Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
840 results found in assistive technology.
- Transcoding (Content transcoding, Web transcoding)
- The process of converting or transforming web content from one format or structural representation to another to improve accessibility. In the context of screen reader access, transcoding can involve …
- Turn-by-turn navigation (Step-by-step navigation, Guided navigation)
- A navigation method that provides sequential walk-and-turn instructions to guide a user along a route without requiring prior knowledge of the environment. For people with visual impairments, turn-by-…
- Two-Point Discrimination (Spatial Acuity, Tactile Acuity)
- A measure of tactile sensitivity indicating the minimum distance at which two distinct points of contact on the skin can be perceived as separate rather than as a single point. Lower values indicate h…
- UAAG (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines)
- A set of guidelines from the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative that explains how to make user agents — browsers, media players, and other applications that render web content — accessible to people wit…
- UI Agent (User Interface Agent, Browser Agent, AI Agent)
- An AI-powered software system that can autonomously interact with graphical user interfaces on behalf of a user, performing tasks by interpreting natural language commands and translating them into in…
- Ubiquitous Accessibility (Accessibility Everywhere)
- A vision for accessibility in which individuals can invoke their needed assistive technologies or access features on any computing device they encounter, rather than being limited to personally owned …
- Ultrasonic Sensor (Ultrasound Sensor, Proximity Sensor)
- A device that measures distance to objects by emitting high-frequency sound waves and calculating the time it takes for the echo to return. In assistive technology, ultrasonic sensors are commonly use…
- Unistroke Gesture (Single-Stroke Gesture, Unistroke)
- A unistroke gesture is a shape or symbol drawn in a single continuous stroke on a touch screen or digitizer, which is then recognized by software as a specific command or input. In accessible interfac…
- Universal Remote Console (URC, URC Framework)
- The Universal Remote Console (URC) is an ISO/IEC standard framework (ISO/IEC 24752) that enables pluggable, alternative user interfaces for applications and devices. URC separates the user interface f…
- User profile (User model, Personal needs and preferences profile, PNP)
- A structured collection of data describing a user's characteristics, capabilities, preferences, and requirements for interacting with a computing system. In accessibility, user profiles inform how int…
- Utterance-Based System (Utterance-Based AAC, Prestored Message System)
- A type of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) system that uses prestored phrases, sentences, or complete utterances rather than requiring users to construct messages word-by-word or lette…
- VBraille (V-Braille, Vibration Braille)
- A method for representing Braille characters on a smartphone touchscreen using vibration feedback. The screen is divided into a 3-row by 2-column grid matching a standard Braille cell layout, and the …
- Variable Pointing Performance (Variable Pointing Ability, Intermittent Pointing Difficulty)
- A condition where a person's ability to accurately use a pointing device (such as a mouse, trackpad, or touchscreen) fluctuates over time due to factors like physical impairments, fatigue, medication …
- Verbosity (Verbosity Level, Screen Reader Verbosity)
- Verbosity refers to the level of detail that an assistive technology — particularly a screen reader or voice browser — provides when announcing interface elements and content. Most screen readers allo…
- Verbosity Level (Verbosity Setting, Detail Level)
- A configurable setting that controls the amount of detail provided in text or audio descriptions of content, particularly for screen reader users and accessible data visualizations. Verbosity levels t…
- Vibration Feedback (Haptic vibration, Vibrotactile feedback)
- The use of controlled vibration patterns — varying in duration, interval, intensity, and spatial location — to convey information to a user through the sense of touch. In assistive technology for blin…
- Vibro-Audio (Vibrotactile Audio, Vibro-Tactile)
- Vibro-audio is a multimodal interaction technique that combines vibration feedback from a device's built-in motor with auditory cues to convey information non-visually. On touchscreen devices, vibro-a…
- Vibro-audio Interface (VAI)
- An assistive technology that combines vibration patterns and audio feedback to convey spatial and graphical information through touchscreen devices. Originally developed to make maps and diagrams acce…
- Vibrotactile (Vibrotactile Feedback, Vibrotactile Stimulation)
- A form of tactile feedback that uses mechanical vibrations applied to the skin to convey information. Vibrotactile stimulation typically operates at frequencies between 10-500 Hz and is perceived thro…
- Vibrotactile Feedback (Vibrotactile, Vibrotactile Display, Tactile Vibration)
- A form of haptic feedback that uses vibration patterns to convey information through the sense of touch. In accessibility, vibrotactile feedback provides an alternative or complement to visual and aud…