Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
178 results found in web accessibility.
- Image Map (Clickable Map, Imagemap)
- An HTML feature that allows different regions of a single image to be designated as separate hyperlinks, each pointing to a different URL. Image maps can be client-side (coordinates and links defined …
- Information Foraging (Information Foraging Theory)
- A theoretical framework from cognitive science that models how people search for and navigate to information, drawing an analogy to animal foraging behaviour. Users assess "information scent" — cues l…
- Information Retrieval (IR)
- The science of searching for and extracting relevant information from large collections of documents or data. In accessibility, information retrieval techniques such as keyword extraction, text summar…
- Interactive Description (Dynamic Description)
- A design approach for providing accessible descriptions of interactive digital content that updates in real time as users navigate and manipulate elements. Unlike static alternative text, interactive …
- Internet Health (Web Health)
- A concept describing the overall state of the internet as a public resource, encompassing factors such as accessibility, privacy, security, openness, and digital inclusion. In the context of web acces…
- Keyboard Accessibility (Keyboard Navigation, Keyboard Operability)
- The principle and practice of ensuring that all functionality of a website, application, or digital interface can be accessed and operated using only a keyboard, without requiring a mouse, touchscreen…
- Keyword Extraction (Key Term Extraction, Automatic Keyword Extraction)
- A natural language processing technique that automatically identifies the most important or representative words and phrases in a document. In accessibility, keyword extraction can provide blind users…
- Large-Scale Web Accessibility Evaluation (Large-Scale Accessibility Assessment, Web Accessibility Survey)
- The systematic automated or semi-automated assessment of web accessibility across hundreds or thousands of websites to understand broad trends, compliance rates, and the overall state of accessibility…
- Line Chart Accessibility (Accessible Line Graphs, Chart Accessibility)
- The practice of making line charts and graphs perceivable and understandable by people with visual impairments through alternative representations such as tactile graphics, sonification, speech descri…
- Line Spacing (Leading, Line Height, Line-Height)
- The vertical distance between lines of text, controlled in CSS by the line-height property. Adequate line spacing is important for readability and accessibility, particularly for people with low visio…
- Linearization (Content linearization, Serial presentation)
- The process by which screen readers convert two-dimensional visual page layouts into a single sequential audio stream, reading content in DOM order. Linearization strips away spatial relationships, vi…
- Live Region (ARIA Live Region, aria-live)
- A section of a web page that is dynamically updated and announced by assistive technologies without requiring the user to navigate to it. Live regions are defined using the WAI-ARIA aria-live attribut…
- Long Description (Extended Description, longdesc)
- A detailed textual description of an image or other non-text content that goes beyond the brief summary provided by alt text. Long descriptions are used for complex images such as charts, diagrams, in…
- Luminance (Relative Luminance)
- The relative brightness of a color as perceived by the human eye, measured on a scale from 0 (black) to 1 (white). In accessibility, relative luminance is the foundation of WCAG color contrast ratio c…
- Lynx
- A text-only web browser that runs in terminal or command-line environments, displaying web content as plain text without images, JavaScript, or visual formatting. Developed in 1992 at the University o…
- Mathematical Accessibility (Math Accessibility, STEM Content Accessibility)
- The practice of making mathematical content — including equations, formulas, graphs, and notation — perceivable, operable, and understandable by people with disabilities. Mathematical content poses un…
- Microscopic Navigation (Within-Page Navigation, Page-Level Navigation)
- The process by which screen reader users navigate through individual elements and content within a single web page to find relevant information, as distinct from site-wide navigation between pages. Mi…
- Mobile Web Accessibility (Mobile Accessibility)
- The practice of ensuring websites and web applications are usable by people with disabilities when accessed through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Mobile web accessibility presents un…
- Modal Dialog (Modal Window, Dialog Box)
- A user interface element that appears on top of the main content and requires user interaction before returning to the underlying page. In accessibility, modal dialogs must properly manage keyboard fo…
- Multilingual Web (Multilingual Website, Multi-language Web)
- Web content that is available in more than one language, typically through localization of an original website into additional language versions. Multilingual websites present unique accessibility cha…