Glossary

Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.

899 results found in Assistive Technology.

Pointing Device (Pointer Device, Input Device)
Any hardware device used to control the movement of a cursor or pointer on a computer screen, enabling users to select, click, drag, and interact with interface elements. Common pointing devices inclu…
Pointing Device Gain (Control-Display Gain, Mouse Sensitivity, Pointer Speed, CD Gain)
The ratio between the movement of a physical input device (such as a mouse or trackball) and the resulting movement of the cursor on screen, typically measured in pixels per inch of device movement. H…
Pose estimation (Body pose estimation, Human pose estimation)
The computational process of determining the position and orientation of a person's body joints and limbs from sensor data such as cameras, depth sensors, or inertial measurement units. In accessibili…
Postural Support (Seating Support, Positioning Support)
Equipment and strategies that help maintain a person's body in a stable, functional position for activities including communication, eating, and using assistive technology. Adequate postural support i…
Posture Detection (Posture Monitoring, Posture Recognition)
The use of sensors or computer vision to identify and monitor a person's body posture in real time. In assistive technology, posture detection systems can use accelerometers, gyroscopes, or cameras to…
Power Assist Device (Power assist wheel, Pushrim-activated power-assisted wheelchair, PAPAW)
A motorized attachment that adds electric propulsion assistance to a manual wheelchair without converting it into a full power wheelchair. Power assist devices typically attach to the wheelchair frame…
Power Cards
Power Cards are a visual teaching strategy developed by Elisa Gagnon for autistic learners and others with social-communication differences. A Power Card is a small, portable card that pairs a brief s…
Power-Assist Add-On (Power Assist, Power-Assist Device, Wheelchair Power Assist)
A power-assist add-on is a retrofit device attached to a manual wheelchair that provides motorized propulsion while preserving the chair's manual structure, offering a middle ground between manual and…
Powered Wheelchair (Electric Wheelchair, Motorized Wheelchair, Power Chair)
A wheelchair propelled by an electric motor and battery system rather than manual effort, typically controlled via a joystick or alternative input device. Powered wheelchairs are essential mobility ai…
Pre-compensation (Display Pre-compensation, Image Pre-compensation)
A technique in which images displayed on a computer screen are mathematically modified in advance to counteract the visual aberrations of the viewer's eye. Rather than relying on corrective lenses or …
Precompensation (Display Precompensation, Image Precompensation)
A technique in visual accessibility that pre-modifies displayed images in a way that is opposite to the optical distortion introduced by a user's eye, so that the image arriving at the retina more clo…
Predictive Cursor (Anticipatory Cursor, Offset Cursor)
A cursor display technique designed to compensate for the delays inherent in speech-based or other high-latency input methods. A predictive cursor shows an indicator ahead of the actual cursor positio…
Predictive Disambiguation (Dictionary-based Predictive Disambiguation, DBPD, Word Disambiguation)
Predictive disambiguation is the class of text-entry techniques in which each user input event is intentionally ambiguous (one keystroke covers several possible letters, one swipe covers many possible…
Privacy Threat Model (Privacy Threat Analysis, Privacy Risk Assessment)
A systematic process for identifying, classifying, and evaluating potential privacy risks that a technology system may pose to its users. Privacy threat modeling extends security-focused frameworks (l…
Product Identification (Product Recognition)
The task of determining what a packaged or unpackaged product is from visual (or other sensory) input, at a level of detail useful to an end user: generic type (soup, cereal, shampoo), brand (Campbell…
Prompting System (Prompting Device, Task Prompting Technology)
An assistive technology that provides stepwise guidance through text, images, audio, or video instructions to help individuals complete multi-step tasks such as cooking, personal hygiene, or workplace…
Prosthesis (Prosthetic, Prosthetic Device, Artificial Limb)
A prosthesis is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through congenital conditions, injury, or disease. Prostheses range from purely cosmetic devices designed to r…
Prosthetics (Prostheses, Prosthetic Devices, Artificial Limbs)
Artificial devices designed to replace missing body parts, most commonly limbs lost through amputation, congenital absence, or trauma. Modern prosthetics range from basic cosmetic devices to highly fu…
Public Digital Terminal (PDT, Self-Service Terminal, Self-Service Kiosk)
A publicly available interactive electronic device that provides services or information to users, such as ATMs, ticket vending machines, check-in kiosks, and information points. Public digital termin…
Pull Notification (On-Demand Notification, User-Initiated Notification)
A notification or information delivery model where content is provided only when explicitly requested by the user, in contrast to push notifications which are delivered automatically. In assistive nav…