: a physical condition that occurs when there is a sudden, brief disturbance in the function of the brain, and alters an individual’s consciousness, movements or actions. Most individuals with epilepsy can reduce or eliminate the risk of seizures through the regular use of appropriate medication.

FM sound amplification system: electronic amplification system consisting of three components: a microphone/transmitter, monaural FM receiver and a combination charger/carrying case. It provides wireless FM broadcast from a speaker to a listener who has a hearing impairment.

Facility: all or any portion of a physical complex, including buildings, structures, equipment, grounds, roads, and parking lots.

Graphical user interface (GUI): program interface that presents digital information and software programs in an image-based format as compared to a character-based format.

HTML validation: process that analyses html documents, identifies html errors and non-standard codes.

Handicap: any obstacle that decreases a person’s opportunity for success (e.g., discriminatory practices, inaccessible buildings/public places/transportation, insufficient insurance/training/resources, negative attitudes).

Hard of hearing: hearing loss where there may be enough residual hearing that a device like a hearing aid provides enough assistance for the person to process speech.

Hardware: physical equipment related to computers.

Health disability: a temporary or permanent health impairment that affects one or more major life activities (e.g., aids, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, drug addiction, heart disease).

Hearing disability: partial or full hearing loss due to either a decibel loss (person hears all sounds much more softly than a person with complete hearing), or a frequency loss (person hears a pitch of a sound better than others, thus a person with frequency loss would hear all of some words, some parts of other words, and would not hear some words at all).

Hearing impairments: complete or partial loss of ability to hear caused by a variety of injuries or diseases including congenital defects.

Hearing loss: a general term that describes a broad range of hearing function, including deaf or hard of hearing. It’s the total or partial inability to hear sounds and can affect one or both ears.

Helper: an external program that can be called up by a web browser to display specially formatted material, such as word-processed documents, spreadsheet documents or video/sound pieces. The helper program is launched by the web browser as a separate application to view or play the file.

Host: any computer which holds internet resources for access by others, or the computer that maintains your internet access and email account.

Hyperlink, hypertext: highlighted word or graphic on a web page that when selected allows the user to jump to another part of the document or another web page.

Hypertext markup language (html): programming language or code used to create web pages.

Hypertext transfer protocol (http): communication protocol used by the web to transfer text, graphics, audio, and video.

Identity-first language: a term that describes how individuals with disabilities prefer to refer to themselves. Those who see their disability as an important part of their self-identity may prefer to use language that refers to their disability, such as “a blind person.” Only refer to someone this way if you know that’s their preference. Otherwise, use person-first language.

Image map: picture or graphic on a web page in which hyperlinks are embedded.

Inclusion: an environment and commitment to support, represent and embrace diverse social groups and identities; an environment where all people feel they belong.

Input: any method by which information is entered into a computer.

Intellectual disability: a disability characterized by limitations in a person’s ability to learn at an expected level. A person with an intellectual disability may process information more slowly and have difficulty with abstract concepts and everyday behaviours and activities. Often referred to as a cognitive disability.

Internet: computer network connecting government, education, commercial, other organization and individual computer systems.

Interpreter: professional person who assists a deaf person in communicating with hearing people.

Invisible disability: a disability that is not immediately apparent; sometimes called a hidden disability.

Java: programming language used to create programs or applets that work with some web browsers to include features with animation or other characteristics not available through standard html.

Job coach: an individual who supports a person with a disability throughout their professional journey, with the ultimate goal of helping them work independently. They provide one-on-one training, tailored to a particular person’s needs, for a particular job.

Joystick: a device consisting of a lever that allows a pointer to move up, right, left, or down and serves as an alternative to a mouse. It usually includes buttons to enable mouse clicks.

Keyboard emulation: a method of having an alternative device and/or software, such as a switch-based system, serve the role of a keyboard.

Keyguard: a plastic or metal shield that covers a keyboard with holes over the keys. It allows use of a keyboard without undesired activation of surrounding keys.

Large print books: most ordinary print is six to ten points in heigh. Large type is fourteen to eighteen points and sometimes larger. The format of large print books is also proportionately larger.

Learning disability: a cognitive impairment in comprehension or in using language, spoken or written, that manifests itself in a person’s ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations (e.g., dyslexia, dysnomia, dysgraphia). The term does not include persons who have learning difficulties that are primarily the result of mental retardation, emotional disability, or environmental, cultural or economic disadvantage.

