Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
6660 terms — page 270 of 333
- Soft Key (Softkey, Context-sensitive Key)
- A soft key is a physical button on a device whose labelled function changes depending on the current application or screen — typically indicated by an on-screen label positioned next to the button. So…
- Soft Keyboard (On-screen Keyboard, Virtual Keyboard, OSK)
- A keyboard displayed on a screen that is operated by a pointing device (mouse, touch, head tracker, eye gaze, or switch) rather than physical key presses. Soft keyboards are essential assistive techno…
- Software Localization (L10n, Product Localization)
- The process of adapting software for use in a specific locale or market, encompassing not only translation of text but also adaptation of date formats, number systems, currency, cultural conventions, …
- Soma design (Somaesthetic design)
- A design approach rooted in somaesthetics that foregrounds the sensing, feeling, living body as both the subject and medium of design. Soma design attends to the full range of bodily experience — touc…
- Somaesthetic Appreciation (somaesthetics)
- A design philosophy concerned with cultivating heightened bodily awareness and first-person experience as a resource for interaction design. Derived from philosopher Richard Shusterman's somaesthetics…
- Somaesthetics
- Somaesthetics is a philosophical discipline, developed by Richard Shusterman, that treats the living, sentient, purposive body (the soma) as both a locus of aesthetic appreciation and a medium of crea…
- Somatic Design (Soma-Centric Design, Body-Centric Design)
- A design approach that prioritizes bodily experience, physical sensation, and embodied perception as primary channels for interaction and understanding. Somatic design shifts the focus from purely cog…
- Somatosensory (Somatosensation, Bodily Sensation)
- Relating to the sensory system that processes touch, pressure, temperature, pain, and body position (proprioception). The somatosensory system is crucial for accessibility technologies that bypass vis…
- Song Signing (Signed Song, Sign-Singing, Song Sign)
- A performative art form in which song lyrics are interpreted in a sign language (most commonly ASL) alongside body movement, facial expression, rhythm, and spatial use, so that the performer simultane…
- Songwriting (Therapeutic Songwriting)
- A therapeutic intervention in which a client, often collaborating with a therapist, composes original lyrics and musical elements as a way to explore emotions, reframe experiences, and build a sense o…
- Sonic Agency
- The right and ability to influence and interact with sound in a meaningful way, regardless of one's hearing ability. Sonic agency extends beyond auditory perception to encompass visual, tactile, and k…
- Sonic Storytelling (Audio Storytelling, Sound-Based Narrative)
- The practice of conveying narrative, emotion, and information primarily through audio elements including narration, dialogue, sound effects, music, and spatial audio. In accessibility contexts, sonic …
- Sonic design space (Auditory design space)
- The physical medium related to human hearing through which a user and device may interact. The sonic design space encompasses speech (both natural and synthesised), non-speech audio such as earcons an…
- Sonification (Auditory display, Data sonification)
- The use of non-speech audio to represent information, data, or environmental characteristics. In accessibility, sonification provides an alternative or complement to visual displays, encoding spatial,…
- Sony Access Controller (PlayStation Access Controller, Project Leonardo)
- A customisable game controller released by Sony in 2023 for the PlayStation 5, designed for players with limited motor control. The Access Controller is a circular unit with swappable button caps, lon…
- Sound Amplifier (Google Sound Amplifier)
- An Android accessibility feature that uses the smartphone's microphone and headphones to amplify and filter ambient sounds in real-time, making it easier for hard of hearing users to hear conversation…
- Sound Awareness (Sound Awareness Technology, Environmental Sound Awareness)
- The ability to perceive, identify, and respond to sounds in one's environment, and the assistive technologies designed to support this ability for Deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Sound awareness…
- Sound Awareness Technology (Sound Recognition Technology, Sound Notification System)
- Assistive technology systems that detect, classify, and communicate environmental sounds to deaf and hard of hearing users through visual, haptic, or text-based notifications. Examples include smartph…
- Sound Classification (Sound Event Detection, Audio Classification)
- The automated process of identifying and categorizing sounds into predefined categories such as speech, music, alarms, animal sounds, or environmental noise. Sound classification is a foundational cap…
- Sound Communication Technology (SCT)
- Technologies designed to communicate aspects of sound through non-auditory sensory modalities, enabling access to audio information for people who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing. Examples include close…