Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
899 results found in Assistive Technology.
- Haptic Virtual Reality (Haptic VR, Feelable Virtual Environment)
- Haptic virtual reality refers to virtual environments that incorporate touch-based feedback, allowing users to feel virtual textures, shapes, and objects through force-feedback devices. Unlike visual-…
- Head Control (Head-Controlled Interface, Head Mouse, Head Pointer)
- An alternative computer input device that translates head movements into cursor movements on screen, enabling people who cannot use their hands or arms to operate a computer. Head control systems typi…
- Head Pointing (Head-Controlled Pointing, Head Mouse)
- Head pointing is an alternative input method that maps head movements to cursor position on a computer screen, enabling hands-free mouse control. The user moves their head to direct the cursor, with t…
- Head Pose Estimation (Head Orientation Detection, Gaze Direction Estimation)
- A computer vision technique that determines the orientation or direction a person's head is facing, typically classifying whether someone is looking towards or away from the camera. In accessibility c…
- Head-Mounted Display (HMD) (HMD, Head-Mounted Display, Smart Glasses, AR Glasses)
- A display device worn on the head that places visual content in front of one or both eyes. Head-mounted displays include AR smart glasses (like Vuzix Blade), VR headsets, and mixed reality devices. In…
- HeadMaster (HeadMaster Plus)
- An early head-pointing assistive technology device developed by Prentke Romich Company that translates head movements into mouse cursor movements on screen. The HeadMaster uses an ultrasonic sensor wo…
- Heading Navigation (Navigate by Headings)
- A screen reader navigation strategy that allows users to jump between heading elements (h1-h6) on a webpage, bypassing intermediate content to quickly find sections of interest. Heading navigation is …
- Hearable (Smart Earbud, Smart Earphone)
- A class of in-ear or over-ear wearable devices that combine audio playback with one or more sensors and on-device computing - microphones for ambient audio capture, inertial sensors, biosensors, and m…
- Hearcon (3D Earcon)
- An extension of the earcon concept that adds three-dimensional spatial audio properties to non-speech audio cues used in computer interfaces. While earcons are abstract synthesized sounds that represe…
- Hearing Aid (HA, BTE, Behind-the-Ear)
- An electronic device worn in or behind the ear that amplifies sound for individuals with hearing loss. Modern hearing aids include features such as Bluetooth connectivity, directional microphones, and…
- Heuristic Transcoding (Rule-based Transcoding)
- Heuristic transcoding is the automated transformation of web content to improve accessibility, device compatibility, or readability using a fixed set of predefined rules that inspect the page structur…
- High-Tech AAC (Electronic AAC, Speech-Generating Device)
- Augmentative and alternative communication systems that use electronic or digital technology to support communication, including speech-generating devices, tablets with AAC software, smartphones with …
- Histogram of Oriented Gradients (HOG)
- A feature descriptor technique used in computer vision for object detection that counts occurrences of gradient orientations in localized portions of an image. HOG captures edge and texture informatio…
- HoloLens (Microsoft HoloLens)
- A self-contained, wearable mixed reality headset developed by Microsoft that overlays interactive holograms onto the user's real-world environment. HoloLens uses spatial mapping, gaze tracking, gestur…
- Home Page Reader (IBM Home Page Reader, HPR)
- A talking web browser developed by IBM Japan in the late 1990s, designed specifically for blind and low-vision users. Home Page Reader combined a web rendering engine with the ProTalker text-to-speech…
- Human Activity Recognition (HAR, Activity Recognition)
- A field of machine learning and ubiquitous computing that uses sensor data — typically from accelerometers, gyroscopes, and other sensors in smartphones, smartwatches, or other wearable devices — to a…
- Human Computation (Crowdsourced Computing)
- A computational approach that harnesses human intelligence to perform tasks that computers cannot easily accomplish alone. In accessibility contexts, human computation powers services like remote sigh…
- Human Cooperation (Accessibility) (Cooperative Shared Control)
- In the context of accessible gaming and assistive technology, human cooperation refers to arrangements in which a disabled user (the pilot) and another person (the copilot) jointly operate a single sy…
- Human Interface Device (HID, Input Device, Peripheral)
- Any device used to facilitate interaction between a human and a computer, including keyboards, mice, trackballs, joysticks, touchscreens, switches, and eye-tracking systems. The USB HID standard defin…
- Human-Machine Interface (HMI, Human-Computer Interface)
- The point of interaction between a human user and a machine, system, or device, encompassing the hardware and software through which users communicate with and control technology. In the context of ac…