Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
35 results found in conditions and disabilities.
- Achromatopsia (Rod Monochromacy, Total Color Blindness, Complete Achromatopsia)
- A rare inherited vision condition in which a person has little or no ability to perceive color, seeing the world primarily in shades of grey. People with achromatopsia typically also experience light …
- Age-Related Dexterity Changes (Motor Decline in Aging, Age-Related Motor Impairment)
- The gradual decline in fine motor control, hand-eye coordination, and manual dexterity that commonly occurs with aging, affecting the ability to use input devices like mice, keyboards, and touchscreen…
- Age-Related Functional Limitations (Ageing-Related Accessibility Needs, Age-Related Impairments)
- The gradual changes in sensory, motor, and cognitive abilities that commonly occur with ageing, including declining vision, hearing loss, reduced dexterity and fine motor control, and changes in memor…
- Age-Related Impairment (Age-Related Decline, Aging-Related Disability)
- Functional limitations that commonly develop with advancing age, often involving multiple interacting mild impairments rather than a single major disability. Age-related impairments may affect vision …
- Age-Related Vision Loss (Age-Related Visual Impairment)
- Vision impairment that occurs as a consequence of aging, representing the most common cause of blindness and low vision worldwide. Conditions include age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabet…
- Akinesia (Poverty of Movement)
- The loss or impairment of the ability to initiate voluntary movement, distinct from muscle weakness or paralysis. In Parkinson's Disease, akinesia manifests as difficulty starting movements, reduced s…
- Articulation Disorder (speech sound disorder, phonological disorder)
- A speech impairment characterized by difficulty producing speech sounds or phonemes correctly. Articulation disorders are classified into three categories: organic (caused by hearing loss or structura…
- Athetoid Cerebral Palsy (dyskinetic cerebral palsy, athetosis)
- A type of cerebral palsy characterized by involuntary, slow, writhing movements (athetosis) that affect the face, trunk, and limbs. It accounts for about 10-15% of cerebral palsy cases and results fro…
- Avoidance Behaviour (Avoidance Behaviors, Covert Stuttering)
- Strategies used by people who stutter to conceal or prevent stuttering events, including substituting feared words with easier alternatives, talking around a word (circumlocution), using filler words …
- Bradykinesia (Slowness of Movement)
- Bradykinesia is a motor symptom characterized by slowness of movement and a progressive reduction in the speed and amplitude of repetitive actions. It is one of the cardinal symptoms of Parkinson's di…
- Cognitive Dysfunction (Cognitive Impairment, Cognitive Disability)
- A broad term encompassing conditions that affect cognitive functions such as memory, attention, problem-solving, learning, language, and executive function. Cognitive dysfunction ranges from mild impa…
- Disfluency (Dysfluency, Speech Disfluency)
- Any interruption or break in the normal flow of speech, including repetitions, prolongations, blocks, interjections (such as "um" or "uh"), and revisions. While all speakers experience occasional disf…
- Dysarthric Speech (Dysarthria)
- Dysarthric speech is speech that is affected by dysarthria, a motor speech disorder resulting from neurological injury or conditions that affect the muscles used for speech production. Characteristics…
- Dyskinesia (Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia, LID)
- A movement disorder characterized by involuntary, uncontrollable movements such as twitching, swaying, or jerking, most commonly associated with long-term use of levodopa medication for Parkinson's di…
- Dystonia (Dystonic Movements)
- A movement disorder characterized by sustained or intermittent muscle contractions causing abnormal, often repetitive movements, postures, or both. Dystonia can affect a single body part (focal dyston…
- Fragile X Syndrome (FXS, Martin-Bell Syndrome)
- A genetic condition caused by a mutation in the FMR1 gene on the X chromosome, making it the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability and the most common known single-gene cause of autis…
- Hydrocephalus (Hydrocephaly, Water on the Brain)
- A condition characterized by an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid within the ventricles of the brain, causing increased intracranial pressure and enlargement of the head. Hydrocephalus can …
- Hypotonia (Low Muscle Tone, Muscle Hypotonia, Floppy Muscle Syndrome)
- A condition characterized by decreased muscle tone, resulting in reduced resistance to passive movement and often affecting posture and motor control. Hypotonia is common in many developmental disabil…
- Leukodystrophy (Leukodystrophies)
- Leukodystrophy is a group of rare, progressive, metabolic, genetic diseases that affect the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves by damaging the white matter (myelin sheath) that insulates nerve …
- Limb Difference (Limb Deficiency, Upper-Limb Difference)
- Limb difference is a term used to describe the absence or malformation of one or more limbs or parts of limbs. It can be congenital (present from birth) or acquired through amputation due to injury, d…