Mada’s Glossary – The First Arabic Glossary Specialized in Assistive Technology and Digital Access

As part of its commitment to creating Arabic language resources for the purpose of raising awareness about the potential of Assistive Technology (AT) and e-Accessibility to empower People with Disabilities, the Mada Center has developed a first of its kind resource in Qatar and the Region: an online glossary of key accessibility, AT, and disability-related terms in both Arabic and English.
The Mada Glossary is developed within the framework of the Mada Innovation Program, which aims to enhance digital access in the Arabic language and encourage innovators to provide more technological solutions for persons with disabilities. Furthermore, Mada’s Glossary provides a thorough explanation of the main terms related to the field of inclusive ICT access in both Arabic and English. It is a specialized terminology reference related to ICT accessibility and assistive technology (AT).

The main objective of developing the glossary is to promote innovation in the Arabic language in various fields of technology. The glossary provides a list of terms in Arabic and English to help stakeholders, experts, innovators, parents, users, teachers, students, therapists, and related institutions understand key terms related to ICT, digital accessibility, and Assistive Technology (AT) in order to achieve the centre’s vision to improve ICT accessibility. Subsequently, effectively unleashing the potential of all persons with disabilities and the elderly through capacity-building and supporting the development of accessible digital platforms in Qatar and the world. The glossary includes technical terms that could be used in developing scientific papers and general articles by authors to produce scientific and academic resource content in Arabic among other languages.
Due to the infancy of Arabic digital resources related to ICT and digital access for persons with disabilities, Mada sought to launch a specialized glossary to improve the knowledge and quality resources of assistive technology solutions in the Arabic language. This will help establish a more well-versed society in line with the Fourth Industrial Revolution, artificial intelligence, and all that is new in the field of innovation. Furthermore, this resource will help raise awareness related to inclusive digital accessibility and highlight the role of Mada as a key contributor towards capacity building in the field of Digital Accessibility and AT in Qatar and the region. The Mada Glossary was reviewed in cooperation with the Translation and Interpretation Institute (TII) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) within the framework of activating the cooperation agreement between Mada and HBKU signed during QITCOM 2019.

Mada’s Glossary consists of 354 terms, each of which provides a concise definition of matters related to persons with disabilities, accessibility, and technology. Mada seeks to expand this project to its next stages by adding more terms available in various languages. The resource is now available online, free of charge, through Mada’s web presence, providing a much-needed resource for People with Disabilities, caregivers, therapists, technologists, policymakers and academics interested in the field.