Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
840 results found in assistive technology.
- Smartwatch (Smart Watch, Wrist-Worn Device)
- A wrist-worn computing device with a small touchscreen display that provides notifications, health tracking, and app functionality beyond timekeeping. Smartwatches present significant accessibility ch…
- Social Acceptance (Public acceptance, Bystander acceptance)
- In assistive technology research, the degree to which bystanders and the broader public accept the presence and use of a device in shared spaces — and the degree to which the user feels comfortable us…
- Social Playware (Interactive Playware, Technology-Mediated Play)
- Intelligent hardware and software systems designed to create playful interactive experiences that encourage learning, social interaction, and communication between users. In accessibility and therapeu…
- Social Robot (Companion Robot, Assistive Social Robot)
- A robot designed to interact with people in socially meaningful ways, using verbal communication, gestures, and responsive behaviors to engage users. In accessibility contexts, social robots like Soft…
- Socially Assistive Robotics (SAR)
- Socially assistive robotics is a field of robotics focused on designing robots that assist people through social interaction rather than physical manipulation. SAR robots engage users through conversa…
- Socio-Technical Aspirations
- Individual- or community-driven ambition and desire to own or use a specific technology for personal benefit or societal acceptance or both. This concept, introduced by Sharma et al. (2020) as an exte…
- Sociotechnical Identity
- The aspect of personal identity that is constructed and expressed through the technologies a person uses. In assistive technology research, sociotechnical identity refers to how AT serves as a vehicle…
- Sonification (Auditory display, Data sonification)
- The use of non-speech audio to represent information, data, or environmental characteristics. In accessibility, sonification provides an alternative or complement to visual displays, encoding spatial,…
- Sound Amplifier (Google Sound Amplifier)
- An Android accessibility feature that uses the smartphone's microphone and headphones to amplify and filter ambient sounds in real-time, making it easier for hard of hearing users to hear conversation…
- Sound Awareness (Sound Awareness Technology, Environmental Sound Awareness)
- The ability to perceive, identify, and respond to sounds in one's environment, and the assistive technologies designed to support this ability for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Sound awareness…
- Sound Communication Technology (SCT)
- Technologies designed to communicate aspects of sound through non-auditory sensory modalities, enabling access to audio information for people who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. Examples include close…
- Sound Masking (Acoustic Masking, Noise Masking)
- A technique that introduces ambient background sounds to reduce the perceptual prominence of unwanted or disruptive noises, rather than blocking them entirely. Originally used in architectural acousti…
- Sound Pressure Level (SPL, Decibel Level)
- A logarithmic measure of sound intensity expressed in decibels (dB), representing the pressure of a sound wave relative to a reference level. In accessibility, SPL is critical for designing auditory f…
- Sound awareness (Sound recognition, Environmental sound detection)
- Technology that detects and identifies sounds in the user's environment and conveys that information through alternative modalities such as visual notifications or haptic alerts. For deaf and hard-of-…
- Soundbeam
- A touchless digital musical instrument that uses ultrasonic sensors to detect movement in space and convert it into sound. Soundbeam allows users to create music through body movements, gestures, or t…
- Space compaction (Horizontal compaction, White space reduction)
- An accessibility technique used in screen magnification software and browser extensions that reduces excessive white space and adjusts column widths to minimize horizontal scrolling. For low-vision us…
- Spatial Assessment (Spatial Descriptor)
- The use of spatial attributes such as distance, dimensions, and location to describe objects in a visual scene. Research with blind users has found that spatial assessment descriptors are problematic …
- Spatial Audio (3D Audio, Spatialised Sound, Binaural Audio)
- Audio technology that creates the perception of sound coming from specific locations in three-dimensional space around the listener, using techniques such as head-related transfer functions (HRTFs), b…
- Spatial Audio (3D Audio, Binaural Audio)
- Audio technology that creates the perception of sound coming from specific locations in three-dimensional space, using techniques such as binaural recording, head-related transfer functions, and multi…
- Spatialized Audio (3D Audio, Spatial Sound, Immersive Audio)
- Spatialized audio is a technology that creates the perception of sound coming from specific locations in three-dimensional space around the listener, using techniques such as head-related transfer fun…