Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
899 results found in Assistive Technology.
- Touch Reader (Tactile Reader, Tactile Graphics Reader)
- A person who reads and interprets information through touch, particularly tactile graphics, raised line drawings, and braille. Touch readers include blind and low-vision individuals who access spatial…
- Touch Sensor (Touch-Sensitive Sensor, Tactile Sensor)
- An electronic component that detects physical contact or proximity of a finger or object on a surface. Touch sensors are used in accessible devices to enable direct tactile interaction, allowing blind…
- Touch-to-Explore (Touch Exploration, Explore by Touch)
- An interaction mode used by touchscreen screen readers (such as VoiceOver on iOS and TalkBack on Android) where users drag their finger across the screen to discover and hear descriptions of interface…
- Touchpad (Touch Tablet, Touch-Sensitive Pad)
- A flat, pressure-sensitive input device that detects the position of a finger or stylus on its surface. In assistive technology contexts, touchpads are used as interactive overlays for tactile graphic…
- Touchpad Navigation (Trackpad Navigation)
- A method of interacting with digital content by dragging fingers or pressing specific positions on a smooth-surface touchpad input device. In accessibility contexts, touchpad navigation enables direct…
- Touchscreen Accessibility (Touch Interface Accessibility)
- Touchscreen accessibility refers to the design principles, techniques, and assistive technologies that make touchscreen devices usable by people with disabilities. This includes screen reader gestures…
- Trajectory Analysis (Route Analysis, Path Analysis)
- The computational study of movement patterns over time and space, typically derived from GPS or other location data. Trajectory analysis involves modelling, comparing, and classifying sequences of spa…
- Transcription (Speech-to-Text Transcription, Real-Time Transcription)
- The process of converting spoken language into written text, either in real time or after the fact. In accessibility contexts, transcription services provide communication access for deaf and hard of …
- Transfer Function (Mapping Function, Control-Display Gain)
- A mathematical function that defines the relationship between an input signal and an output response in a control system. In assistive technology and pointer control, a transfer function determines ho…
- Transformation Proxy (Transcoding Proxy, Web Accessibility Proxy)
- A transformation proxy is an intermediary server that sits between a user and the web, intercepting web pages and modifying their content before delivering them to the user's browser. In accessibility…
- Trimodal Feedback (Triple-Modality Feedback)
- A form of interface feedback that delivers information through three simultaneous sensory channels — typically auditory, haptic, and visual. Trimodal feedback offers the highest level of redundancy in…
- Tutoring System (Intelligent Tutoring System, ITS, Computer-Based Tutor)
- Software that provides personalised instruction and feedback to learners, adapting its responses based on the learner's performance, knowledge level, and error patterns. In accessibility contexts, tut…
- Ultra-Wideband (UWB, Ultra wideband)
- A short-range radio-frequency technology that uses very wide frequency bands (typically above 500 MHz) and very short pulses to enable centimetre-accurate distance and angle-of-arrival measurements be…
- Unaided AAC (Unaided Augmentative and Alternative Communication, Body-Based AAC)
- The branch of Augmentative and Alternative Communication that relies solely on the user's body — gestures, facial expressions, vocalisations, manual signs, body orientation — without an external devic…
- Unimodal Interface (Single-Mode Interface)
- An interface that accepts input through only one mode or channel of interaction, such as keyboard-only, voice-only, or gesture-only input. In contrast to multimodal interfaces that combine multiple in…
- Unit Selection Synthesis (Concatenative Unit Selection, Unit Selection TTS)
- A text-to-speech synthesis approach that generates speech by selecting and concatenating variable-length segments of pre-recorded human speech from a large database to match the input text. Unit selec…
- Universal Maths Conversion Library (UMCL)
- An open-source programming library that encapsulates converters for different Braille mathematical codes, enabling applications to convert between MathML and various national Braille mathematical nota…
- Universe of One (Universe-of-One, Personalized Prompting)
- A design approach in assistive technology where content, prompts, and guidance are tailored to each individual user rather than providing generic or standardized instructions. The concept is particula…
- Unobtrusive Interaction (Unobtrusive Interfaces)
- A design orientation, associated with ambient, wearable, and assistive-technology research, that aims to minimise disruption to users' natural behaviour, attention, and social presence. Rather than de…
- Upper-Limb Prosthetic (Upper Limb Prosthesis, Arm Prosthetic, Hand Prosthetic)
- A prosthetic device that replaces or augments part or all of a missing upper limb — fingers, hand, wrist, forearm, or full arm. Upper-limb prosthetics range from passive cosmetic devices and body-powe…