Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
108 results found in accessibility.
- AI Fairness (Algorithmic Fairness, Fair AI)
- The principle that AI systems should not create or reinforce unfair bias against particular groups. Standard AI fairness frameworks primarily address race and gender but are increasingly recognized as…
- AI ethics (Artificial intelligence ethics, Machine learning ethics)
- The field concerned with ensuring that artificial intelligence systems are developed and deployed in ways that are fair, transparent, accountable, and respectful of human rights. In accessibility cont…
- Ability-Mediating Design
- A design framework introduced by Radu-Daniel Vatavu that focuses on how interactive systems mediate and reshape users' abilities rather than adapting to fixed abilities. Its core principles are mediat…
- Academic Accommodations (Educational Accommodations, Disability Accommodations)
- Modifications to academic requirements, environments, or procedures provided to students with disabilities to ensure equal access to education. Common accommodations include extended test time, note-t…
- Access Barrier (Accessibility Barrier, Barrier to Access)
- Any obstacle that prevents or diminishes a disabled person's ability to complete a task, participate in an activity, or access information. Access barriers are not limited to complete inability (failu…
- Accessibility Bug Report (ABR, Accessibility Defect Report)
- A bug report that specifically documents an accessibility barrier or failure in software. These reports describe issues that prevent or hinder people with disabilities from using an application, such …
- Accessibility Dongle (Disability Dongle)
- A well-intentioned but ultimately useless or impractical solution to an accessibility problem that disabled people never actually needed or asked for. Coined by Liz Jackson in 2019, the term critiques…
- Accessibility Remediation (A11y Remediation, Accessibility Repair)
- The process of identifying and fixing accessibility barriers in digital products such as websites, mobile applications, or documents to bring them into compliance with accessibility standards and make…
- Accessible Gesture Interaction (Inclusive Gesture Design)
- The design and implementation of gesture-based interactions that can be effectively used by people with diverse abilities, including those with motor impairments, visual disabilities, or conditions su…
- Accommodation Letter (Letter of Accommodation, LOA, Faculty Notification Letter)
- A formal document produced by a university's disability services office that notifies faculty of their obligation to provide specific approved accommodations to a student with a disability. The letter…
- Adaptive Sports (Para Sports, Disability Sports, Adapted Sports)
- Sports that have been modified or specifically designed to enable participation by people with disabilities, including modifications to rules, equipment, or playing environments. Adaptive sports range…
- Algorithmic Bias (AI Bias, Machine Learning Bias)
- Systematic and unfair discrimination embedded in the outputs of algorithmic systems, arising from biased training data, flawed model design, or unrepresentative development processes. For people with …
- Algorithmic Harm (AI Harm, Algorithmic Negative Outcome)
- Any difficulty, disadvantage, or injury caused by the use of AI-driven systems, ranging from mere inconvenience to material harm. For people with disabilities, documented algorithmic harms include den…
- Asynchronous Learning (Asynchronous Instruction)
- A mode of education in which learners engage with instructional content on their own schedule rather than in real time with an instructor, typically via pre-recorded videos, written materials, or inte…
- Audio Customization (Audio Control, Sound Customization)
- The ability for users to modify the audio characteristics of media content, including removing background sounds, enhancing speech clarity, adjusting volume levels for different audio channels, and co…
- Audio Denoising (Noise Removal, Audio Noise Reduction)
- The process of removing unwanted background sounds, noise, or audio artifacts from an audio signal while preserving the primary content (typically speech). In video accessibility for ADHD, audio denoi…
- Auditory Menu (Audio Menu, Speaking Menu)
- A user interface menu that conveys its content and structure through audio rather than visual display. Auditory menus typically use text-to-speech to read menu item names and may incorporate non-speec…
- Auto-Generated Captions (Automatic Captions, AI Captions, Machine-Generated Captions)
- Captions automatically created by speech recognition technology without human review or editing. Video platforms like YouTube and TikTok offer auto-generated captions as a default accessibility featur…
- Auxiliary Removal (Overlay Removal, Non-Essential Element Removal)
- A video layout customization option that removes visual elements not directly related to the core video content, such as watermarks, logos, banners, breaking-news tickers, subscription prompts, and ot…
- Beepball (Beep Baseball, Blind Baseball)
- An adaptive version of baseball designed for players who are blind or visually impaired. The game uses a softball modified with a sound sensor that emits a beeping sound, and bases that buzz when acti…