Glossary

Key Terms

A

Access Conflict

When different people need opposite actions or supports. For example, some people need to be able to use the chat function in a remote meeting but others need the chat function to not be used.

Accessibility budget

Money set aside for interpreters, captions, accessible tools, and other support needs.

Accessible

A process, product or service that everyone including D/deaf and D/disabled people can use or be part of.

Actions

In these Guidelines, actions are steps that can make committees, meetings and other processes more inclusive.

Administrative support

Help with organizing meetings, documents, and other co-ordination.

Alt text

A short description of an image or diagram that is usually hidden and will be read out by assistive technologies like screen readers.

Anonymous feedback

Giving your opinions, comments, or suggestions without saying who you are, so your name is not shared.

Assistive technology

Tools or devices that help D/disabled and D/deaf people do things more easily, for example, many people use a screen reader to read the text on a computer or phone.

B

Barriers

In these Guidelines, barriers are things that make it harder for people to take part in standards development.

Budget

A plan for how money will be used.

C

CAPTCHA

An online test that is often part of a login process and tries to keep bots and other automated systems out. They are often visual tests that do not work with screen readers.

Captions

Text on a screen that shows spoken words and important sounds from audio or video content.

Chairperson

Person responsible for leading and guiding a meeting.

Co-design

Designing solutions together with people who are affected by the design.

Communication methods

Ways people share information including email, chat and meetings.

Conflict management

Dealing with disagreements.

Conflict policies

Rules for respectful behavior and handling conflict.

Continuous feedback loops

Ways to give and get feedback at any time in a process.

D

D/deaf

People who are part of a Deaf community or are deaf.

D/disabled

People who are part of a Disabled community or are disabled.

E

Equitable

Fair, in a way that tries to deal with the differences in what people need.

F

Facilitator

Person helping meetings run so everyone can participate sometimes involving different ways to share including speech, chat, writing and visuals.

G

Guidelines

Helpful advice for how to do certain tasks.

H

Hybrid meeting

A meeting that is both in person and online.

I

Inclusion

Making sure everyone feels welcome, respected, and able to take part.

Inclusion training

Training about inclusion, accessibility, and communication.

Inclusive design

Designing systems so they work for people of all abilities, languages, cultures, ages, and identities.

Inclusive documents

Documents that are created with different needs in mind and are in plain language, structured, readable, and in accessible formats.

Inclusive feedback

Providing accessible ways to share input.

Inclusive language

Clear, plain, respectful, jargon-free communication.

Inclusive physical spaces

Places that are accessible and take other needs into account. This includes having ramps or elevators, accessible bathrooms and quiet rooms.

Inclusive recruitment

Valuing lived experience and diversity when finding and inviting new people into the standards development process.

Interpreters

People who translate spoken or signed language so people using different languages or communication methods can understand each other.

Intersectional

Being from multiple social groups that are often marginalized. For example a Deaf person from the 2SLGBTIA+ community might consider this to be an intersectional identity.

J

Jargon

Special words or language used by a particular group, job, or field that can be hard for other people to understand.

K

Knowledge building

Learning new skills and information.

L

Lived and living experience of disability

Knowledge from the experience of being D/disabled.

M

Maintenance of standards

Keeping standards up to date

Membership and recruitment teams

People responsible for finding and inviting new participants into the standards development process.

Multi-modal communication

Sharing information in more than one format such as audio, visual and text.

O

Onboarding

Introducing new members to roles, workflows and expectations.

Online meetings

Meetings where people join using the internet instead of meeting in the same physical place.

Organizing

Planning meetings, activities and other work.

Outreach

Finding people and inviting them to take part.

P

Public awareness

Level of knowledge, understanding, and attention that the general population has about an issue, topic, event, or cause.

Publishing

Sharing information or making something available for people to read, see, or use.

R

Recruiting

Inviting people to join standards technical committees.

Registration

Signing up or giving your information so you can take part in something.

S

Screen reader

An assistive technology that turns text and image content on a computer or phone into speech or braille.

Stages

In these Guidelines, the stages are the main steps in the standards development process.

Standards

Agreed-upon rules, guidelines, or specifications that help make things consistent, safe, and work well together.

Standards Development Organization (SDO)

An organization that makes, shares and updates standards.

T

Technical committee

A group that makes or updates a standard.

Topics

In these Guidelines, topics are subject areas that are part of the standards development process.

Transparent

Being open, clear, and honest, so people can easily understand what is happening.

Travel funding

Money that is used to pay for travel costs.

W

Withdrawal of standards

Removing outdated standards.

Workload

The amount of work a person or team is expected to do within a certain time.

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