The Context You Never Had for Your Web Apps — The 7 Theoretical Models of Disability
We’re so self-conditioned to assume the world works they way we know or experience it, that anything else seems entirely out of the realms of possibility. It’s a dismissively narrow view of an incredibly vast world, which unfortunately all too often translates to web and app development as well, especially when it comes to accessibility.
I bet that when I say “disabled person”, the first thing you get a mental image of is a white cane or a wheelchair. Well, fun fact, Roy Orbison was never blind, he just wore shades. It was his thing, just like Kiss wearing a tad too much makeup. Moral of the story is, wearing shades doesn’t make one blind, nor does wearing excessive makeup render someone a clown. It’s all about perception and context, which very conveniently brings me to the seven theoretical models of disability — medical, social, biopshychosocial, economic, functional, social and charity.
Turns out you can have seven of more than just dwarves, legs on a slightly disabled spider, candles in a jewish candelabrum, continents (debatable), or hey… days in a week, each of them ending in a “y”! Who knew 7 was such a popular number!
