Glossary

This term refers to a form of discrimination that particularly affects people with disabilities. ...

Accessibility refers to the principle that buildings and public spaces, workplaces and homes, tra...

The Accessible Technology Charter serves as the foundation. The AMM comprises 10 commitments aime...

Accessibility technologies refer to technical aids, software solutions or digital adaptations des...

The Web Accessibility Initiative’s Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) is a technica...

Accessible toilets are specially designed sanitary facilities that enable people with physical di...

Age-appropriate assistance systems are technical solutions that enable older people and those wit...

To enable people who are blind to understand images on the internet or in documents, they need wh...

Under certain conditions, both employed and self-employed people with disabilities are entitled t...

Trained assistance dogs provide long-term support to people with a wide range of disabilities or ...

There are various assistive technologies and aids available to support students with disabilities...

An assistive technology pool is a centralised collection of technical devices and adaptive tools ...

Asynchronous teaching: takes place independently of time and location. The teacher and students d...

Audio description helps blind and severely visually impaired people to better understand videos. ...

Augmentative and Alternative Communication refers to all methods and aids that help people to exp...

‘Autistic joy’ describes the all-encompassing, very intense feeling of joy and excitement that ma...

Awareness refers to consciousness and mindfulness (derived from ‘to be aware’, i.e. to be attenti...

Statutory regulation governing the implementation of accessible digital services by public bodies...

A combined form of learning in which face-to-face sessions are integrated with digital learning f...

The allowance for the blind is a form of financial support for blind people, regardless of their ...

Body positivity is an approach that promotes the recognition and appreciation of all body shapes ...

Braille was invented by Louis Braille in 1825 and is regarded as the tactile writing system for t...

An electronic device that enables blind or visually impaired people to read digital text in Brail...

A cochlear implant, or CI for short, is a technical hearing aid that can, to a certain extent, co...

High contrast between foreground and background colours (e.g. in text) improves readability and m...

The word ‘crip’ is derived from the English term ‘cripple’, which means ‘cripple’ in German. Orig...

Crip Time is a concept that describes how people with disabilities, chronic illnesses or neurodiv...

The Curb-Cut Effect is the phenomenon whereby facilities designed for people with disabilities ar...

Deaf people are entitled to financial support under the Act on Assistance for the Blind and Deaf ...

The degree of disability, or GdB for short, determines the extent to which an individual’s disabi...

Design for All is the German term for Universal Design and describes an approach in which product...

Digital accessibility can be described in a single sentence as follows: “Digital accessibility is...

The term ‘disability’ also takes the social dimension into account. The UN Convention on the Righ...

The term ‘Disability Dongle’ describes technical solutions or designs – such as assistive devices...

The Disability Equality Act (BGG) has been in force since 1 May 2002. It is intended to ensure eq...

A Disability ID card / disabled persons pass is issued to people by the Social Security Office if...

Disability Justice is an approach that does not merely focus on legal rights for people with disa...

Disability mainstreaming means that the needs of people with disabilities are systematically inco...

Disablism refers to the specific discriminatory, derogatory or disadvantageous behaviours that st...

Disadvantage compensation for people with disabilities or chronic illnesses consists of statutory...

In legal terms, discrimination occurs when people are treated unfairly – for example, because of ...

Easy-to-read language is a form of the German language that is particularly easy to understand an...

Electronic communication aids are electronic devices that produce spoken or written language. The...

The term ‘empowerment’ originates from English and essentially means ‘empowerment’ or ‘self-empow...

Equal opportunities means that all people, regardless of individual characteristics such as gende...

Equality refers to the equal treatment, both in law and in practice, of all people, regardless of...

Equity Design is a design approach that actively integrates social justice into the design proces...

Simple rings with moving parts that help people with anxiety disorders, autism or ADHD to manage ...

Small, handy objects such as cubes, spinners or balls that help to improve concentration or reduc...

A teaching method based on blended learning, in which the roles of homework and lesson delivery a...

