Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
70 results found in Input Methods.
- Input Method Editor (IME, Input Method)
- A software component that allows users to enter characters and symbols not directly available on their physical keyboard, particularly for languages with large character sets or complex scripts. IMEs …
- Integrated Control System (Integrated Control)
- An assistive technology approach where a single input device serves multiple control functions, such as wheelchair navigation, mouse cursor control, and text entry. Integrated control systems reduce t…
- Isotonic Joystick (Displacement Joystick, Free-Moving Joystick)
- An isotonic joystick is a type of joystick input device that moves freely in response to applied force and returns to a centre position when released. Unlike isometric (force-sensing) joysticks that r…
- Key Acceptance Delay (Acceptance Delay, Key Debounce)
- A keyboard accessibility setting that requires a key to be held down for a specified minimum duration before it is registered as a deliberate press. Keys released before the delay period expires are i…
- Key Remapping (Key Rebinding, Control Remapping, Custom Key Bindings)
- The ability to reassign keyboard controls to different keys than the software defaults. Key remapping is essential for users with motor disabilities who may only be able to reach certain areas of the …
- Keyguard (Keyboard Guard, Key Guard)
- A rigid cover that fits over a keyboard with holes aligned to each key, allowing users with motor impairments to rest their hands on the surface without accidentally pressing keys. Keyguards help peop…
- Mouse (Computer Mouse, Optical Mouse)
- A mouse is a hand-operated pointing device that translates relative motion across a flat surface into movement of an on-screen cursor, with one or more buttons and usually a scroll wheel for selection…
- Mouse Pointer (Cursor, Screen Pointer, Onscreen Pointer)
- The small graphical indicator on a computer screen that represents the position of a pointing device such as a mouse, trackpad, or stylus. The mouse pointer is used to identify and interact with inter…
- Mouth Interface (Mouth-operated interface, Mouth-based input)
- An input modality that uses mouth movements - tongue position, cheek puffs, jaw motion, lip gestures, breath, or sip-and-puff - to control a computer, wheelchair, or XR system. Mouth interfaces serve …
- Multitouch Surface (Multi-Touch Interface, Multitouch Interface, MTS)
- A multitouch surface is an input device that uses optical or capacitive sensors to detect and track multiple simultaneous finger contacts on a flat surface. Unlike conventional touchpads that rely on …
- Occlusion (Hand Occlusion, Finger Occlusion, Visual Occlusion)
- In the context of touchscreen and pen-based interaction, occlusion refers to the user's hand or finger blocking their view of content on the screen while interacting with it. Occlusion is a significan…
- Overlap Error (Key Overlap Error, Simultaneous Key Press Error)
- A typing error that occurs when two keys are pressed down at the same time, typically when a finger accidentally activates an adjacent key while moving toward the intended key, or when a user's hand r…
- Point-and-Click (Point and Click, Click Target)
- A fundamental interaction paradigm in graphical user interfaces where the user moves a cursor to a target on screen and activates it by pressing a button on a pointing device such as a mouse or trackp…
- Pointer Speed (Mouse Gain, Cursor Speed, Mouse Speed, Pointer Acceleration)
- An operating system setting that controls how far the cursor moves on screen relative to physical movement of the mouse or pointing device. Higher pointer speed (gain) means less physical movement is …
- Pointing (Pointing Performance, Mouse Pointing, Cursor Pointing)
- The act of moving a cursor or pointer to indicate a specific location on screen, typically to select, activate, or interact with an interface element. Pointing is a fundamental computer interaction th…
- Push-to-Talk (PTT, Push to talk)
- An interaction pattern where a user presses and holds (or taps) a dedicated button to signal the start of an input — historically used in two-way radios, now common in voice assistants and conversatio…
- QWERTY Keyboard (QWERTY)
- A QWERTY keyboard is the dominant Latin-script keyboard layout, named for the first six letters on the top row, originally designed for mechanical typewriters and carried forward into computers and mo…
- Redundant Input (Redundant Input Channels, Multimodal Redundancy)
- A design approach in which a user interface accepts the same command through more than one input channel — for example, voice and gesture, keyboard and pointer, or speech and switch — so that users ca…
- Segmentation Problem (Stroke Segmentation, Input Segmentation, Gesture Segmentation)
- The segmentation problem in text entry and gesture recognition refers to the challenge of determining where one input unit (such as a letter, word, or gesture) ends and the next begins when there is n…
- Selection Keyboard (On-Screen Keyboard, Scanning Keyboard, Virtual Keyboard)
- A text entry interface where characters are displayed in a grid on screen and users select them by navigating a cursor or highlight to the desired character using an alternative input device such as a…