Definition of Disability about silver HOT 4 CLOSED

World Health Organisation

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.

from silver.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered.

from silver.

I propose that we not treat it as a formal definition, as that could delay us for a long time. I propose adding a sentence to the introduction that says: "Disabilities can be permanent, temporary, or situational. Most of the requirements in Silver prioritize the needs of permanent disabilities, but the requirements can also apply to temporary or situational disabilities. " I want to thread the needle of a broad definition of disabilities while understanding that meeting the needs of people with permanent disabilities cannot always be met by addressing situational disabilities. For example, Siri addresses many situational conveniences for speech input, but does not meet the needs of people that require speech input.

from silver.

In general I think we should be prepared to take a broader rather than narrower view of what is a disability, but that is something I think we should formally agree on as a design principle.

I don't think we need the second sentence. Disabilities come in a variety of forms, and mean different people have a variety of specific needs.

The question we address in Silver is

"What can I do to meet the needs of people with disabilities, and how do I know if I did it?".

So we really need to define the needs. Rather than getting into detailed questioning of what caused them, I think we should focus on establishing that given needs are real, and thus impact the potential set of solutions we offer. So we can leave "disability" as a common term that people generally understand in roughly the same way, and save time arguing over the precise boundaries.

from silver.