Little person: a person with short-stature. In general, people with short-stature prefer the term “little person” to describe their physical condition. The term “dwarf” is considered derogatory.

Low vision: permanently reduced and non-correctable vision loss that interferes with daily activities.

Lynx: text-based web browser.

Mainstreaming, inclusion: the inclusion of people with disabilities, with or without special accommodations, in programs, activities, and facilities with their non-disabled peers.

Major life activities: functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, and participating in community activities.

Mental illness: refers to any illness or impairment that has significant psychological or behavioural manifestations, is associated with painful or distressing symptoms and impairs an individual’s level of functioning in certain areas of life (e.g., anxiety disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, obsession-compulsion, schizophrenia).

Mobility impairment: disability that affects movement ranging from gross motor skills such as walking to fine motor movement involving manipulation of objects by hand.

Mouse emulation: a method of having an alternative device and/or software, such a switch-based system, serve the role of a mouse.

Multimedia: in terms of electronic information, any data which is presented through several formats including text, graphics, moving pictures and sound.

Onscreen keyboard: see virtual keyboard

Optical character recognition (OCR): technology system that scans and converts printed materials into electronic text.

Orthopaedic impairment: physical disability caused by a congenital anomaly (e.g., club foot), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis), and impairment from other causes (e.g., cerebral palsy, fractures or burns which cause contractures.)

Output: any method of displaying or presenting electronic information to the user through a computer monitor or other device.

Paraplegia: the paralysis of the legs and lower part of the body and is usually caused by injury or disease in the lower spinal cord, or by brain disorders such as cerebral palsy.

Parkinson’s disease: a progressive disorder caused by the brain’s inability to manufacture a chemical that signals the muscles to move. Symptoms include involuntary tremors, stiff movements, and/or lack of balance.

People first: acknowledging the personhood of individuals with disabilities before their disability (e.g., “people with disabilities”, “person who uses a wheelchair”, “person with cerebral palsy”, “person has a physical disability”, etc.).

Peripheral neuropathy: a condition caused by damage to the nerves in the peripheral nervous system which includes nerves that run from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body.

Person-first language: a term that describes how individuals with disabilities prefer to refer to themselves. It’s best practice to put people first, not their disability. Unless a person specifically prefers identity-first language, always use person-first language, such as “a person who is blind.”

Physical accessibility: a form of accessibility that focuses on making physical spaces, such as elevators, reserved parking spots, and restroom stalls, accessible to people who use wheelchairs or who have other physical impairments.

Physical disability: a wide range of conditions, both visible and invisible, that affect a person’s movement. Also referred to as a mobility challenge.

Physical or mental impairment: any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: neurological; musculoskeletal; special sense organs; respiratory, including speech organs; cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genito-urinary; hemic and lymphatic; skin; and endocrine; or any mental or psychological disorder, such as intellectual disability, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities.

Plug-in: separate program written to be launched by a specific web browser to display or run special elements in web pages, such as animation, video, or audio.

Post-polio syndrome: a condition that affects a person who has had poliomyelitis (polio) after recovery, and is characterized by muscle weakness, joint and muscle pain and fatigue.

Prosthesis: an artificial device used to replace a missing body part, such as a limb, tooth, eye or heart valve.

Quadriplegia: the paralysis of a person’s four limbs.

Qualified individual with a disability: an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable modification to rules, policies, or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or the participation in programs or activities provided by a public entity.

Reader: volunteer or employee of an individual with a disability (e.g., visual impairment, learning disability) who reads printed material in person or records to audiotape.

Reading system: hardware and software designed to provide access to printed text for people with visual impairments, mobility impairments, or learning disabilities. Character recognition software controls a scanner that takes an image of a printed page, converts it to computer text using recognition software and then reads the text using a synthesized voice.

Reasonable accommodation: an adjustment or modification to a job or work environment that allows an individual with a disability to apply for a job, perform the essential functions of the job, or enjoy benefits equal to those offered to employees who do not have a disability.

Refreshable braille display: hardware connected to a computer that echoes screen text on a box that has cells consisting of pins that move up and down to create braille characters.

Repetitive stress injury (RSI): a disability that may be chronic or acute and usually is described as pain caused by overuse of extremities, usually hands and wrists.

