Glossary

Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.

9 results found in sonification.

Auditory Graph (Audible Graph, Sonified Chart)
A non-visual representation of data that uses sound properties such as pitch, volume, duration, and timbre to convey the values and patterns typically shown in visual charts and graphs. Auditory graph…
Data Sonification (Auditory Data Display, Sonified Data Visualization)
The systematic mapping of data values to non-speech audio parameters such as pitch, volume, rhythm, timbre, or spatial location to make datasets perceivable through hearing. Data sonification is a key…
Ecological Metaphor (Ecological Validity, Ecological Mapping)
A design principle in sonification and auditory display where the mapping between data and sound aligns with users' real-world sensory and cognitive experience. For example, mapping obstacle distance …
Frequency mapping (Pitch mapping, Frequency-position mapping)
A sonification technique that encodes spatial position or data values as changes in audio frequency (pitch), creating an intuitive correspondence between vertical position and pitch height — low posit…
Gesture sonification (Touch sonification, Gesture-to-sound mapping)
The technique of converting touchscreen finger movements into real-time audio representations by mapping spatial position to sound parameters — typically pitch for vertical position and stereo panning…
Image sonification (Visual-to-audio mapping, Auditory image display)
The process of converting visual information from images — such as shapes, charts, diagrams, or spatial layouts — into audio representations that can be perceived without vision. Image sonification ma…
Nonspeech Audio (Non-Speech Sounds, Auditory Cues)
Audio feedback in user interfaces that conveys information through sounds other than synthesized or recorded speech, including earcons (abstract musical motifs), auditory icons (realistic sounds repre…
Parameter Mapping Sonification (Parameter Mapping, Auditory Parameter Mapping)
A sonification technique that represents changes in data dimensions through corresponding changes in auditory dimensions such as pitch, loudness, timbre, spatial position (panning), tempo, or reverber…
Pitch Mapping (Pitch-Y Mapping, Frequency Mapping)
A sonification technique that maps data values to auditory pitch, where higher values produce higher-pitched sounds and lower values produce lower-pitched sounds. In accessibility contexts, pitch mapp…