Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
123 results found in communication.
- Severe Speech and Motor Impairment (SSMI)
- A condition where an individual has significant limitations in both spoken communication and physical movement, often co-occurring in conditions such as cerebral palsy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (…
- Sign Language
- A visual-gestural language system that uses hand shapes, movements, body language, and facial expressions to convey meaning. Sign languages are complete, natural languages with their own grammar and v…
- Sign Language Interpretation (Sign Language Interpreting, SLI)
- The process of conveying spoken or written language into a sign language (or vice versa) by a trained interpreter, enabling communication access for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals. In digital me…
- Sign Language Interpreter (SLI, Interpreter)
- A professional who facilitates communication between Deaf or hard of hearing individuals and hearing individuals by translating between a sign language and a spoken language. Interpreters must be flue…
- Sign Language Processing (SLP, Sign Language Technology)
- A field of artificial intelligence and computer science focused on developing computational systems that can understand, generate, and translate sign languages. Sign language processing encompasses si…
- Sign Language Recognition (SLR, Automatic Sign Recognition)
- A computer vision and machine learning task focused on automatically detecting and classifying signs from video input. Sign language recognition ranges from isolated sign recognition (identifying indi…
- Sign Language Translation (SLT, Sign-to-Text Translation, Sign-to-Speech Translation)
- The task of converting between a sign language and a spoken or written language, in either direction. Sign-to-spoken/written translation (e.g., ASL to English) involves recognizing signs from video an…
- Single-Message AAC Device (BIGmack, Single-Switch Communicator, Voice Output Communication Aid)
- A simple augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device that records and plays back a single message when activated, typically via a large button or switch. Examples include the BIGmack Switc…
- Social Presence (Co-Presence, Telepresence)
- The sense of being together with another person in a mediated environment, whether through video conferencing, virtual reality, or other communication technologies. In accessibility contexts, social p…
- Social Story (Social Stories, Social Narrative)
- A brief, personalized narrative written to help individuals with autism or other developmental disabilities understand and navigate social situations, transitions, or new experiences. Social stories a…
- Speech Delay (Language Delay, Delayed Speech)
- A condition in which a child does not develop speech and language skills at the expected rate for their age. Speech delay can affect the production of sounds (articulation), the ability to form words …
- Speech Reading (Lip Reading, Lipreading, Visual Speech Perception)
- The practice of understanding speech by visually interpreting a speaker's lip movements, facial expressions, gestures, and body language. Speech reading is used by many Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing indivi…
- Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP, Speech Therapist, Speech-Language Therapist)
- A healthcare professional who assesses, diagnoses, and treats communication and swallowing disorders across the lifespan. In the context of accessibility, SLPs play a central role in AAC intervention …
- Speech-Language Pathology (SLP, Speech Therapy, Speech-Language Therapy)
- A healthcare profession focused on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of communication disorders, speech disorders, language disorders, cognitive-communication disorders, and swallowing difficul…
- Speech-Language Therapy (Speech Therapy, SLT, Speech-Language Pathology)
- A clinical practice focused on assessing and treating communication disorders including speech, language, voice, fluency, and swallowing difficulties. Speech-language therapists (or speech-language pa…
- Speech-Reading (Lip-Reading, Lipreading, Visual Speech Perception)
- The practice of understanding spoken language by visually interpreting the movements of the lips, face, tongue, and jaw of the speaker, along with contextual cues such as facial expressions and body l…
- Speechreading (Lipreading, Lip Reading)
- A communication method that relies on observing visual and contextual cues, primarily the movements of a speakers lips, face, and body, to understand spoken language. Speechreading is used by many d/D…
- Stimulus Over-Selectivity (Over-Selective Attention, Tunnel Vision Attention)
- A phenomenon where an individual attends to a limited subset of available stimuli while ignoring other relevant cues in their environment. Stimulus over-selectivity is commonly observed in autistic in…
- Symbolic Communication (Symbol-Based Communication)
- Communication that uses symbols — including spoken words, written text, manual signs, pictures, or graphic icons — to represent meanings, objects, actions, or concepts. Developing symbolic communicati…
- Synthetic Voice (Artificial Voice, Computer-Generated Voice, TTS Voice)
- A digitally generated voice produced by text-to-speech technology, used by individuals with speech impairments as an alternative means of verbal communication. People who rely on synthetic voices for …