Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
9 results found in human factors.
- Feedforward (Anticipatory Feedback)
- Design information that tells users what to expect before they take an action, guiding them toward intended functionality by communicating expected results. Unlike feedback (which confirms what happen…
- Model Human Processor (MHP, Human Processor Model)
- A cognitive architecture developed by Card, Moran, and Newell (1983) that models human information processing as three interconnected subsystems: perceptual, cognitive, and motor processors, each with…
- Multiple Resource Theory (Wickens Multiple Resource Model)
- A cognitive psychology theory proposed by Christopher Wickens that explains how humans allocate attention across concurrent tasks. The theory posits that humans have separate pools of cognitive resour…
- Perceived Urgency (Alert urgency, Urgency perception)
- The subjective sense of immediacy or threat conveyed by an alert, shaped by parameters such as pulse rate, inter-pulse interval, pitch, loudness, and — for tactile signals — vibration intensity and pa…
- Prior Knowledge (Background Knowledge, Existing Knowledge)
- Information and experience a user brings to a technology interaction before it begins, including technical knowledge of how devices work, functional knowledge of task goals, strategic knowledge of pro…
- Response Time (Reaction Time, Tact)
- The time elapsed between the presentation of a stimulus and the user's physical response, typically measured in milliseconds. In scanning-based AAC, response time (often called Tact) is the interval b…
- Situation Awareness (SA, Situational Awareness)
- The perception and understanding of one's current environment, including the identification of relevant elements, comprehension of their meaning, and projection of their future status. In accessibilit…
- Slips (Slip Errors, Selection Slips)
- Errors that occur when a user intends to click on a target but the cursor moves off the target before the mouse button is released, resulting in a missed selection. Slips are particularly common among…
- 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…