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Auditory barriers relate to sound-based ways of communicating (for example, speaking, hearing, fire alarms) or environmental conditions that make sound-based information less accessible (for example, loud rooms).

Auditory barriers are commonly experienced by people who are D/deaf, hard of hearing, or have auditory processing conditions. Their inclusion and success can be impacted when content is shared primarily through spoken words, or when there are multiple auditory inputs at once (eg some groupwork settings). Further, timed spoken exams may be inaccessible for people with disabilities that impact speech, or who stutter.

Disability cultures refers to the distinct and generative ways of thinking, doing, and being (together) that have emerged from shared experiences, values, and survival strategies of disability communities (broadly defined).

Disability cultures are primarily (co)led and (co)created by disabled people, and tend to relate to disability as a natural part of human diversity, or as a positive site of human connection and creation. Examples from this database include D/deaf aesthetics, mad theory, disability justice, and neurodiversity movements.

Learning + processing barriers often stem from unspoken or rigid expectations about how individuals should receive, retain, and apply information. These barriers may involve verbal (speech), textual (reading or writing), non-verbal (e.g., body language or context cues), or sensory information (e.g., lighting, sound, textures, clutter, temperature). These barriers can impact focus, memory, comprehension, time and task management, and the ability to demonstrate learning. These barriers can also create overwhelm.

These types of barriers are often the root of accommodations related to learning disabilities in reading, writing or math, such as dyslexia. These barriers are often experienced by neurodivergent people (or people with neurodevelopmental disabilities), including by Autistic people (or people with autism spectrum conditions) and ADHDers (or those with ADHD), those with sensory processing differences or disorder, OCD, as well as a range of other mental health-related conditions (e.g., anxiety, depression).

These barriers are also experienced by many people without formal diagnoses due to barriers to accessing diagnostic services, or for whom carrying a formal diagnosis would pose a danger. These barriers are often intensified in times of acute or chronic illness, conflict, stress, and trauma.

Mobility barriers relate to the physical environment (for example, stairs, uncleared snow, long distances between classes), or can relate to expectations around how a task gets completed (for example, writing an exam by holding a pen).

Mobility barriers are commonly experienced by people with medical conditions that impact nerve function, muscle strength, joint function, flexibility, coordination, stamina, or dexterity. This includes conditions like multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy and arthritis. These barriers can also impact people with limb difference, or with conditions that result in significant fatigue or pain (including heart and lung conditions). Of note, these mobility barriers can also be experienced by those with short term injuries and illnesses.

Visual barriers relate to visual forms of communication and navigation (for example, images, videos, or wayfinding signs), or environmental conditions or design choices that make access to visual information more difficult (for example, dark rooms, small or low contrast text).

Visual barriers are commonly experienced by people who are blind or who have low vision or who have conditions related to reading or visual processing. For example, many of these learners use screen readers that make written text available in audio formats. Class readings that are not compatible with screen readers, or paper-based written final exams, therefore, can create visual access barriers.