Accessibility terms

Write in a way that puts people first by using the phrase person with or person who

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Don’t use language that defines people by their disability, such as disabled, impaired, and the deaf.
A person might have a visual impairment, but that person isn’t impaired.

Examples

Person with visual impairment, person who is blind

Person with hearing loss, person with deafness

Person who is nonverbal, person who uses sign language

Person who uses a wheelchair

Person with a prosthetic limb, person without a limb

Person with autism

Person of small stature

To learn more about writing that conveys respect to all people and promotes equal opportunities, see the Guidelines for Inclusive Language (opens new window) from the Linguistic Society of America.

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👍 Correct code for this rule:

Blind, has low vision

Deaf or hard-of-hearing

Has limited mobility, has a mobility or physical disability

Is unable to speak, uses synthetic speech

Has multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder, or muscular dystrophy

Without disabilities

Person with a prosthetic limb, person without a limb

People with disabilities

👎 Incorrect code for this rule:

Sight-impaired, vision-impaired

Hearing-impaired

Crippled, lame

Dumb, mute

Affected by, stricken with, suffers from, a victim of, an epileptic

Normal, able-bodied, healthy

Maimed, missing a limb

The disabled, disabled people, people with handicaps, the handicapped