Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
899 results found in Assistive Technology.
- Voice Assistant (Smart Speaker, Voice-Activated Assistant, Conversational Agent)
- A software application that uses speech recognition and natural language processing to respond to voice commands and perform tasks. Common examples include Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Si…
- Voice Assistant (Virtual Assistant, Smart Speaker)
- An AI-powered system that responds to voice commands to perform tasks, answer questions, and control devices, such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri. Voice assistants have accessibilit…
- Voice Cloning (Voice Synthesis Cloning, Personalized Text-to-Speech)
- The use of machine-learning models to synthesise a target speaker's voice from a short reference recording, enabling text-to-speech output that sounds like that specific person. For accessibility, voi…
- Voice Customization (Voice Personalization, Custom Voice)
- The process of creating or modifying synthetic voices to match a user's preferences or identity, including attributes such as gender, age, pitch, breathiness, hoarseness, and speech variation. Voice c…
- Voice User Interface (VUI, Voice Command Interface, Voice Interface)
- An interface that allows users to interact with a device or application through spoken language commands rather than touch, mouse, or keyboard input. Voice user interfaces use automated speech recogni…
- Voice User Interface (VUI)
- A user interface that enables interaction with a device or system through spoken voice commands and audio responses. Voice user interfaces use speech recognition to interpret user input and text-to-sp…
- Voice-Assisted Technology (VAT, Voice-Activated Technology)
- Technology that uses voice recognition and natural language processing to enable users to interact with devices, applications, and services through spoken commands. Voice-assisted technology encompass…
- Voice-to-Text (Voice Typing, Dictation, Voice Input)
- Technology that converts spoken language into written text, enabling users to compose text by speaking rather than typing. Voice-to-text is an important accessibility tool for people with motor disabi…
- Voicemark (Voice Bookmark, Audio Bookmark)
- A navigable audio marker or bookmark that allows users to quickly locate and access specific sections of web content or documents through speech or keyboard interaction. Voicemarks are created by anal…
- Wavefront Analyzer (Aberrometer, Wavefront Sensor)
- An optical instrument that measures how light waves are distorted as they pass through the eye's optical system, producing a detailed map of the eye's refractive characteristics called a wavefront abe…
- Wearable Camera (Body-worn Camera, Head-mounted Camera, Egocentric Camera)
- A camera worn on the body — typically mounted on glasses, a hat, or the chest — that captures images or video from the wearer's perspective (egocentric view). In assistive technology for blind and low…
- Wearable Haptic Device (Haptic Wearable, Vibrotactile Wearable)
- A body-worn device that delivers tactile feedback through vibration motors, actuators, or other mechanisms to convey information to the wearer through the sense of touch. Wearable haptic devices range…
- Wearable Haptics (Wearable Haptic Device)
- Haptic feedback systems designed to be worn on the body — rings, wristbands, gloves, vests, shoes, or exoskeletons — that deliver tactile, vibrotactile, or kinesthetic cues during mobile, hands-free u…
- Wearable Sensor (Body-Worn Sensor, Wearable Device)
- A small electronic device worn on the body that continuously collects data about the wearer's movements, physiological state, or environment. In accessibility and rehabilitation contexts, wearable sen…
- Wearable Sensors (Body-Worn Sensors, Wearable Sensor Technology)
- Electronic devices worn on the body that collect data about movement, physiological signals, or environmental conditions. In accessibility contexts, wearable sensors include accelerometers, gyroscopes…
- Web Accessibility Service (WAS)
- A proxy-based intermediary service that sits between a web server and a client browser, intercepting and transforming web content to meet individual users' accessibility needs. Originally prototyped b…
- Web Intermediary (Web Proxy, Transcoding Proxy)
- A system that sits between a user's web browser and the web server, intercepting and modifying HTTP requests and responses to adapt web content before it reaches the user. In accessibility contexts, w…
- Web Mediation (Web Content Mediation, Web Accessibility Mediation)
- The process of automatically modifying web content as it passes between a web server and a user's browser, typically through a proxy server or browser extension, to improve its accessibility or usabil…
- Web Transcoding (Content Transcoding, Web Content Transformation)
- The process of automatically transforming web content to improve its presentation or accessibility for specific users or devices. Transcoding techniques can include simplifying page structure, adaptin…
- WebAnywhere
- A web-based, self-voicing screen reader developed at the University of Washington that enabled blind users to access the web from any computer with an Internet connection and sound output, without ins…