Scanning input: a switch-based method of controlling a computer. Activations of a switch will, in order, bring up a control panel that upon subsequent switch activations, allow a user to focus in on a desired control or keystroke. Custom scanning layouts can be created for a variety of purposes and programs and may also be used in a communication device.

Screen enlargement: hardware and/or software that increases the size of characters and text on a computer screen.

Screen reader: software used to echo text on a computer screen to audio output, often used by people who are blind, with visual impairments, or with learning disabilities.

Screen resolution: refers to the clarity or sharpness of an image. For computer monitors, this term indicates the number of dots on the screen used to create text and graphics. Higher resolution means more dots, indicating increased sharpness and potentially smaller text.

Self-identification: an employee telling their employer or potential employer, as part of an affirmative action initiative or goals set as part of a disability inclusion initiative, that they have or ever had a disability.

Sensory impairment: a disability that affects touch, sight and/or hearing.

Sensory processing issues: difficulties in organizing information from the senses, such as over- or under-responding to sights, sounds, smells, touch, and sensory input related to balance and movement; often co-occurs with ADHD or autism.

Server: any computer that stores information that is available to other users, often over the internet.

Sign language: manual communication commonly used by deaf. The gestures or symbols in sign language are organized in a linguistic way. Each individual gesture is called a sign. Each sign has three distinct parts; the handshape, the position of the hands, and the movement of the hands. Deaf people from different countries speak different sign languages.

Specific learning disability: disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in difficulties listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, or doing mathematical calculations. Frequent limitations include hyperactivity, distractibility, emotional instability, visual and/or auditory perception difficulties and/or motor limitations, depending on the type(s) of learning disability.

Speech impairment: a communication disorder characterized by impaired articulation, language impairment or voice impairment (e.g., dysfluency, stuttering).

Speech input or speech recognition: a method of controlling a computer and creating text by dictation. Speech input software is combined with a microphone.

Standard html: version of html accessible by all web browsers.

Streaming multimedia: a method of transferring audio and/or video via a network from a server to an end user’s computer. During the transmission, the material is displayed or played on the target computer.

Switch input: a method of controlling a computer or communication device. It is most often used with morse code or scanning methods, but may also be used for controlling household appliances and related controls. Switches are available in a nearly endless array of sizes, shapes, and activation methods.

Tag: html code that prescribes the structure and formatting of web pages.

Telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) or teletypewriter (TTY): a device which enables someone who has a speech or hearing impairment to use a telephone when communicating with someone else who has a TDD/TTY. TDD/TTYS can be used with any telephone, and one needs only a basic typing ability to use them.

Tourette syndrome: a genetic, neurological disorder characterized by repetitious, involuntary body movements and uncontrollable vocal sounds.

Trackball: a mouse alternative that is basically an upside-down mouse. Useful for some people with mobility impairments because it isolates pointer movement from button clicking.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI): open and closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, including cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behaviour; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital, degenerative, or induced by birth trauma.

Universal design: designing programs, services, tools, and facilities so that they are useable, without modification, by the widest range of users possible, taking into account a variety of abilities and disabilities.

Universal design of instruction: the design of instructional materials and activities that make learning achievable by students with a wide variety of abilities and disabilities.

Universal resource locator (URL): address used to locate a specific resource on the internet.

Virtual keyboard: software used to emulate a keyboard. A picture of a keyboard is displayed on a computer screen and the user points and clicks on the pictures of keys to enter text.

Vision impairments: complete or partial loss of ability to see, caused by a variety of injuries or diseases including congenital defects. Legal blindness is defined as visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses, or widest diameter of visual field subtending an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees.

Word prediction: software that reduces the number of keystrokes needed to type words and sentences. As characters are entered on either a standard, alternative or virtual keyboard, suggested completions of the word that has been started are provided to the user.

Workplace inclusion: the process of creating a workplace where all individuals, including people with disabilities, are not only employed but are full members of the work community.

World wide web (web, www): hypertext and multimedia gateway to the internet.

Sources:
https://www.washington.edu/doit/glossary-disability-related-terms
https://www.adl.org/resources/glossary-term/disability-glossary
https://www.understood.org/en/articles/disability-inclusion-glossary

Additional reading:
You can also download the 2015 Glossary of Disability Terminology as published by the Disabled People’s Association, Singapore (DPA): https://www.dpa.org.sg/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/DPA-Disability-Glossary-FINAL.pdf