Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
840 results found in assistive technology.
- Ability-Diverse Collaboration (Cross-Ability Collaboration, Mixed-Ability Collaboration)
- A framework for understanding collaborative interactions between individuals with different abilities, where participants strategically combine and share their capabilities to achieve shared outcomes.…
- 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…
- Abstract Syntax Tree (AST, Syntax Tree)
- A hierarchical tree representation of source code structure that captures the syntactic relationships between programming constructs like functions, classes, loops, and statements. In accessibility, A…
- Access For All (ISO/IEC 24751, IMS Access For All, AfA)
- An international standard (ISO/IEC 24751) for describing user accessibility needs and preferences in a portable, application-independent format. Originally developed by the IMS Global Learning Consort…
- Access hack (Accessibility workaround, Adaptive strategy, Crip hack)
- A creative workaround, adaptation, or improvised solution that a disabled person develops to navigate an inaccessible tool, environment, or system. Access hacks range from physical modifications (adap…
- Accessibility API (Accessibility Application Programming Interface, A11y API)
- A set of programming interfaces provided by operating systems that allow assistive technologies and accessibility services to interact with application user interfaces. Accessibility APIs expose infor…
- Accessibility Script (Accessibility Plugin, Screen Reader Script)
- An accessibility script is a piece of code, often developed by the user community rather than the software vendor, that adds or improves screen reader support and keyboard accessibility in an applicat…
- Accessible Data Visualization (Accessible Charts, Accessible Graphs)
- The practice of designing data visualizations such as charts, graphs, and plots so that they can be perceived, understood, and interacted with by people with disabilities, including those who are blin…
- Accessible Digital Musical Instrument (ADMI)
- An Accessible Digital Musical Instrument (ADMI) is a digital musical instrument that has been designed or adapted to be usable by people with disabilities. ADMIs typically use motion capture, gesture …
- Accessible Fabrication (Accessible Making, Accessible Digital Fabrication)
- Accessible fabrication refers to the design and use of digital fabrication tools — such as 3D printers, laser cutters, and CNC machines — in ways that are usable by people with disabilities and that p…
- Accessible Fitness Technology (Inclusive Exercise Technology, Adaptive Fitness Tech)
- Technologies designed to enable people with disabilities to engage in physical exercise independently and effectively. Accessible fitness technology spans audio-based exercise games, haptic workout gu…
- Accessible Making (Accessible Fabrication, Inclusive Making)
- The practice and research area focused on ensuring that maker activities—including digital fabrication, crafting, and DIY projects—are accessible to people with disabilities. This encompasses three re…
- Accessible Music Education (Inclusive Music Teaching)
- Educational approaches and technologies that enable people with disabilities to learn music effectively. This includes alternative notation systems like Braille music, audio-based instruction, tactile…
- Accessible Photography (Blind Photography, Inclusive Photography)
- The practice and technology of enabling people with visual impairments to take, manage, browse, and share photographs. People who are blind or have low vision face challenges at every stage of photogr…
- Accessible Programming (Accessible Software Development, Inclusive Coding)
- Accessible programming encompasses the tools, practices, and accommodations that enable people with disabilities to write, test, debug, and maintain software code. Challenges for disabled developers i…
- Accessible Role (ARIA Role, Role)
- An accessible role is a property that defines the type and expected behavior of a user interface element as exposed to assistive technologies through the accessibility tree. Roles communicate what an …
- Accessible data capture (Inclusive data collection methods)
- Research data collection methods and tools that can be independently operated by researchers with disabilities. Current standard data capture methods in HCI research — video cameras, GoPros, visual no…
- Activities of daily living (ADLs, Daily living activities)
- The fundamental self-care tasks that a person performs routinely each day, including feeding, bathing, dressing, grooming, toileting, and mobility. Originally proposed by Sidney Katz in the 1950s, ADL…
- Activity Prompting (Skill Prompting)
- A structured approach to encouraging skill development through customized, playful prompts that guide individuals through specific activities. In the context of disability and education, activity prom…
- Activity Tracker (Fitness Tracker, Step Counter, Fitness Band)
- An activity tracker is a wearable device or smartphone application that monitors and records physical activity data such as steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, heart rate, and sleep patte…