Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
840 results found in assistive technology.
- Multimodal Interface (Multimodal Interaction, Multi-Modal UI)
- A multimodal interface is a system that communicates with users through multiple sensory channels simultaneously, such as speech, haptic feedback, sound, vibration, and visual output. In accessible na…
- Multimodal Large Language Model (MLLM, Vision-Language Model, VLM)
- A deep learning model that can process and generate content across multiple types of input including text, images, audio, and video. In accessibility contexts, MLLMs like GPT-4o, Gemini, and Claude ha…
- Multimodal Output (Multi-Modal Output, Cross-Modal Output)
- The simultaneous presentation of information through multiple sensory channels or formats, such as audio, visual, tactile, and text-to-speech, allowing users to choose the modality or combination of m…
- Multimodal Text Editing (Multimodal Editing)
- A text editing approach that combines multiple input modalities—such as gestures, voice commands, and touch—to enable more efficient and accessible text correction. For users with disabilities, multim…
- Multiple Disabilities (Multi-impairment, Multiple Impairments, Combined Disabilities, Complex Disabilities)
- The presence of two or more disabilities in the same individual, such as combined motor and visual impairments, or deafblindness. People with multiple disabilities often face compounded accessibility …
- Multiple Impairments (Multiple Disabilities, Complex Disabilities, Co-occurring Impairments)
- The presence of two or more concurrent impairments — such as sensory, cognitive, physical, or neurological — in a single individual that together create complex accessibility needs not adequately addr…
- Multisensory Interface (Multimodal Interface, Multi-Sensory Feedback)
- An interface that communicates information through multiple sensory channels simultaneously, such as visual, auditory, and tactile (haptic) feedback. Multisensory interfaces are particularly valuable …
- Music Braille (Braille Music, Braille Music Notation)
- A tactile music notation system that uses combinations of braille dots to represent musical elements including pitch, duration, dynamics, tempo markings, and other performance instructions. Music brai…
- Music Haptics (Musical Haptics, Haptic Music)
- The use of touch-based feedback — including vibrations, textures, and force — to convey musical information such as pitch, tempo, timbre, articulation, dynamics, and rhythm. Music haptics draws on the…
- Music Notation (Musical Notation, Sheet Music)
- A system of written symbols used to represent musical sounds, including pitch, rhythm, dynamics, and other performance instructions. Standard visual music notation uses staff lines, notes, and other g…
- N-gram (Bigram, Trigram, Unigram)
- A contiguous sequence of n items (typically words) from a text, used in language modeling to predict the probability of a word based on its predecessors. A unigram considers single words in isolation,…
- NFC Tag (Near Field Communication Tag, NFC)
- An NFC (Near Field Communication) tag is a small, unpowered chip that can transmit data to a compatible smartphone or device when held within a few centimeters. In accessibility contexts, NFC tags are…
- NFC accessibility (NFC tags for accessibility)
- The use of Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to make physical objects, materials, and environments accessible to people with disabilities. NFC tags can be embedded in physical cards, objects, …
- NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access)
- A free, open-source screen reader for Windows developed by NV Access. NVDA provides speech and braille output, enabling blind and low-vision users to interact with the operating system, web browsers, …
- Natural Language Generation (NLG, Text Generation)
- A subfield of artificial intelligence and computational linguistics focused on automatically producing human-readable text from structured data or other non-linguistic representations. In accessibilit…
- Natural Language Processing (NLP, Computational Linguistics)
- A branch of artificial intelligence that enables computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language. In accessibility, NLP powers voice-based assistive technologies, automatic captioning,…
- Natural Language Understanding (NLU, Intent Recognition, Language Understanding)
- A branch of artificial intelligence that enables computers to interpret the meaning and intent behind human language input, rather than requiring exact predetermined phrases or commands. In accessibil…
- Natural User Interface (NUI)
- A user interface designed to feel intuitive and invisible, allowing users to interact with technology through natural behaviors such as gestures, voice, touch, or body movement rather than learned con…
- NavCog (Navigational Cognitive Assistant)
- A Bluetooth beacon-based navigation system developed at Carnegie Mellon University that provides indoor turn-by-turn navigation assistance and environmental information to blind and visually impaired …
- Navigation
- The task of moving through an environment to reach a destination, encompassing route planning, mode selection, real-time decision-making, and responding to obstacles. In accessibility research, naviga…