Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
6660 terms — page 256 of 333
- Sensory Accessibility
- The design of environments, technologies, and experiences to accommodate people with diverse sensory processing needs, including those with heightened or reduced sensitivity to sound, light, touch, sm…
- Sensory Adaptation (Habituation, Olfactory Fatigue)
- Sensory adaptation is the diminishing response of a sensory system to a constant or repeated stimulus over time. Classic examples include no longer noticing a steady smell, becoming accustomed to ambi…
- Sensory Aid (Sensory Assistive Device)
- Assistive technologies that translate sensory inputs into alternative modalities to support people with sensory disabilities in the workplace and daily life. Examples include screen readers (visual to…
- Sensory Based Motor Disorder (SBMD)
- A subtype of Sensory Processing Disorder in which the brain has difficulty using sensory information to plan and execute motor actions. SBMD encompasses two sub-types: postural disorder, which affects…
- Sensory Characteristics (WCAG 1.3.3, Success Criterion 1.3.3)
- WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.3.3 (Level A), which requires that instructions for understanding and operating content not rely solely on sensory characteristics such as shape, colour, size, visual loca…
- Sensory Compensation (Cross-Modal Plasticity, Sensory Substitution)
- The phenomenon whereby the loss of one sense leads to enhanced abilities in remaining senses, driven by neuro-plasticity — the brain's capacity to reorganise its neural pathways. Research shows that b…
- Sensory Disability (Sensory Impairment)
- A disability that affects one or more of the senses — most commonly vision and hearing, but also including touch, taste, and smell. Sensory disabilities encompass conditions such as blindness, low vis…
- Sensory Impairment (Sensory Disability)
- A broad term encompassing conditions that affect the senses, primarily vision and hearing. Sensory impairments include blindness, low vision, deafness, and being hard of hearing, each presenting disti…
- Sensory Integration (Sensory Processing, SI)
- The neurological process of organizing sensory information from the body and environment to produce appropriate responses. Sensory integration dysfunction (also called sensory processing disorder) occ…
- Sensory Overload (Sensory Overwhelm, Overstimulation)
- A state in which the brain receives more sensory input than it can effectively process, leading to stress, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, and in severe cases, meltdowns or shutdowns. Sensory overl…
- Sensory Processing (Sensory Integration, Sensory Processing Differences)
- Sensory processing refers to the way the nervous system receives, organizes, and responds to sensory input from the environment, including sound, light, touch, smell, taste, and movement. When sensory…
- Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD, Sensory Integration Disorder, Sensory Integration Dysfunction)
- A condition in which the brain has difficulty receiving, organizing, and responding to sensory information from the environment and the body. People with Sensory Processing Disorder may be oversensiti…
- Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS, Sensory Processing Differences)
- Sensory Processing Sensitivity refers to differences in how an individual perceives, filters, and responds to sensory input across modalities such as vision, sound, touch, taste, and proprioception. I…
- Sensory Regulation (Sensory Modulation, Sensory Processing Management)
- The ability to manage and respond appropriately to sensory input from the environment. People with conditions such as autism, ADHD, migraines, or sensory processing disorders may experience heightened…
- Sensory Saltation (Cutaneous Rabbit Effect, Tactile Saltation)
- A perceptual phenomenon in which a series of rapid taps delivered at discrete locations on the skin are perceived as a continuous movement or hopping sensation across the surface between the tap point…
- Sensory Sensitivities (Sensory sensitivity, Sensory processing differences)
- Heightened or reduced responses to everyday sensory input — noise, light, glare, texture, smell, temperature, or movement — that significantly affect attention, regulation, comfort, and participation.…
- Sensory Sensitivity (Sensory Sensitivities, Hyper-/Hyposensitivity)
- Heightened or reduced responses to sensory input including sounds, lights, textures, tastes, and smells. Sensory sensitivity is common among autistic people, with approximately 74% experiencing atypic…
- Sensory Substitution (Cross-Modal Substitution)
- The use of one sensory modality to convey information typically perceived through another. For example, converting visual information into tactile or auditory signals for blind users, or representing …
- Sensory augmentation (Sensory substitution system, Sensory augmentation technology)
- Technology that provides information from one sensory channel through an alternative modality accessible to the user, such as converting visual scenes to audio descriptions for blind users or translat…
- Sensory erasure (Sensory exclusion)
- The systematic marginalization or elimination of non-visual sensory modalities in the design of technologies, interfaces, and information systems. Sensory erasure occurs when platforms treat visual in…