Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
31 results found in User Interface.
- 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…
- MultiTap (Multi-Tap)
- A standard text-entry method used on mobile phone keypads where groups of three or four letters are assigned to each numeric key, and users press the key consecutively to cycle through the available l…
- Perceptual Guidance
- An instructional technique that directs a user’s attention to specific perceptual features of a target — most commonly color and on-screen location — to help them detect or disambiguate it. In accessi…
- Playhead (Play Head, Cursor Position)
- The visual indicator on a video or audio timeline that shows the current playback position, typically a vertical line or triangle marker that moves in time with the media. Playheads are a core primiti…
- Progress Bar (Progress Indicator)
- A UI element that visually communicates the proportion of a task, process, or timeline that has been completed. In media players it indicates playback position; in forms and wizards it signals complet…
- Scrubbing (Video Scrubbing, Timeline Scrubbing)
- The interaction of dragging a playhead across a video or audio timeline to preview content at arbitrary positions, typically with real-time visual or audio feedback. Scrubbing is ubiquitous in video e…
- Signifier (Perceived Affordance)
- A perceptible cue — visual, auditory, or tactile — that indicates how an element can or should be used, making an underlying affordance discoverable. In Don Norman’s refinement of affordance theory, t…
- Simplified Interface (Reduced Complexity Interface, Easy Mode)
- A user interface design that intentionally reduces the number of features, options, and interaction steps to make a product or service accessible to users who would be overwhelmed by a standard interf…
- Slider (Content Slider, Swipe Slider)
- A UI pattern where content items are arranged horizontally and navigated by swiping or tapping arrow controls, exposing one or a few items at a time. Unlike carousels, sliders typically do not auto-ad…
- Stepper (Step Indicator, Wizard Stepper)
- A UI pattern that breaks a multi-step process — such as checkout, registration, or booking — into numbered or labeled stages with a visual progress indicator. Steppers reduce cognitive load by showing…
- Tooltip (Form Field Tooltip, Accessible Name (PDF))
- In PDF forms, a tooltip is the programmatic label associated with a form field that assistive technologies read aloud when the user reaches that field. Unlike HTML, PDF does not have a native label-to…