Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
126 results found in Interaction Design.
- Elicitation Study (Gesture Elicitation Study)
- An elicitation study is a user research method in which participants are shown the effect of an action (called a referent) and asked to propose the input or gesture (called a sign) that should cause i…
- Embodied Experience (Embodied Interaction, Embodiment (UX))
- The dimension of user experience that arises from the body's sensory and kinaesthetic encounter with a system or environment — motion, vibration, balance, proprioception, ambient sound, and felt pace …
- Execution Gap (Gulf of Execution)
- From Don Norman's model of human-computer interaction, the distance between a user's goals and the physical actions required to achieve them using a given system. A system with a wide execution gap fo…
- Expert User (Advanced User, Power User)
- A user who has substantial experience with a system and has internalised its structure, commands, and idioms. Expert users typically prefer direct, efficient interaction — keyboard shortcuts, command-…
- Eyes-Free Interaction (Eyes-Free, Eyes-Free Gaming, Eyes-Free Interface)
- Eyes-free interaction refers to the use of digital systems and interfaces without relying on visual output, using alternative modalities such as audio, haptic feedback, or speech. In gaming contexts, …
- Eyes-free Interaction (Eyes-free Input, Nonvisual Interaction, Eyes-free Interface)
- Interaction techniques that allow users to operate devices without looking at the screen or interface. Eyes-free interaction is essential for people who are blind, but also benefits sighted users in c…
- Feedback Design (System Feedback, User Feedback Design)
- The design of system responses that communicate to users what is happening, what the system understood, and what actions are needed. Effective feedback design is critical in assistive technology, wher…
- Fisheye View (Fisheye Lens, Graphical Fisheye)
- A focus+context visualization technique, introduced by Furnas, that magnifies a region of interest while progressively compressing surrounding context — analogous to a fisheye camera lens. Used in tre…
- Fitts' Law (Fitts Law)
- A predictive model of human movement that describes the time required to move to a target as a function of the target's size and distance from the starting point. Formulated by Paul Fitts in 1954, the…
- Fitts's Law (Fitts Law, Fitts' Law)
- A predictive model of human movement that describes the time required to rapidly move to a target area as a function of the distance to the target and the target's size. Smaller and more distant targe…
- Focus Management (Focus Control, Programmatic Focus)
- The practice of controlling which element on a web page or application receives keyboard focus, and ensuring that focus moves in a logical and predictable manner as users interact with the interface. …
- Focus and Context (Focus+Context, Detail in Context)
- An information visualization and interaction design principle that simultaneously presents detailed information about a specific item of interest (focus) alongside an overview of the surrounding struc…
- Focus+Context (Focus plus Context, Focus and Context)
- A visualization interaction paradigm that integrates a detailed focus region and its surrounding context into a single unified view, rather than separating them. Techniques include fisheye views, sema…
- Force Field (Haptic Force Field, Virtual Force Field)
- In haptic interface design, a computational model that defines attractive or repulsive forces at each point in a two-dimensional workspace, used to represent graphical user interface elements as tacti…
- Functional Colour (Functional Color)
- Functional colour is a design technique for auditory interfaces where visual colour distinctions are replaced with alternative identifiers — typically numbers or mnemonic labels — that convey the same…
- Gamification (Game-Based Learning)
- The application of game design elements and principles in non-game contexts to increase engagement, motivation, and learning outcomes. In reading accessibility, gamification has been used in literacy …
- Gestural Input (Gesture-based Input, Touch Gestures)
- Input methods that interpret finger movements on a touchscreen as commands, including taps, swipes, pinches, and multi-finger gestures. For blind users, gestural input must be performed without visual…
- Graspable Interface (Graspable User Interface)
- A graspable interface is a type of tangible user interface in which users interact with a computer system by physically grasping and manipulating real-world objects that are tracked by the system, typ…
- Haptic Consent (Vibrotactile Consent)
- A consent model in which the request for, agreement to, and revocation of consent are communicated through touch or vibration rather than speech. Haptic consent is motivated by accessibility: many neu…
- Haptic Icon (Hapticon)
- A short, structured vibrotactile or force pattern designed to carry meaning in the same way a graphical icon or audio earcon does, allowing users to recognize a category of information — an alert, mat…