Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
110 results found in Human-Computer Interaction.
- AI Companion (Chatbot Companion, AI Companionship)
- An AI companion is an artificial-intelligence system - typically a text, voice or avatar-based chatbot built on a large language model - explicitly designed to offer users a sense of social presence, …
- AI-Mediated Dialogue
- A paradigm in which a large language model (or similar conversational agent) stands between a user and a task, simulated social situation, or another user — either producing the conversational partner…
- Always-On Computing (Always-available computing, Continuous computing)
- A model of interaction in which computing devices — particularly wearables such as smartwatches, AR glasses, and fitness trackers — remain continuously active and accessible throughout the day rather …
- Articulation Work (Care Articulation, Need Articulation)
- The often invisible labor of putting thoughts, needs, and feelings into words, particularly in care relationships. Articulation work involves expressing what support is needed, coordinating care activ…
- Automatic UI Generation (Auto-Generated Interface, Model-Based UI Generation)
- The process of computationally producing a graphical user interface from an abstract specification of its functionality, rather than having designers manually create the visual layout. In accessibilit…
- Big Five Personality Traits (Big Five, Five-Factor Model, OCEAN Model)
- A widely used psychological model that describes human personality along five trait dimensions: Openness to Experience, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism. Originally deve…
- Bimanual Exploration (Two-handed exploration, Bimanual tactile exploration)
- The use of both hands in coordinated roles to perceive an object or space by touch. In blind and low-vision users, bimanual exploration is typically asymmetric: one hand (often the non-dominant) serve…
- Bimodal Feedback (Dual-Modality Feedback)
- A form of interface feedback that communicates information to the user through two simultaneous sensory channels, such as auditory and haptic, visual and haptic, or auditory and visual. Bimodal feedba…
- Bio-Signal (Biosignal, Biological Signal)
- Any measurable electrical, chemical, or mechanical signal produced by the human body that can be detected by sensors and used as input for computer systems. In assistive technology, bio-signals are us…
- Biosignal Interface (Physiological Interface, Biometric Input)
- An input interface that detects and interprets biological signals from the human body — such as muscle contractions (EMG), brain electrical activity (EEG), eye movements (EOG), or galvanic skin respon…
- Clicking Error (Click Slip, Selection Error)
- An unintended mouse input that occurs during the clicking phase of target selection, distinct from errors in cursor positioning. Common clicking errors include slipping off the target (the cursor move…
- Co-Located Collaboration (Co-Located Cooperation)
- Co-located collaboration is the shared activity of people working or playing together while physically present in the same space, as distinct from remote or distributed collaboration. In HCI and acces…
- CogTool
- A cognitive modeling tool developed at Carnegie Mellon University that generates quantitative predictions of human task performance times based on the Keystroke-Level Model (KLM) and the ACT-R cogniti…
- Cognitive Cycle (Cognitive Processing Time, Cognitive Response Time)
- In the Model Human Processor framework, the cognitive cycle represents the time required for a person to process perceived information and make a decision about how to respond. A single cognitive cycl…
- Cognitive Strategy Prompting (Cognitive Scaffolding, Strategy Prompting)
- A design technique that provides cues or prompts within an interface to help users employ effective cognitive strategies for completing tasks, particularly benefiting users experiencing age-related co…
- Command Recognition (Command Classification, Input Recognition)
- The process by which a computer system interprets and classifies a user's input action — such as a gesture, voice command, or key press — as a specific intended command from a predefined vocabulary of…
- Common Ground (Grounding, Mutual Understanding)
- The shared knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions that conversation participants use to understand each other. In communication theory, grounding is the process by which speakers establish and maintain t…
- Communicability
- A quality property of interactive systems proposed by Semiotic Engineering theory, referring to the system's ability to effectively and efficiently convey to users the designer's communicative intenti…
- Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW, Collaborative Computing)
- A field of research and practice focused on how technology can support people working together, encompassing tools for communication, coordination, and collaboration such as chat systems, shared docum…
- Conceptual Model (Mental Model)
- A user's internal understanding of how a system works, including what actions are possible, what the current state is, and what the consequences of actions will be. Conceptual models are critical in a…