The purpose of this document is to serve as an illustrutive starting point for community collaboration and is not meant to be authoritative.
The author is not an expert and makes no claim to speak for experiences of persons with disabilities.
The author encourages every reader to continue to supplement their knowledge with additional research that includes first-person narratives and experiences of people with disabilites.
"Disabilities is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. An impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Disability is thus not just a health problem. It is a complex phenomenon, reflecting the interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which [they live]."
"Around 15% of the global population – over a billion people – lives with some form of disability."
- Source: World Health Organization, modified to use non-gendered pronouns
The United Nations defines persons with disabilities as people who have impairments which, "in interaction with various attitudinal and environmental barriers, hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others."
The UN frames disability similarly to the WHO as a complex phenomenon:
"A person with disabilities may be regarded as a person with a disability in one society or setting, but not in another, depending on the role that the person is assumed to take in his or her community. The perception and reality of disability also depend on the technologies, assistance and services available, as well as on cultural considerations."
"Disability should be [perceived] as the result of the interaction between a person and [their] environment. Disability is not something that resides in the individual as the result of some impairment."
- Source: United Nations
Ableism occurs when there are attitudinal and structural failures to recognize and address the barriers to participation and inclusion in society for persons with disabilities and impairments.
In the United States, federal laws exist to provide protection to persons with disabilities from institutional discrimination, segregation, and exclusion.
Internationally, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in December 2006 to highlight: "the movement from viewing persons with disabilities as “objects” of charity, medical treatment and social protection towards viewing persons with disabilities as “subjects” with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives based on their free and informed consent as well as being active members of society."
Research mission:
- Learn about the Disability Rights Movement
- What is the origin and sigificance of the slogan, "Nothing About Us Without Us!"
- Book: It's About Ability An explanation of the CRPD
Research mission: find out!
The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has a mission to promote strategies, standards and resources to make the Web accessible to people with disabilities.
Research Mission: Explore the Accessibility Fundamentals Overview.
Additional Resources: Technical Standards: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, At a Glance
Video (7 mins): Web Accessibility Perspectives - 10 Topics
Microsoft Website on Inclusive Design
Inclusive Design Toolkit by Microsoft: PDF Download
- Users
- Developers
- Business stakeholders
- Everybody!
On Being Black and Brown and Accessibility