Modeling Accessibility: Characterizing What We Mean by “Accessible”

Accessibility research has a broad mandate: use technology to make the world more accessible to disabled people. Yet, as a field, accessibility research lacks a clear characterization of what “accessibility” is. Furthermore, it has been historically limited in who is designed for, focusing on specific types of disability and often failing to consider how disability intersects with other identities. We set out to explicate what it means to make something accessible, grounded in the lived experiences of a diverse group of 25 disabled people. From our empirical findings, we develop a process for modeling accessibility. First, an individual assesses their experience of inaccess, specifically, the type of barrier they face, the technology repertoire they possess, and the contextual factors that shape how they address accessibility barriers. Then, having assessed an access barrier, they perform consequence calculus, weighing all available options to achieve access and deciding upon the option that best matches their priorities. We highlight the situated nature of access; people’s identities, contextual factors, repertoires, and priorities all dictate their experience of accessibility.