Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
840 results found in assistive technology.
- Brain-Machine Interface (BMI, Brain-Computer Interface, BCI, Neural Interface)
- A technology that translates brain activity—typically measured via electroencephalography (EEG), electrocorticography, or implanted electrodes—into commands for controlling external devices such as co…
- Browser Extension Accessibility (Accessible Browser Extension, Assistive Browser Extension)
- The design and development of web browser extensions that either enhance the accessibility of existing web content or are themselves fully accessible to users of assistive technologies. Assistive brow…
- Bubble Cursor (Area Cursor, Enhanced Area Cursor)
- An assistive pointing technique where the cursor's activation area is dynamically enlarged to make it easier to select targets on screen. Rather than requiring precise pixel-level accuracy, a bubble c…
- Bystander privacy (Third-party privacy, Incidental privacy)
- The privacy concerns of people who are unintentionally captured or observed by technology being used by others. In the context of assistive technology, bystander privacy refers to the rights and conce…
- CART (Communication Access Real-time Translation, Communication Access Realtime Transcription, Real-time captioning, Live captioning)
- A service in which a trained stenographer or speech-to-text reporter transcribes spoken language into text in real time, typically displayed on a screen for deaf or hard of hearing participants during…
- CSUN Assistive Technology Conference (CSUN, CSUN Conference, ATIA Conference at CSUN)
- The largest annual assistive technology conference in the world, organized by California State University, Northridge's Center on Disabilities. Founded in 1985, the conference brings together thousand…
- Calm Technology (Peripheral Computing, Ambient Computing)
- A design philosophy originated at Xerox PARC in which technology communicates information through the periphery of a user's attention rather than demanding direct focus. Calm technology moves between …
- Camera Aiming (Camera Pointing, Camera Guidance)
- The challenge blind users face in correctly positioning and aiming a camera to capture the intended visual content. Since blind users cannot see the camera viewfinder, they may inadvertently capture t…
- Camera Framing (Photo Framing, Object Framing)
- The act of positioning a camera so that the intended subject is properly captured within the image frame — not cropped, not too small, and centered enough for clear identification. Camera framing pres…
- Camera Guidance (Camera Aiming Assistance, Framing Assistance)
- Non-visual feedback systems that help blind users position a camera to capture usable images of documents, objects, or scenes. Guidance may include spoken directional instructions (e.g., "move up", "m…
- Camera Mouse (Head-Controlled Mouse Pointer, Head Tracking Mouse)
- A computer-vision-based mouse-replacement system that tracks a user's head motion through a standard webcam to control the mouse pointer on screen. Developed at Boston University by Margrit Betke and …
- Capability model (User capability profile)
- A structured representation of an individual user's abilities across relevant dimensions such as sight, hearing, mobility, and cognition. In accessibility and adaptive interface design, capability mod…
- Capacitive marker (Capacitive fiducial, Conductive marker)
- A conductive structure embedded in a physical object that registers as a touch point on a capacitive touchscreen, enabling the device to detect the object's position and orientation without cameras or…
- Caption Crawler (Reverse Image Search Alt Text)
- A technique and tool that retrieves existing alternative text for web images by performing reverse image searches to find the same image on other websites where it has already been described. Rather t…
- Captioned Telephone (CapTel, Captioned Phone)
- A telecommunications device that displays real-time captions of what the other party is saying during a phone call, enabling people who are hard of hearing to read the conversation while also listenin…
- Captioning (Captions, Closed captions, Subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing, SDH)
- The conversion of spoken dialogue, sound effects, and other auditory information into synchronised text displayed alongside audiovisual content. Captioning makes audio content accessible to people who…
- Care Ecosystem (Assistive Technology Ecosystem, AT Ecosystem)
- A network of interconnected stakeholders—including clinicians, makers, recipients, caregivers, and organizations—who collectively support the provision, customization, and maintenance of assistive tec…
- Care Technology (Care robots, Robots for care, Assistive care technology)
- Technology designed to support caregiving activities in institutional or home settings, including robotic systems, monitoring devices, and digital tools that assist care workers and care recipients. C…
- Caregiver (Carer, Care partner, Support person)
- A person who provides ongoing assistance to someone with a disability, chronic condition, or age-related need, encompassing both formal caregivers (paid professionals) and informal caregivers (family …
- Chairable computing (Chairable input, Wheelchair-integrated computing)
- A design paradigm in which input devices and computing interfaces are integrated into the form factor of a wheelchair — particularly armrests, trays, and frames — analogous to how wearable computing f…