Glossary

Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.

6660 terms — page 289 of 333

Tactile Signage (Tactile Signs, Touch-Readable Signs)
Signs designed to be read by touch, typically featuring raised lettering, Braille text, or tactile symbols. Required in many jurisdictions under accessibility legislation such as the Americans with Di…
Tactile Stimulation (Tactile Feedback, Cutaneous Stimulation)
Tactile stimulation refers to the use of physical sensations delivered to the skin to convey information, typically through vibrations, pin arrays, textures, or pressure changes. In assistive technolo…
Tactile Texture (Haptic Texture)
The surface quality of a material or graphic element as perceived through touch, characterized by properties such as roughness, smoothness, density, height, pattern regularity, and directionality. In …
Tactile User Interface (Tactile UI, TUI)
A user interface designed to be operated and understood through the sense of touch, enabling interaction for blind and low vision users. Tactile user interfaces may include physical buttons with tacti…
Tactile Working Memory (Haptic Working Memory, Touch Working Memory)
The cognitive system responsible for temporarily storing and manipulating tactile information received through the sense of touch. Similar to visual and auditory working memory, tactile working memory…
Tactile graphic production (Tactile image creation, Accessible graphic transcription)
The process of converting visual images — such as textbook diagrams, charts, maps, and illustrations — into raised tactile representations that can be explored by touch. Production methods include swe…
Tactile graphics (Raised-line graphics, Touch graphics)
Physical representations of visual information using raised surfaces, textures, and patterns that can be explored through touch. Tactile graphics are essential for conveying spatial and graphical info…
Tactile learning (Haptic learning, Touch-based learning)
An educational approach that uses the sense of touch as a primary channel for acquiring knowledge, developing skills, and understanding concepts. For BLV students, tactile learning is essential — brai…
Tactile paving (Tactile ground surface indicators, TGSI, Detectable warning surface, Truncated domes)
A system of textured ground surfaces installed on footpaths, transit platforms, and pedestrian crossings to provide navigational cues to people with visual impairments through the sense of touch under…
Tactile relief (2.5D relief, Tactile relief model)
A physical representation that preserves depth information and surface textures from a two-dimensional image, creating a raised surface that can be explored by touch. Unlike flat raised-line drawings …
Tactile-First Strategy (Touch-Based Strategy, Tactile-First Approach)
An approach to completing tasks that prioritizes touch and physical sensation as the primary sensory channel for guidance, feedback, and assessment. In accessibility contexts, tactile-first strategies…
Tactilization (Tactile Rendering, Haptic Rendering)
The process of converting visual or abstract information into tactile representations that can be perceived through the sense of touch. In accessibility, tactilization transforms content such as web p…
Tacton (Tactile Icon, Vibrotactile Pattern)
A structured and abstract vibrotactile message designed to communicate complex information to users non-visually, analogous to how icons communicate information visually or earcons communicate through…
Tactor (Vibrotactile Actuator, Tactile Actuator, Vibration Motor)
A small electromechanical device that produces vibrations against the skin to convey information through the sense of touch. Tactors are the fundamental components of tactile displays and wearable hap…
Tadoma (Tadoma Method)
A tactile method of communication used by individuals who are deafblind, in which the receiver places their hand on the speaker's face — thumb lightly on the lips and fingers along the jawline and che…
Tag Order (Source Order, DOM Order, Reading Order)
The sequential order in which HTML elements appear in the source code of a web page, which determines the order in which screen readers and other assistive technologies present content to users. When …
Tag Tree (PDF Tag Structure, Structure Tree, Tagged PDF Structure)
The hierarchical structure of semantic tags embedded within a PDF document that defines the logical organization and reading order of its content. A tag tree is analogous to the DOM (Document Object M…
Tagged PDF (Structured PDF, Accessible PDF)
A PDF document that contains semantic structure tags defining the logical reading order, headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, and figures — enabling screen readers and other assistive technologies to …
Tailorability (Tailorable systems)
A design property, central to infrastructuring theory, that allows users to configure, extend, or repurpose a system after deployment to fit their local use context. Tailorability goes beyond 'customi…
TalkBack (Android TalkBack, Google TalkBack)
The built-in screen reader for Android devices, developed by Google as part of the Android Accessibility Suite. TalkBack provides spoken feedback, vibration, and other audible cues to help blind and v…