Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
20 results found in Screen Readers.
- Audio Interference (Audio Conflict, Speech Conflict)
- Audio interference in a digital accessibility context is the overlap of two or more sound streams in a user's environment such that one masks another — most commonly, auto-playing media audio on a web…
- ChromeVox (ChromeVox Classic)
- ChromeVox is an open-source screen reader developed by Google, built as a Chrome browser extension and serving as the default screen reader for Chrome OS (Chromebooks). Unlike traditional screen reade…
- Content Description (contentDescription, Android Content Description)
- A text attribute on Android UI elements that provides an accessible label for screen readers like TalkBack. Content descriptions serve the same purpose as alt text on web images — they convey the mean…
- Fire Vox (FireVox)
- An open-source, cross-platform screen reader implemented as a Firefox browser extension, created by Charles Chen as part of the CLC-4-TTS Suite. Fire Vox was notable as one of the earliest assistive t…
- Home Page Reader (IBM Home Page Reader, HPR)
- A talking web browser developed by IBM Japan in the late 1990s, designed specifically for blind and low-vision users. Home Page Reader combined a web rendering engine with the ProTalker text-to-speech…
- Listenability (Auditory Readability, Speech-Output Quality)
- A web-accessibility usability metric that measures how appropriate a page's rendered text is when read aloud by a screen reader or voice browser — complementary to, and distinct from, raw WCAG conform…
- Listening Rate (Comprehension Speed, Listening Speed)
- The maximum speed at which an individual can accurately comprehend spoken or synthesized speech, typically measured as a normalized value or in words per minute. Research shows that experienced screen…
- Logical Navigation (Structural Navigation, Semantic Navigation)
- A non-visual navigation strategy in which a user moves through a web page by its semantic structure — jumping between heading levels, ARIA landmarks, skip links, form fields, or other role-tagged regi…
- Narrator (Windows Narrator)
- The built-in screen reader included with Microsoft Windows operating systems. Narrator reads aloud text on screen, describes notifications and interface elements, and allows users to navigate Windows …
- Navigability (Ease of Navigation, Web Navigability)
- The ease and efficiency with which a user can move through a web page, application, or document to reach their intended content. For accessibility practice, navigability is a primary determinant of wh…
- Orca (GNOME Orca)
- A free, open source screen reader for the GNOME desktop environment on Linux and Unix-like operating systems. Orca provides access to graphical applications through speech synthesis, braille output, a…
- Page Landmarks (ARIA Landmarks, Landmark Regions, Landmark Roles)
- Named regions of a web page that identify its high-level structure — for example banner, navigation, main, complementary, search, form, contentinfo — so that assistive technology can expose them as ju…
- Scanning Navigation (Non-Visual Scanning, Auditory Scanning)
- A non-visual navigation strategy in which a screen-reader or voice-browser user steps rapidly through a page one fragment at a time — line by line, item by item, or in fixed jumps (e.g. page-down keys…
- Speech Rate (Speaking Rate, Articulation Rate)
- The speed at which speech is produced, typically measured in words per minute (WPM) or syllables per second. Normal conversational speech ranges from 120-180 WPM, while screen reader users often confi…
- Synthetic Speech (Artificial Speech, Computer-generated Speech)
- Speech that is artificially produced by computer systems rather than recorded from human speakers. Synthetic speech is the output of text-to-speech systems and is fundamental to screen readers and voi…
- Talking Browser (Talking Web Browser, Speaking Browser)
- A historical term for a specialised web browser that converts on-screen content into synthesised speech, enabling blind and low-vision users to browse the web through audio rather than through a separ…
- Text Alternatives (Text Alternative, Text Equivalent)
- WCAG 2.1 Guideline 1.1 and success criterion 1.1.1 require that all non-text content (images, charts, audio, video, form controls, etc.) have a text alternative serving the equivalent purpose. Text al…
- Time-compressed Speech (Accelerated Speech, Speed-altered Speech)
- Speech that has been digitally processed to play at a faster rate than it was originally recorded or synthesized, while preserving pitch. Unlike simply increasing playback speed (which raises pitch), …
- Voice Usability (Auditory Usability, Non-Visual Web Usability)
- The degree to which a web page, application, or document is usable when accessed through a voice browser or screen reader — the audio-first counterpart to traditional visual usability. Voice usability…
- Words Per Minute (WPM)
- A standard measure of speech or reading speed, representing the number of words produced or comprehended in one minute. Typical human speech occurs at 120-180 WPM, average reading speed is 200-250 WPM…