Learning About
ACCESSIBILITY
Language
Choosing Your Words
Deepening your Understanding
Persons with disabilities are a diverse group, and experience disability, impairment and societal barriers in many different ways. Disabilities can be invisible and episodic, with people sometimes experiencing periods of wellness and periods of disability. All people with disabilities have the same rights to equal opportunities under the Ontario Human Rights Code, whether their disabilities are visible or not and temporary or not (Ontario Human Right Commission, 2017).
Here are some important definitions adapted from the Ontario Human Rights Commissionopen new window:
Attitudes in society that devalue and limit the potential of persons with disabilities. People with disabilities are assumed to be less worthy of respect and consideration, less able to contribute and take part, and of less value than other people. Ableism can be conscious or unconscious and is embedded in institutions, systems or the broader culture of a society.
A general term for the degree of ease that something (e.g., device, service, physical environment and information) can be accessed, used and enjoyed by persons with disabilities. The term implies conscious planning, design and/or effort to make sure something is barrier-free to persons with disabilities. Accessibility also benefits the general population, by making things more usable and practical for everyone, including older people and families with small children.
Many people understand disability as a medical condition that a person has. From this perspective, disability covers many conditions: some visible and some not visible, some present at birth and others acquired over time. These conditions have many names. They might be called physical, mental, learning disabilities, or something more specific such as vision impairment. Some people wish to cure disability while others don't.
However, disability is also a cultural idea and a way to understand identities. The word “disability” is political, and has historical ties to disability rights movements in many countries. For many, disability is not only a medical condition that a person has. Rather, disability is a result of barriers that prevent people from fully participating in society. Some people find pride in the word “disability” and re-claim the word as a positive part of their identities.
There are many different ways to think about the term "disability" therefore it is important never to rely on only one definition of the word (Dr. C. Jones, personal correspondence, March 3, 2017).
A physical, sensory, intellectual, learning or medical condition, including mental illness,that limits functioning and/or requires accommodation. Impairment may be apparent to others or hidden, inherited, self-inflicted or acquired, and may exist alone or in combination with other impairments. Impairment can affect anyone (whatever their gender, sex, race, culture, age, religion, creed, etc.).
In recommending specific language and terminology for use in broadcast news, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Canada, The Association of Electronic Journalists notes the following:
- Legal terminology and the legal names of groups or associations will be retained in news reporting.
- The context of a news story may determine the choice of language and terminology that is used. For example, some news subjects with disabilities may self-identify in a manner that is different from the language recommended. To respect the preference of the news subject, the terminology used in self-identifying would be applied.
- Reporting of a news story may involve the good faith use of language and terminology based on a story’s unique perspective or events. For example, the views and direct quotes of those interviewed for a story would be reported as conveyed by them.
Not Recommended
Recommended
Not Recommended:
Birth defect, deformity/deformed, congenital defect
Recommended:
Person born with a disability
Not Recommended:
The blind, the visually impaired
Recommended:
Person living with vision loss, person who is blind, person who has a vision impairment
Not Recommended:
Confined to a wheelchair
Recommended:
Person who uses a wheelchair or wheelchair user
Not Recommended:
Crippled or lame
Recommended:
Person with a disability or person with a/who has a motion disability; person with a spinal cord injury, etc.
Not Recommended:
Deaf-mute, deaf and dumb
Recommended:
Culturally-linguistically Deaf people (that is, those who use sign language to communicate) are identified as ‘Deaf’ (with an upper-case ‘D’). People who do not use sign language are identified as ‘deaf’ (with a lower-case ‘d’), or ‘people who are deaf’.
Not Recommended:
Hard of hearing or hearing-impaired
Recommended:
Person with a hearing loss (may use a spoken language such as English or French to communicate)
Not Recommended:
An epileptic
Recommended:
Person with epilepsy
Not Recommended:
The handicapped, a handicap
Recommended:
Person with a disability (handicaps are environmental conditions, such as ‘this person is ‘handicapped’ by negative attitudes or lack of accessibility’)
Not Recommended:
Handicapped parking
Recommended:
Accessible parking
Not Recommended:
Handicapped bathrooms
Recommended:
Accessible bathrooms
Not Recommended:
Particular references to mental health and well-being such as lunatic, mental patient, mental disease, neurotic, psychotic
Recommended:
Person with a mental health disability, person who has/ person diagnosed with depression/ schizophrenia, etc. Terminology varies between countries; ‘insane’ and ‘insanity’ are generally legal terms and reported as such in news programming
Not Recommended:
Invalid
Recommended:
Person with a disability
Not Recommended:
Learning disabled, learning disorder
Recommended:
Person with a learning disability or persons with learning disabilities
Not Recommended:
Mentally retarded, retarded, mentally defective, mentally challenged
Recommended:
Person with an intellectual disability; many countries use ‘Person with a developmental disability’
Not Recommended:
Physically challenged
Recommended:
Person with a disability (challenges are environmental conditions)
Not Recommended:
Suffers from; afflicted by; stricken with, etc.
Recommended:
Person with a disability, person who has (a particular condition)
Not Recommended:
Victim of (a condition such as multiple sclerosis, a stroke, cerebral palsy)
Recommended:
Person who has (a particular condition) or a person who has had a stroke
— Adapted from the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and the RTDNA Canada, Association of Electronic Journalists opens in new window
Dr. Chelsea Jones notes that it is important to consider whether disability is relevant to the story at all. The idea being that if disability—like race, spirituality, sexuality, gender, immigration status, class, and age—is not relevant to the story, there is not always need to bring it up (Dr. C. Jones, personal correspondence, March 3, 2017).
