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Chapter 8 of 8 · Resources

chapter 7

Resources & glossary

Partner organizations to meet, further reading to bookmark, and a vocab list for the buzzwords flying around the room.

Nonprofit partners (from 2025. 2026 coming soon!)

These organizations bring lived expertise to the hackathon. Stop by the resource fair — they're there to talk, not lecture.

Further reading

Books

  • Don't Ask the Blind Guy for Directions — John Samuel
  • Mismatch: How Inclusion Shapes Design — Kat Holmes
  • Disability Visibility — edited by Alice Wong
  • A Web for Everyone — Sarah Horton & Whitney Quesenbery

Online

Glossary

a11y
Shorthand for 'accessibility' (11 letters between the a and y).
AAC
Augmentative and Alternative Communication — tools that supplement or replace speech.
ARIA
Accessible Rich Internet Applications — HTML attributes that fill gaps where semantics aren't enough.
ASL
American Sign Language. A full language with its own grammar — not signed English.
AT
Assistive Technology — any device or software that helps a disabled person do a task.
Audio Description
Narration of important on-screen visuals for blind or low-vision viewers.
BSL / Auslan / LSF
British / Australian / French sign languages — each distinct from ASL.
CART
Communication Access Real-Time Translation — live human captioning.
Captions
On-screen text of dialogue and meaningful sounds. Closed = togglable, Open = burned in.
Cochlear implant
Surgically implanted device that gives some hearing access by stimulating the auditory nerve.
Curb-cut effect
When accessibility features help everyone (e.g., ramps help wheelchairs, strollers, and suitcases).
Deaf vs. deaf
Capital-D Deaf refers to cultural identity and ASL community; lowercase deaf is audiological.
Disability
Mismatch between a person and their environment — often produced by design choices.
Identity-first language
"Disabled person", "autistic woman" — disability as part of identity.
Person-first language
"Person with a disability" — puts the person before the trait.
Screen reader
Software that reads on-screen content aloud (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, TalkBack).
Universal Design
Designing products and environments usable by all people without adaptation.
WCAG
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines — the international web accessibility standard.

Found a barrier in this guidebook?

We tried to practice what we preach, but accessibility is a process, not a product. If something here doesn't work for you — broken keyboard nav, low contrast, confusing language — please tell an organizer at check-in. We'll fix it.