Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
899 results found in Assistive Technology.
- Assistive Technology Mainstreaming (Mainstreaming, AT Mainstreaming)
- A design philosophy and practice where assistive technology features are integrated into mainstream consumer products rather than developed as separate, specialized devices. Examples include smartphon…
- Asynchronous Control (Self-Paced Control, Asynchronous BCI)
- A mode of interaction with a computer or assistive device where the user can issue commands at any time of their choosing, rather than being constrained to respond within system-defined time windows. …
- Audio Augmented Reality (Audio AR, Augmented Audio Reality, Audio-Augmented Environment)
- The overlay of digital sound — synthesised speech, music, earcons, or spatialised audio cues — onto a user's perception of their real or virtual environment. Audio augmented reality can be head-worn (…
- Audio Cues (Earcons, Auditory Icons, Sound Cues)
- Non-speech sounds used in software interfaces to convey information, status changes, or events that would otherwise be communicated only visually. In accessible development environments, audio cues ca…
- Audio Desktop (Auditory Desktop, Non-Visual Desktop)
- An audio desktop is a logical workspace that provides the functionality of a graphical electronic desktop entirely through auditory interaction, including speech output, auditory icons, and audio-form…
- Audio Emphasis Level (AEL)
- A sonification technique that represents the degree of visual emphasis applied to text (such as larger font size, bold styling, or color changes) using distinct audio cues layered onto speech output. …
- Audio Enriched Links (AEL, Audio Link Preview)
- A JAWS screen reader extension that provides spoken previews of linked web pages before a blind user follows a hyperlink. When activated on a focused link, the system fetches the destination page in t…
- Audio Feedback (Auditory Feedback, Sound Feedback)
- Information conveyed to a user through sound in response to an action or event within a system. Audio feedback encompasses a wide range of techniques including earcons (short abstract sounds), auditor…
- Audio HTML Access (AHA, AHA Framework)
- Audio HTML Access (AHA) is a framework of principles for choosing sounds to use in audio-based HTML interfaces, developed by Frankie James at Stanford University in the late 1990s. The framework provi…
- Audio Localization (Sound Localization, Auditory Localization)
- The ability to identify the location of a sound source in space using auditory cues such as interaural time differences (the slight delay between sound reaching each ear) and interaural level differen…
- Audio game (Audiogame, Sound-based game, Accessible game)
- A digital game designed to be played primarily or entirely through audio, without requiring visual information. Audio games use spatial sound, earcons, music, voice narration, and other auditory cues …
- Audio-Based Interface (Audio Interface, Auditory Interface)
- A computer interface that uses sound as the primary means of conveying information and supporting interaction, rather than visual display. Audio-based interfaces are essential for blind and visually i…
- Audio-Based Navigation (Audio Navigation, Auditory Navigation)
- A navigation approach that uses audio output — typically synthesised speech, spatial audio cues, or sonification — as the primary means of providing wayfinding information to users. Audio-based naviga…
- Audio-Based Virtual Environment (Audio Virtual Environment, Sound-Based Virtual World, Auditory Virtual Environment)
- An audio-based virtual environment is a computer-generated interactive space that uses sound — including 3D spatial audio, stereo effects, and environmental audio cues — as the primary channel for con…
- Audio-Tactile (Audio-Tactile Interaction, Audio-Haptic)
- An interaction paradigm that combines tactile (touch-based) and auditory feedback to convey information. Audio-tactile systems pair physical surfaces, such as raised maps or 3D-printed models, with lo…
- Audiophotography (Audiophotograph, Audio Photograph, Sound Photograph)
- A medium proposed by Frohlich and Tallyn in which a photograph is packaged together with an associated audio recording — typically ambient sound captured at the moment of the shutter, a spoken caption…
- Auditory Channel Conflict (Audio Channel Competition, Auditory Interference)
- A situation where multiple audio streams compete for a user's attention through the same sensory channel, reducing comprehension and increasing cognitive load. For blind and visually impaired users wh…
- Auditory Graph (Audible Graph, Sonified Chart)
- A non-visual representation of data that uses sound properties such as pitch, volume, duration, and timbre to convey the values and patterns typically shown in visual charts and graphs. Auditory graph…
- Auditory User Interface (AUI, Audio User Interface)
- A user interface that relies primarily on audio output — including synthesised speech, earcons, auditory icons, and sonification — to convey information and enable interaction. Auditory user interface…
- Augmentative Communication (AAC, Augmentative and Alternative Communication)
- Methods, tools, and strategies used to supplement or replace spoken or written communication for people who have difficulty producing or comprehending speech and language. AAC ranges from low-tech app…