Using Real Names of Disabled Participant-Contributors to Practice Citational Justice in Accessibility

2025-08-19

AI Summary

In accessibility research, conventional anonymization—while safeguarding privacy—often obscures the intellectual contributions of disabled participants, perpetuating citation injustice. This paper, grounded in qualitative inquiry and case studies from accessible visualization, proposes “named citation” as a practice to advance citation justice, systematically examining the ethical feasibility and contextual appropriateness of de-anonymization. It innovatively develops an ethical decision-making framework for named citation, centering on informed consent, power dynamics, and risk assessment to provide researchers with actionable guidance for responsible de-anonymization. The framework shifts research ethics from passive protection toward active recognition, enhancing the visibility and epistemic belonging of disabled contributors within scholarly discourse. By challenging the default norm of anonymization, it advances substantive equity in academic acknowledgment.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: AI for Accessibility
• Natural Language Processing: Ethics — Bias, Fairness, Transparency & Privacy
• Philosophy and Ethics of AI: Bias, Fairness & Equity

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: Accountability, Transparency, and Ethics for personalization
• Security and Privacy: Data transparency and provenance
• Responsible Web: Fairness, accountability, transparency and ethics of web technologies

Abstract

In accessibility research involving human subjects, researchers conventionally anonymize their research participants to protect privacy. However, a lack of intentionality about who to publicly acknowledge for intellectual contributions to research can lead to the erasure of disabled individuals' work and knowledge. In this paper, I propose identifying disabled research participants by name (with consent) as a practice of citational justice. I share observations from examples of this practice in accessible visualization research, and offer considerations for when it may be appropriate to de-anonymize. Intentional practices of citation offer researchers an opportunity to acknowledge the expertise and intellectual contributions of disabled people in our communities.

Problem

• Addressing anonymization erasing disabled contributors' intellectual work
• Proposing citational justice through naming disabled participants with consent
• Exploring ethical de-anonymization practices in accessibility research

Innovation

• Using real names with consent
• Practicing citational justice intentionally
• De-anonymizing disabled contributors appropriately