accessibility
Openness to everyone
Accessibility is the quality of being reachable, usable, or understandable.
A building has accessibility when people with disabilities can enter and navigate it—ramps, elevators, accessible restrooms.
In technology, accessibility means designing software and websites so people with visual, hearing, or motor impairments can use them: The app's accessibility features include screen reader support.
More broadly, accessibility describes how easily anyone can approach or obtain something: the accessibility of public transportation, the accessibility of higher education.
Point of access
- pathwayDesignated route for travel
- doorwayPassage into a room
- rampSloped connecting surface
- elevatorVertical conveyance between floors
staircase · corridor · threshold · parking · restroom · wayfinding · signage · lighting
Sloped connecting surface
- subtitlesOn-screen dialogue text
- sign-languageCommunication through gestures
- elevatorVertical conveyance between floors
- text-to-speechConverting writing to audio
Impartial treatment or ownership value
- barrier-freeWithout physical obstructions
- participationAct of taking part
- empowermentGaining authority or confidence
- representationDepiction or likeness
Easy to operate
- intuitiveKnown without reasoning
- simplicityLack of complexity
- readabilityEase of understanding text
- navigationDetermining position and course
ergonomics · learnability · perceivable · operable · understandable · robust · compliance · compatibility
Converts display to audio
- voiceoverOff-screen recorded speech
- JAWSText-to-voice accessibility software
- transcriptsWritten versions of speech
- TTYText-based telephone terminal
Lacking the sense of sight
- deafUnable to hear
- wheelchair-userPerson in rolling chair
- cognitiveRelating to thinking
- neurodivergentHaving atypical brain function
entrance
Point of access
elevator · staircase · corridor · threshold · parking · restroom · wayfinding · signage · lighting · clearance
ramp
Sloped connecting surface
- subtitlesOn-screen dialogue text
- sign-languageCommunication through gestures
- elevatorVertical conveyance between floors
equity
Impartial treatment or ownership value
- barrier-freeWithout physical obstructions
- participationAct of taking part
- empowermentGaining authority or confidence
user-friendly
Easy to operate
- intuitiveKnown without reasoning
- simplicityLack of complexity
- readabilityEase of understanding text
navigation · ergonomics · learnability · perceivable · operable · understandable · robust · compliance · compatibility · responsive
screen-reader
Converts display to audio
- voiceoverOff-screen recorded speech
- JAWSText-to-voice accessibility software
- transcriptsWritten versions of speech
TTY · magnification · ARIA
blind
Lacking the sense of sight
- deafUnable to hear
- wheelchair-userPerson in rolling chair
- cognitiveRelating to thinking
- digital societysocial networks, internet, digital age, internet culture, digital natives
- disabilitydisability rights, disability culture, disability activism, disability services, disability identity
- Disability Rightsdisability rights, ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, reasonable accommodation, disability discrimination
- disability carewheelchairs, mobility aids, assistive devices, home care, nursing care
- disability servicesdisability benefits, disability services, disability allowance, disability advocacy, disability payments
- Educational Equityspecial education, bilingual education, desegregation, school integration, accommodations
accessibilityinaccessibility
State of being unreachable
unreachability · impassability · remoteness · isolation · impenetrability
accessibilityunapproachability
State of seeming unreachable
aloofness · inaccessibility · coldness · standoffishness · remoteness
accessibilityincomprehensibility
Being impossible to grasp
obscurity · impenetrability · complexity · opacity · abstruseness
- accessibility servicesSupport for disabled individuals
- wheelchair accessibilityEase of navigation for mobility devices
- accessibility featuresDesign elements enabling universal use
- accessibility toolsFeatures enabling disabled users
- accessibility rampSloped path for mobility aids
- accessibility optionsSettings accommodating different abilities