Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
6660 terms — page 269 of 333
- Social accessibility (Social model of access)
- An approach to accessibility that recognises the role of social interactions, human help, and community practices in enabling access for people with disabilities, rather than focusing solely on techno…
- Social cognition (Social perception, Theory of mind)
- The set of cognitive processes involved in understanding and responding to social information, including recognising emotions, interpreting intentions, understanding sarcasm and figurative language, t…
- Social isolation (Loneliness, Social exclusion)
- A state of limited or absent social contact and meaningful relationships, recognized as a significant risk factor for poor physical and mental health outcomes, particularly among older adults and peop…
- Social media accessibility (Accessible social media)
- The design and implementation of social media platforms and content to be usable by people with disabilities, encompassing both platform-level accessibility (screen reader compatibility, keyboard navi…
- Social model of disability (Social model)
- A framework that locates disability not in the individual but in societal barriers — physical, attitudinal, and systemic — that prevent full participation by people with impairments. Under the social …
- Social robot (Socially assistive robot, Companion robot)
- A robot designed to interact and communicate with people in socially meaningful ways, often through movement, sound, or simulated emotional expression. In accessibility contexts, social robots are use…
- Social usability
- The degree to which a technology supports positive social interactions and self-presentation for its users, particularly in contexts where technology use is visible to others. Social usability goes be…
- Social-purpose Crowdsourcing (Social-good Crowdsourcing, Altruistic Crowdsourcing)
- Crowdsourcing aimed at achieving a social or public-benefit goal rather than producing paid labour or commercial output. Examples include volunteer proofreading for accessible-book libraries, crowdsou…
- Socially Assistive Robot (SAR, Social Robot)
- A robot designed to assist people through social interaction rather than physical manipulation. Socially assistive robots use embodied presence, movement, and social behaviors such as gaze, gestures, …
- Socially Assistive Robotics (SAR)
- Socially assistive robotics is a field of robotics focused on designing robots that assist people through social interaction rather than physical manipulation. SAR robots engage users through conversa…
- Socially Recursive Inference (Social Recursion)
- The cognitive process by which individuals' perceptions and behaviors are shaped by what they believe others think about them or their situation. In accessibility contexts, socially recursive inferenc…
- Socio-Gerontechnology
- A theoretical framework, developed by Alexander Peine and Louis Neven, that analyses aging and technology as mutually constitutive: technologies do not simply serve pre-existing aging needs, and aging…
- Socio-Technical Aspirations
- Individual- or community-driven ambition and desire to own or use a specific technology for personal benefit or societal acceptance or both. This concept, introduced by Sharma et al. (2020) as an exte…
- Socio-Technical Grounded Theory (STGT)
- Socio-Technical Grounded Theory (STGT) is a qualitative research methodology adapted from classical Grounded Theory for studying technology within its social and organisational context. It extends the…
- Socio-Technical Infrastructure (Sociotechnical System)
- The interconnected combination of social structures (institutions, policies, norms, relationships) and technical systems (software, hardware, platforms) that together shape how people interact with te…
- Sociocultural Learning Theory (Sociocultural Theory, Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory)
- A theory of learning developed by Lev Vygotsky that argues cognitive development and knowledge acquisition are fundamentally social, mediated by language, culture, and interaction with more knowledgea…
- Sociotechnical Identity
- The aspect of personal identity that is constructed and expressed through the technologies a person uses. In assistive technology research, sociotechnical identity refers to how AT serves as a vehicle…
- Sociotechnical Infrastructure
- The interconnected system of social structures, organizational practices, technical tools, and institutional arrangements that collectively support a technology-based service or program. In assistive …
- Sociotechnical Systems (Sociotechnical Assemblage)
- A framework for understanding technology as inseparable from the social practices, institutions, power structures, and cultural norms in which it is embedded. In accessibility research, a sociotechnic…
- Socratic Questioning
- A disciplined, dialogue-based teaching method that uses probing questions to help learners examine assumptions, consider alternatives, and reason through problems rather than receive direct answers. N…