IAAP CAP key terms

The degree to which a product, service, or environment can be used by people with disabilities with the same effectiveness, efficiency, and independence available to other users.

A framework holding that people are disabled mainly by physical, attitudinal, and systemic barriers rather than by their impairment, so removing those barriers enables participation.

A framework that treats disability as a problem located within the individual, defined by diagnosis or impairment and typically addressed through treatment, cure, or rehabilitation.

Designing products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

A design approach that deliberately includes the full range of human diversity, including disability, and treats exclusion as a design flaw to be corrected.

First-hand knowledge gained from personally living with a disability or condition, providing valuable evidence for design, testing, and policy decisions.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, published by the W3C, set testable success criteria for making web content perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.

A tier in WCAG showing how fully content meets the success criteria: Level A as the minimum, AA as commonly required, and AAA as enhanced and not universally applicable.

The European harmonised standard specifying accessibility requirements for information and communication technology products and services, including websites, software, documents, and hardware.

An EU directive requiring many private-sector products and services, such as e-commerce, banking, ticketing, and transport, to be accessible to people with disabilities.

The Americans with Disabilities Act, a United States civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, public services, and places of public accommodation.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a treaty obliging ratifying states to protect and promote the rights of people with disabilities, including accessibility.

An adjustment to a job, service, or process that removes a barrier for a specific person with a disability, provided it does not impose a disproportionate burden.

A legal defence meaning the required change would involve significant difficulty or expense, weighed against the organisation's resources and the benefit gained.

Using HTML elements for their intended meaning, such as headings, lists, buttons, and landmarks, so browsers and assistive technologies interpret and navigate content correctly.

Accessible Rich Internet Applications: a set of attributes that adds roles, states, and properties to markup, mainly to describe custom widgets that native HTML cannot express.

The text a browser or assistive technology uses to identify a control or region, drawn from visible labels, alternative text, or labelling attributes.

A failure in which keyboard focus enters a component and cannot be moved away, preventing keyboard-only users from continuing through the rest of the page.

A visual cue, such as an outline or highlight, showing which element currently has keyboard focus so keyboard users can track their position on the page.

An ISO standard defining requirements for accessible PDF files, including tagging, logical reading order, alternative text, and correct document metadata.

The sequence in which assistive technology presents content; it must match the logical visual order so meaning is preserved without the layout.

Writing that uses common words, short sentences, and clear structure so readers can find, understand, and act on information the first time they read it.

Narration added to a video that describes important visual information, such as actions, settings, and on-screen text, during pauses in the dialogue.

Synchronised text of speech and relevant sounds displayed on video, serving deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers and others who cannot or prefer not to use audio.

Software that converts screen content into synthesised speech or braille, letting blind and low-vision users navigate and operate digital interfaces.

A hardware device with pins that rise and fall to form braille characters, giving deafblind and braille-reading users tactile access to on-screen text.

An input method in which a person uses one or more switches, often activated by hand, head, or breath, to scan and select items on a device.

A continuous, unobstructed path connecting accessible elements and spaces, wide enough and firm enough for wheelchair and other mobility-device users.

Signs with raised characters and braille that people who are blind or have low vision can read by touch, usually placed at consistent heights near doors.

A phased plan listing accessibility initiatives, owners, and timelines, used to move an organisation from its current state toward defined accessibility goals.

A framework describing progressive levels of accessibility capability across an organisation, used to benchmark current practice and plan improvement.

A document, often based on the VPAT template, in which a vendor states how a product meets accessibility criteria and explains any gaps.

The decision-making structures, roles, policies, and accountability mechanisms an organisation uses to sustain its accessibility commitments over time.

Tool-based checks that detect certain code-level issues, such as missing alternative text or low contrast; fast, but able to find only a subset of barriers.

Human evaluation of an interface using keyboard navigation, screen readers, and other techniques to find barriers that automated tools cannot detect.

Observing representative participants with disabilities completing realistic tasks, to identify barriers and confirm that a product is genuinely usable.

A structured review in which evaluators step through tasks from a user's perspective, asking whether each step is discoverable, understandable, and achievable.

The structured approach to preparing people for new ways of working, addressing skills, incentives, communication, and resistance so that changes persist.

A public page describing an organisation's accessibility commitment, known limitations, feedback route, and any enforcement or escalation options available to users.

A staff member who promotes accessibility within their team, shares knowledge, and supports colleagues, usually in addition to their main role.