GDI Video - Such a CES Thing! - DTNS 4430 Extended

That’s at least 5 cents and super helpful insight. I absolutely get why the usage of a word would rub you the wrong way but your explanation of where that’s coming from is excellent. It’s something I’ll definitely be aware of. There are all kinds of examples of this unrelated to this topic too. It’s the problem and advantage English has in using terms to mean multiple things and having more than one term for the same thing. Anyway as long as using an alternate term doesn’t introduce more confusion that’s a great solution. For mobility devices that seems easy. For accessibility it’s a little trickier since the alternatives are longer and bulkier and longer and bulkier means more likely to introduce confusion. So I’ll have to work a little harder on what to do there. Thanks both!!

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Chiming in as a lifelong wheelchair user whose new "mobility device" will finally arrive later this month due to shipping and semiconducter delays. Words change First of all, language changes and can words become associated very closely with a certain item/topic/group of people, or have a special meeting to a certain group of people. In the original use of "mobility" and "accessibility/accessible" it had nothing to do with disability. But these words have become closely associated with people with disabilities. "Mobility devices" “Mobility aides” is perhaps the most accurate term for things like wheelchairs, canes etc. and even though I have used a wheelchair for nearly 40 years, “mobility device” didn’t actually make me think of disability. But doing a Google search, particularly an image search, for “mobility devices“ it definitely brings up pictures of equipment used by people with disabilities. At the same time, in the original meaning of the word, an electrical bike *would* be a mobility device. So I can understand the usage of the term. Perhaps going forward these types of devices (e-bikes, etc) could be better referred to as a “transportation device” or “personal transportation device” or something along those lines. As the main point is transporting a person. "accessibility" / "accessible" I’m guessing you are referring to times in the past where one of the team said something like “making the product more accessible to users“ when they are referring to something like lowering the price or increasing the number of OSs where a program can be used etc, thus technically making it accessible (able to be accessed) by more users. I can totally understand this, as my ears would’ve perked up upon hearing the word “accessible“ hoping it is a disability-related thing and then go “ohhh humph” when I realized it wasn't. Again, technically the English isn’t wrong but "accessible/accessibility" is a word that has a very specific, and I would say personal, meaning to a large number of people. Therefore in those cases it might be best to choose another word. (“Opening it up to”, “making it more available to” etc) So….. I would say this is a case of “You’re not wrong” (to refer to a podcast Tom likes) on both sides of it. Their use of the wording is not offensive or technically wrong (and likely used by many other publications), and your reaction is not unfounded - it has a very personal meaning for our community. Maybe going forward for DTNS’ style guide, they can add this distinction and set up a flag in the notes to catch it. On the topic, maybe “accessibility/accessible” could be a topic for “A word with Tom Merritt” or DTNS could cover a mobility aide/device trade show some day! Anyway, my 2-4 cents.

Ok. I’ll keep this in mind. I hope you don’t mind if I ask a few other folks in the accessibility community for their take as well. Thanks!

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Okay, I'm going to get on my soapbox about terms here. A "mobility device" is a device used by someone with issues getting the way an abled person would. In other words a blind person's white cane, a cane, a wheelchair, ect. Bikes are generally not considered mobility devices. You folks already use accessibility in ways that don't have the same meaning as when it applies to disabled accessibility can we not do the same thing with mobility devices, please?

Julian