Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
81 results found in Blindness and Low Vision.
- Stereo Vision (Stereoscopic Vision, Stereo Camera System, Stereopsis)
- A computer vision technique that uses two or more cameras positioned at slightly different viewpoints to extract three-dimensional depth information from a scene, mimicking the way human binocular vis…
- Suitcase Robot (Suitcase-shaped robot, Robotic suitcase)
- A class of autonomous navigation robots housed inside a rolling suitcase or carry-on-shaped enclosure, designed so that a blind or low-vision user can grip the handle and be guided to a destination wh…
- Tactile Dowsing
- An interaction technique that uses vibrotactile feedback to guide a user toward a target direction in space without visual cues. The term draws an analogy to water dowsing, where a divining rod suppos…
- Tactile Drawing (Tactile Picture Making)
- The process of creating raised-line images that can be perceived through touch rather than vision. Tactile drawing can be done by blind or sighted people using methods such as drawing on swell paper w…
- Tactile Image Exploration (Tactile Graphics Exploration, Haptic Image Exploration)
- Tactile image exploration is the process by which blind or visually impaired users perceive and interpret graphical content through touch, typically by moving their fingers across raised-line drawings…
- Tactile Maps (Tactile cartography, Raised-line maps)
- Maps produced in physical, raised-relief form — typically on swell paper, vacuum-formed plastic, embossed paper, or 3D-printed substrate — so that blind and low-vision users can read geographic inform…
- Tactile Perception (Cutaneous Perception, Touch Perception)
- Tactile perception is the process of perceiving and interpreting information through the sense of touch, encompassing both cutaneous perception (sensing through the skin in a stationary process, detec…
- Tactile Rendering
- The process of converting visual or spatial information into a tactile format that can be perceived through touch by blind or visually impaired users. Tactile rendering involves decisions about how to…
- Tactile Signage (Tactile Signs, Touch-Readable Signs)
- Signs designed to be read by touch, typically featuring raised lettering, Braille text, or tactile symbols. Required in many jurisdictions under accessibility legislation such as the Americans with Di…
- Talking Browser (Talking Web Browser, Speaking Browser)
- A historical term for a specialised web browser that converts on-screen content into synthesised speech, enabling blind and low-vision users to browse the web through audio rather than through a separ…
- Talking Signs (Talking Sign)
- An assistive technology system that uses infrared (IR) frequency modulated voice signals to transmit spoken information about signage to people with vision loss. Developed by the Smith-Kettlewell Eye …
- The vOICe (vOICe)
- One of the earliest and most widely studied visual-to-auditory sensory substitution devices, developed by Peter Meijer in 1992. The vOICe converts camera images into sound by scanning left to right, m…
- VQA (Visual Question Answering)
- VQA (Visual Question Answering) is an AI task in which a system answers natural-language questions about the content of an image. In assistive contexts, VQA systems such as Be My AI, Seeing AI, and Ai…
- Veering (Lateral Drift)
- The tendency of blind and visually impaired pedestrians to gradually drift away from a straight path while walking, resulting in a curved trajectory rather than a direct line. Veering is a well-docume…
- Virtual Acoustic Environment (Audio Virtual Environment, Acoustic Virtual Environment)
- A computer-generated environment that uses audio as the primary medium for representing spaces, objects, and interactions, enabling users to navigate and interact with a virtual world through sound. V…
- Vision Impairment (Visual Impairment, VI)
- An umbrella term for any reduction in visual function — including low vision, blindness, and functional limitations that affect everyday tasks — regardless of cause. The World Health Organization dist…
- Visual Interpretation (AI Visual Interpretation, Visual Interpretation Application)
- The task of translating visual content — a scene, object, document, interface, or image — into a form accessible to a blind or low-vision user, typically spoken or written description, answers to ques…
- Visual Prosthetic (Visual Prosthesis, Vision Prosthetic)
- A device or system that provides visual information to people who are blind or have severe visual impairments through alternative sensory channels or direct neural stimulation. Visual prosthetics rang…
- Voice Usability (Auditory Usability, Non-Visual Web Usability)
- The degree to which a web page, application, or document is usable when accessed through a voice browser or screen reader — the audio-first counterpart to traditional visual usability. Voice usability…
- Volumetric Symbol (3D Symbol, Volumetric Icon)
- A small three-dimensional object used on a tactile or audio-tactile map to represent a category of place or facility — for example, a distinct shape for a restroom, elevator, information desk, or exhi…