Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
6660 terms — page 231 of 333
- Pronominal Reference (Pronoun Reference, Anaphoric Reference)
- The use of pronouns or pronoun-like expressions to refer back to entities previously introduced in a discourse. In spoken and written languages this is typically achieved with words such as "he," "she…
- Proportional Font (variable-width font)
- A typeface in which characters have varying widths based on their natural proportions—a narrow "i" takes less space than a wide "m". Most fonts used in everyday reading are proportional, including Ari…
- Proprioception (Proprioceptive Sense, Body Position Sense)
- The body's ability to sense its own position, movement, and orientation in space without relying on vision. Proprioceptive information comes from sensory receptors in muscles, tendons, and joints that…
- Prosociality (Prosocial Behavior, Prosocial Behaviour)
- Prosociality refers to voluntary behaviour intended to benefit others, including helping, sharing, comforting, and cooperating. In accessibility and dementia research, prosocial acts observed during g…
- Prosodic Breaks (Prosodic Pauses, Prosodic Boundaries)
- Pauses or breaks in the flow of communication that convey grammatical, syntactic, or emphatic meaning. In sign language, prosodic breaks occur between signs and serve functions similar to intonation a…
- Prosody (Speech Prosody, Intonation Patterns)
- The patterns of stress, rhythm, intonation, and timing in speech that convey meaning beyond the literal words. Prosody communicates emotions, emphasis, questions versus statements, sarcasm, and conver…
- Prosopagnosia (Face Blindness)
- A neurological condition characterised by the inability to recognise familiar faces, despite otherwise intact visual and cognitive abilities. People with prosopagnosia may fail to recognise family mem…
- Prospective Memory
- The ability to remember to carry out intended actions in the future, such as taking medication at a specific time, attending an appointment, or completing a task when a particular cue arises. Prospect…
- Prosthesis (Prosthetic, Prosthetic Device, Artificial Limb)
- A prosthesis is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through congenital conditions, injury, or disease. Prostheses range from purely cosmetic devices designed to r…
- Prosthesis (Prosthetic, Prosthetic device, Artificial limb)
- A prosthesis is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, most commonly a limb. Prosthetics range from cosmetic devices that restore appearance to functional devices that enable specific…
- Prosthetics (Prostheses, Prosthetic Devices, Artificial Limbs)
- Artificial devices designed to replace missing body parts, most commonly limbs lost through amputation, congenital absence, or trauma. Modern prosthetics range from basic cosmetic devices to highly fu…
- Prosumer (Producer-Consumer, Prosumer Content Creator)
- A person who both produces and consumes content, particularly on the web. Prosumers are not formally trained in web design or development but are responsible for creating and managing user-generated c…
- Protactile Language (Pro-Tactile, PT)
- A fully touch-based language developed by the DeafBlind community that redefines communication through physical contact, including taps, squeezes, and shared contact space. Protactile Language represe…
- Protanomaly (Protan Anomalous Trichromacy)
- A type of colour vision deficiency where the long-wavelength (red) cone cells have a shifted sensitivity range rather than being absent entirely. Protanomaly is a milder form of protan CVD compared to…
- Protanopia (Protan Dichromacy, Red-Blind)
- A type of colour vision deficiency caused by the complete absence of long-wavelength (red) cone cells in the retina. People with protanopia cannot distinguish between red and green and perceive reds a…
- Protected Characteristic (Protected Class, Protected Ground)
- A personal attribute that is protected from discrimination under equality legislation. Under the UK Equality Act 2010, the nine protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, mar…
- Proteus Effect
- The Proteus Effect is a phenomenon, first described by Yee and Bailenson (2007), in which the appearance of a person's avatar influences how they think, behave and interact in virtual or augmented env…
- Prototyping (Prototype)
- The iterative creation of tangible, interactive representations of a design - ranging from paper sketches and cardboard mock-ups to functional software builds - used to explore ideas, elicit feedback,…
- Provenance Indicator (Source Attribution)
- Information that identifies which AI model, trial, or prompt produced a particular piece of content in a multi-model comparison. Provenance indicators help users understand which models generate which…
- Provocation (HCI) (Design provocation, Provotype)
- In human-computer interaction, a designed artifact whose purpose is to unsettle assumptions, provoke debate, or surface hidden values rather than to solve a defined problem. Provocations draw on tradi…