Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
72 results found in user experience.
- Loss Aversion
- A cognitive bias in which people experience the pain of losing something more intensely than the pleasure of gaining something of equal value. In the context of technology accessibility and aging, los…
- Means-End Chain (MEC, Means-End Theory)
- A theoretical framework and analytical output from Laddering research that maps how product attributes lead to functional and psychosocial consequences, which in turn connect to personal values. A cha…
- Multimodal (Multimodal Interaction, Multimodal Interface)
- Relating to communication or interaction that uses multiple sensory channels or modes simultaneously, such as vision, hearing, touch, and speech. In accessibility, multimodal approaches are essential …
- Narrative Immersion (Story Immersion, Narrative Presence)
- A psychological state in which the audience becomes deeply absorbed in a story world, perceiving the mediated content as if it were an unmediated reality. In accessible media, narrative immersion enco…
- Notification Fatigue (Alert Fatigue, Information Overload)
- Notification fatigue is a state in which users become desensitized to or overwhelmed by frequent alerts, notifications, or information delivery from a device or system, causing them to ignore or tune …
- PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, PANAS Scale)
- PANAS (Positive and Negative Affect Schedule) is a validated psychological instrument for measuring emotional states, consisting of two 10-item scales measuring positive affect (PA) and negative affec…
- Passive notification (Automatic notification, Push notification)
- Information delivered to a user automatically without requiring active input, triggered by context such as location, time, or system state. In assistive navigation for people with visual impairments, …
- Personalized accessibility (Customizable accessibility, Adaptive accessibility)
- An approach to accessibility that allows users to configure assistive features according to their individual needs, preferences, and abilities rather than providing a single fixed accommodation. Perso…
- Physical Agency (Bodily Agency, Sense of Agency)
- The feeling of control and ownership over physical actions and their effects in the world. In assistive technology contexts, physical agency refers to a users sense of directly controlling objects and…
- Preference Customization (User Preference Configuration, Personalization Settings)
- The ability for users, particularly those using assistive technologies, to configure how they receive and interact with digital content based on their individual needs, preferences, and context. In ac…
- Privacy by Default (Privacy by Design, Default Privacy Settings)
- Privacy by default is a design principle requiring that systems automatically protect user privacy without requiring users to take action. In accessibility contexts, this principle is particularly imp…
- Proxemic Interaction (Proximity-Based Interaction, Proxemics)
- An interaction design approach that uses the spatial relationship between users, devices, and objects in the environment — including distance, orientation, and movement — to trigger contextual actions…
- Psychological Accessibility
- A dimension of accessibility concerned with whether users find a product or service useful, appropriate, and satisfying, beyond being merely technically operable. Psychological accessibility addresses…
- Psychosocial Impact of Assistive Devices Scale (PIADS)
- A 26-item self-report questionnaire designed to measure the psychosocial impact of an assistive technology device on a person's functional independence, well-being, and quality of life. PIADS assesses…
- Remote Usability Testing (Remote User Study, Remote User Evaluation)
- Usability testing conducted with participants in their own homes or workplaces rather than in a research lab, typically using video conferencing, screen sharing, or other remote communication tools. R…
- Representative Users (Target Users, Intended Users)
- Study participants who share the relevant characteristics of the population for whom a technology or solution is being designed. In accessibility research, this means including people with the actual …
- Restorative Environment (Restorative Setting)
- An environment—physical or virtual—that promotes psychological recovery from mental fatigue and stress. Based on Attention Restoration Theory, restorative environments typically feature natural elemen…
- Scenario-based design (SBD, Scenario-driven design)
- A design methodology that uses narrative descriptions of how people interact with technology in specific contexts to drive the design process. Scenarios ground abstract requirements in concrete human …
- Sense of Agency (User Agency, Personal Agency)
- The subjective experience of being in control of one's own actions and their effects on the external world. In accessible design, supporting sense of agency means ensuring users feel empowered to make…
- Situational Limitations (Situational Impairments, Contextual Limitations)
- Temporary constraints on a user's ability to interact with technology due to their environment, device, or circumstances rather than a permanent disability. Examples include using a mobile phone in br…