Language to use around disabilities
The language we use when talking about accessibility is an important part of inclusive design. It's also important outside of the digital world - for example, when organising or running events, hosting meetings, working with businesses or responding to enquiries.
General guidance
It’s usually best to just ask the person you’re speaking to how they’d prefer you to refer to their disability or accessibility needs. But when you’re building a digital service, this isn’t always possible because you’re likely to be designing for wide audience who may have different preferences.
Here are some general best practise guidelines:
- Avoid using terms like ‘disabled’ or ‘disabilities’ too generally – are you really referring to all people with any disability, or do you specifically mean wheelchair users, people with vision impairments, people with hearing loss or another more specific disability?
- Avoid using negative terms like ‘suffers from’ or ‘confined to’ (in relation to a wheelchair)
- When talking about people without disabilities, don’t use terms like ‘normal’ or ‘healthy’. Just say ‘people without disabilities’
- Consider if you need to refer to a disability at all. For example, when pointing users to a video transcript, you can just say ‘If you prefer, you can read a transcript of this video’ rather than ‘If you’re deaf or hard of hearing, you can read a transcript of this video’.
People first or identity first?
- People-first language means putting the person before their disability – for example, ‘people with disabilities’ or ‘someone with autism’ or ‘a person who is blind’.
- Identity-first language means putting how the person identifies first – for example ‘disabled people’ ‘an autistic person’ or ‘a blind person’.
The preferred option in the UK seems to be identity first language. Many people in disabled communities feel this helps them ‘own’ their disabilities, to reduce stigma and promote pride. Of course, everyone has their own preferences, and some people do prefer person-first language.
When writing or speaking for Scottish Enterprise or our partners, we recommend using identity first language where possible. There are some exceptions, for example where it doesn’t make grammatical sense to use identity first language.
Advice for specific disabilities, conditions and impairments
Neurodiversity (including Autism, ADHD and dyslexia)
We recommend taking the 'identity first’ approach when talking about neurodiversity. However, there are some exceptions.
Examples of the terms we recommend using include:
- An autistic person
- A dyslexic person
- Neurodiverse people
- A person with ADHD
- A person with dyspraxia
You can also use the more general term, ‘neurodiverse people’, if you need to.
Cognitive impairments
There can be a lot of overlap between neurodiversity and cognitive impairments. We usually use ‘cognitive impairments’ to refer to specific impairments related to the brain – for example, memory loss, difficulty processing information, cognitive overload or difficulty understanding written language. Both neurodiverse and neurotypical people can experience cognitive impairments. This can be the result of a specific condition like Autism or ADHD, an injury or illness such as a stroke, ageing, or a situational trigger like being very stressed or tired.
We recommend saying ‘people with cognitive impairments’ as it’s simpler than ‘cognitively impaired people’.
Sight conditions
Sight conditions can vary greatly, from blindness or partial sight, to colour blindness. The definitions of these can vary too – some legally blind people still have some sight. We recommend using the following terms when talking about people with sight conditions:
- Blind people
- Partially-sighted people
- People with low vision
- Colour blind people
- People with visual impairments
Do not use terms like ‘the blind’ or ‘the visually impaired’.
Hearing loss
Just like sight conditions, hearing loss can vary from person to person. Some people may not be able to hear at all, while some may still have partial hearing in one or both ears. We recommend using the following terms when talking about people with sight conditions:
- Deaf people
- People with hearing loss
- People who are hard of hearing
Don’t use terms like ‘the deaf’, unless you’re referring more generally to ‘the Deaf community’.
Physical or motor disabilities
This includes a range of disabilities and accessibility needs. We recommend using the following terms for people with physical or motor disabilities:
- Someone with a physical disability
- People with motor disabilities
- Wheelchair users
- People who experience tremors
- People who experience difficulty with co-ordination
Where possible, try to refer to the specific condition or symptom you mean, because different types of physical and motor disabilities can result in different accessibility needs.
Further reading
GOV.UK has a useful list of words to use and words to avoid when talking about disabilities.
If you’re looking for guidance around a specific disability, look for a local or national organisation that can help. The way they talk about disabilities on their own websites gives a good idea of what the best practise may be.
Here are a list of sites that may be useful:
Royal National Institute of Blind People opens in a new window
Visibility Scotland opens in a new window
Sight Scotland opens in a new window
Deaf action opens in a new window
Disability information Scotland opens in a new window
Inclusion Scotland opens in a new window