Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
110 results found in Human-Computer Interaction.
- Cone Tree (Cone Trees, Cone Tree Visualization)
- A 3D or 2D information visualization technique for displaying hierarchical data structures, where child nodes are arranged in a cone or fan shape around their parent node. When a user selects a child,…
- Confirmation Message (Positive Feedback, On-track Feedback, Progress Confirmation)
- A system message that reassures users they are performing a task correctly or are on the right path, as opposed to only providing error messages or corrective instructions. In assistive technology and…
- Conversational Scaffolding (Scaffolded Interaction)
- Human or technology-provided support, prompts, or guidance that helps individuals accomplish communication tasks they might struggle with independently. In voice assistant contexts, scaffolding includ…
- Cursor Assistance (Pointer Assistance, Mouse Assistance)
- Software techniques that modify cursor behavior to make pointing and clicking easier for users with motor impairments. Cursor assistance encompasses a range of approaches including enlarging the effec…
- Cursor Control (Pointer Control, Cursor Navigation)
- The ability to direct and position an on-screen cursor or pointer using an input device such as a mouse, trackball, touchpad, joystick, or eye tracker. Cursor control is a fundamental requirement for …
- Cursor Freeze (Pointer Freeze, Steady Clicks)
- An assistive technology technique that locks the cursor position in place during mouse button clicks, preventing the cursor from moving between the press and release of the button. This addresses a co…
- Design Psychology (Designer Cognition, Design Thinking Process)
- The study of the cognitive processes, mental models, and decision-making strategies that designers employ during the product development process. In the context of accessibility, design psychology is …
- Dialogue Design (Interaction Dialogue, User Dialogue Design)
- Dialogue design in human-computer interaction refers to the structured planning of the conversational exchange between a user and a system, defining how input is accepted, how the system responds, and…
- Dyadic Interaction (Dyad Interaction, Paired Interaction)
- Social interaction between two individuals, studied as the fundamental unit of social exchange. In accessibility and intervention research, dyadic interaction is often examined in contexts such as chi…
- ESP Game (Extra Sensory Perception Game)
- A human computation game, created by Luis von Ahn, in which two randomly paired online players are shown the same image and independently type words to describe it, earning points when their labels ma…
- Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA, Virtual Agent, Animated Agent)
- A computer-generated animated character designed to interact with human users using multiple simultaneous communication channels — typically speech, eye gaze, facial expression, head and body posture,…
- Emulated Empathy
- Emulated empathy is the design strategy, central to AI companion systems, of producing interactional cues - attentive language, affective mirroring, memory of previously shared information - that simu…
- Engagement Detection (Engagement Monitoring, Engagement Recognition)
- The use of sensors, computer vision, or other technologies to automatically assess whether a person is actively engaged with a task, device, or activity. Engagement detection systems typically monitor…
- Gesture-Based Input (Gesture input, Gestural input, Gesture-based text entry)
- An input method that interprets finger or hand movements — such as swipes, taps, and drawn paths — as commands or text characters. For people with visual impairments, gesture-based input on touchscree…
- Grid Recursion (Recursive Grid Navigation, Hierarchical Grid)
- A navigation technique where a grid cell can be further subdivided into a finer sub-grid, allowing users to achieve progressively more precise positioning through successive levels of refinement. For …
- Grid-Based Interface (Grid Navigation Interface)
- An interaction paradigm that divides a screen or workspace into a grid of cells, allowing users to navigate by specifying grid coordinates rather than precise pixel positions. Grid-based interfaces ar…
- Guiard's Theory of Asymmetric Bimanual Action (Guiard kinematic chain model, Asymmetric bimanual action model)
- Yves Guiard's 1987 model describing how the two hands typically take complementary, asymmetric roles in everyday manual tasks. The non-dominant hand sets a coarse spatial frame of reference that the d…
- Hands-Free Control (Hands-Free Interaction, Hands-Free Input)
- Any method of operating a device or computer system that does not require the use of the hands or fingers. Hands-free control encompasses a range of input techniques including voice commands, eye trac…
- Haptic Device (Haptic Interface, Force-Feedback Device, Tactile Device)
- A hardware device that provides tactile or force feedback to users, enabling them to feel virtual objects, textures, resistance, or vibrations. Haptic devices range from simple vibration motors in sma…
- Hick-Hyman Law (Hick's Law)
- A principle from experimental psychology stating that the time it takes a person to make a decision increases logarithmically with the number of available choices. In accessibility and interface desig…