Different accounts of disability, each of which gives rise to different approaches to accessibility:
Individualistic
Individualistic models of disability are built on the assumption that the problems and difficulties that disabled people experience are a direct result of their individual physical, sensory or intellectual impairments. One key example of this kind of model is the medical model, which views disability in terms of disease processes, abnormality and personal tragedy. With the medical model, disability need arises directly from impairment and the major task of the professional is to adjust the individual to the particular disabling condition.
'Charity'
Ten to 15 years ago, this model was accused of portraying disabled people as helpless, sad and in need of care and protection. Such portrayals were argued to be perpetuating damaging stereotypes and misconceptions. More recently, charities have been using more positive images to portray (and thus define) disability.
Administrative
Administrative models of disability usually relate to specific areas of life such as education or employment and are used to assess whether or not people are eligible for certain benefits or compensation. The associated definitions of disability are written into legislation with legal implications and are viewed by many to be rigid and dichotomous. The definitions almost always relate to people’s impairments rather than their physical or social environments. Health and welfare professions are often required to work within the framework of administrative definitions, but critics of this model argue that disabled people rarely fit into the neat boxes that administrators provide.
Social
The social model of disability, put forward by disability activists, was a move against viewing disabled people as dependent and in need of care (Oliver 1990). Disability was viewed as stemming from the failure of the social and physical environment to take account of disabled people’s needs. The problems of disabled people were therefore not seen as within the individual person, but within society. According to the social model, it is not the individual with a disability that needs to be changed, but society. In the early years of the social model, impairment as a concept or experience was rejected for fear of weakening the argument that altering the environment would solve the difficulties that disabled people faced. There is now, however, a growing acceptance by disability activists and those working in related fields such as assistive technology, that acknowledging impairment does not necessarily undermine the social model.
Seale, J. E-Learning and Disability in Higher Education: Accessibility Research and Practice. (Abingdon: Routledge 2006)