Glossary

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

11 results found in Cognitive accessibility.

Cognitive Usability
The extent to which a system, interface, or information resource can be effectively used by people with varying cognitive abilities and processing styles. Cognitive usability goes beyond traditional u…
Interaction Framing (Narrative Framing, Framing (Interaction Design))
Interaction framing refers to the way a system positions the user's role and the meaning of their input, independent of the underlying mechanics. The same choice can be framed as completing a task ("s…
Mental Imagery (Visual Imagery, Mind's Eye Imagery)
Mental imagery is the experience of perceiving sensory information, most often visual, in the absence of the corresponding external stimulus, such as picturing a familiar face or replaying a remembere…
Reading Fluency
The ability to read connected text accurately, at an appropriate pace, and with proper expression - distinct from word-level decoding skill on one side and from reading comprehension on the other. Flu…
Route Learning (Route Familiarization)
The process by which a traveler — particularly a blind or low-vision person — acquires a mental representation of a specific path through an environment, including its turns, landmarks, distances, sur…
Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS, Sensory Processing Differences)
Sensory Processing Sensitivity refers to differences in how an individual perceives, filters, and responds to sensory input across modalities such as vision, sound, touch, taste, and proprioception. I…
Social Proof
A psychological and behavioural phenomenon in which people rely on the choices, ratings, and reviews of others as evidence when making decisions under uncertainty. In digital accessibility contexts, s…
Speed-Comprehension Trade-off (Speed-Accuracy Trade-off in Reading)
An empirical pattern in readability research: typographic, layout, and presentation choices that increase reading speed often reduce comprehension accuracy, and vice versa. For example, sans-serif fac…
Symbol-based AAC (Picture-based AAC, Pictographic AAC, Picture Communication Symbols)
Symbol-based AAC refers to augmentative and alternative communication systems whose vocabulary is represented by graphic symbols, line drawings, photographs, or pictograms rather than (or alongside) w…
Understandability (Understandable, Comprehensibility)
The quality of information or interface elements being cognitively accessible — meaning a user can not only perceive the content but also internalise its meaning and know how to act on it. Understanda…
Visual Context Switching (Visual Attention Switching, Gaze Switching)
The act of shifting visual focus between multiple sources of information, such as between a sign language interpreter and a presentation screen, or between captions and a speaker's face. For deaf and …