The Three Praxes Framework - A Thematic Review and Map of Social Accessibility Research

TL;DR

This paper introduces the Three Praxes Framework, a comprehensive model of social accessibility research that highlights the need for integrated practice, theory, and ecosystem change to better serve disabled communities.

Contribution

It develops the first thematic map of social accessibility research from 2011 to 2025, proposing a novel framework to connect practice, theory, and ecosystems.

Findings

Research operates largely in isolation, risking academic detachment.

Assistive technologies often reinforce existing barriers.

A call for cyclical integration of lived experiences, practice, and theory.

Abstract

Research in social accessibility aims to improve the lives of disabled people across diverse abilities and experiences by assisting with communication, relationships, and ecosystems of access. We seek to understand this intersectional body of work through analyzing social accessibility research from 2011 to 2025. Through constructivist grounded theory analysis of 90 papers (curated from 605), we develop the Three Praxes Framework: three sites of practice Artifact (constructive), Ecosystem (relational), and Epistemology (theoretical) - two cross-cutting stances toward change (Temporal Orientation and Stakeholder Focus) - and one reflexive cycle modeling how insights can flow between praxes. Our analysis reveals these praxes operate largely in isolation, risking that insights remain academic exercises while assistive technologies reinforce existing barriers. We call on the field to realize a cycle where disabled people's lived experiences shape material realities, material practice generates theoretical knowledge, and both transform ecosystems of access.