The General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) comprises 33 sections which offer protection against discri...

A combination of virtual and non-virtual learning environments and teaching methods. Hybrid learn...

In Disability Studies, a clear distinction is made between impairment and disability: an impairme...

Inclusion refers to the guiding principle of society whereby all people – regardless of individua...

An inclusor is a person, measure or structure that actively contributes to promoting inclusion – ...

An inductive hearing system is a system that converts audio signals (e.g. speech from a microphon...

Intersectionality (from the English ‘intersection’) refers to a concept in sociology that examine...

Invisible disabilities, or chronic conditions, are health impairments that are not immediately ap...

Legibility refers to the quality of typefaces, texts or visual representations that enables them ...

Light mode and Dark mode are two visual styles for digital user interfaces that differ in their c...

A low-stimulus environment is a deliberately designed space that contains as few sensory stimuli ...

A magnifier is an electronic visual aid that makes it easier for people with visual impairments t...

Magnification software displays the image on a computer monitor, laptop, smartphone or tablet scr...

A meltdown refers to an intense, outwardly visible reaction to being overwhelmed, which may manif...

In a social science and legal context, the term ‘needs’ refers to the individual or collective re...

Noise-cancelling headphones are specialised headphones that actively or passively reduce distract...

Othering describes the process whereby one group portrays another as ‘different’ and ‘foreign’ in...

When designing digital materials or web content, it is important to take the four principles of d...

Palantypists enable people with hearing impairments, for example, to engage with spoken content b...

Participation refers to the right and opportunity of all people to play an active part in, and to...

Peer counselling is a service in which people with disabilities or chronic illnesses support othe...

Under the Personal Budget scheme, service users can choose to receive a budget from the rehabilit...

Pictograms are simplified symbols that represent information, objects or concepts in a universal ...

A simplified form of standard language, characterised by short sentences, simple sentence structu...

A prosthesis is an artificially manufactured replacement for a missing body part or organ. It may...

Readability refers to the linguistic comprehensibility of a text, that is, how easily and fluentl...

A person is considered to have a recognized disability if the Benefits Office has determined that...

The Representation for employees with disabilities (SBV) is the elected body representing the int...

Universities in Germany generally have a representative for students with disabilities and/or chr...

Reproductive rights refer to the human rights that guarantee all people the right to make decisio...

A ‘safe space’ refers to a protected space (a physical space, period of time, event or platform) ...

Screen readers are software programmes. This software converts text, buttons, images and other on...

For people with disabilities, self-determination is of central importance because it implies the ...

A shutdown refers to a withdrawal and disengagement response to extreme overwhelm, stress or sens...

German Sign Language is a visual-manual language with its own grammar, used primarily by deaf peo...

Sign language interpreters interpret between spoken language and sign language.

Signed English/Manually Coded English (MCE) is a communication system in which every spoken word ...

Student assistance provides personalised support for students with disabilities or chronic illnes...

Subtitles are usually used to assist with audiovisual media. They help people with hearing impair...

Surtitles are text overlays that reproduce spoken or sung content in another language or in writt...

Synchronous teaching: The teacher and students take part in a course at the same time, within a c...

Tactile floor plans help blind, visually impaired and sighted people to find their way around by ...

A tactile ground guidance system is an arrangement of textured paving slabs or strips that provid...

The Two-Senses Principle is a key fundamental principle of learning and of implementing accessibi...

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an educational design principle that aims to design learni...

Universal Design refers to the design and planning of an environment so that it can be accessed, ...

The WCAG are an international standard for the accessible design of all information on a website ...

A wheelchair is a mobility aid that helps people with walking difficulties or other physical limi...

A design principle that describes whether an object – e.g. a table, washbasin or information desk...

The white cane is a modern aid designed to promote mobility and independence for people with visu...

A workshop for people with disabilities (WfbM) is a facility designed to enable people with disab...

The W3C is the body responsible for defining the technologies and standards for the World Wide Web.