Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
6660 terms — page 31 of 333
- Audio Enriched Links (AEL, Audio Link Preview)
- A JAWS screen reader extension that provides spoken previews of linked web pages before a blind user follows a hyperlink. When activated on a focused link, the system fetches the destination page in t…
- Audio Feedback (Auditory Feedback, Sound Feedback)
- Information conveyed to a user through sound in response to an action or event within a system. Audio feedback encompasses a wide range of techniques including earcons (short abstract sounds), auditor…
- Audio Fiction (Audio Vignette, Audio Scenario)
- A speculative design research method that uses pre-recorded audio dialogues to present fictional scenarios depicting interactions with hypothetical future technologies. Audio fictions combine descript…
- Audio Formatting (Audio Rendering)
- The process of converting structured electronic documents into audio output that conveys not just textual content but also the logical structure and formatting of the original document. Audio formatti…
- Audio Game (Audiogame, Audio-Based Game, Accessible Game)
- A video game designed primarily or entirely around audio output rather than visual graphics, making it accessible to players who are blind or have visual impairments. Audio games use techniques such a…
- Audio Guide (Audio Tour, Audio Description Tour, Museum Audio Guide)
- A portable or installed audio system that provides spoken descriptions, narratives, or contextual information about exhibits in a museum, gallery, or cultural venue. Audio guides range from traditiona…
- Audio HTML Access (AHA, AHA Framework)
- Audio HTML Access (AHA) is a framework of principles for choosing sounds to use in audio-based HTML interfaces, developed by Frankie James at Stanford University in the late 1990s. The framework provi…
- Audio Icon (Auditory Icon, Earcon)
- A non-speech sound used in a user interface to represent an object, action, or event, analogous to how visual icons represent concepts graphically. Audio icons use everyday sounds that have a natural …
- Audio Interface (Auditory interface, Sound-based interface)
- An interface that conveys information through sound — including speech (text-to-speech), earcons, beeps, spatialised audio, and sonification of data streams. Audio interfaces dominate mainstream acces…
- Audio Interference (Audio Conflict, Speech Conflict)
- Audio interference in a digital accessibility context is the overlap of two or more sound streams in a user's environment such that one masks another — most commonly, auto-playing media audio on a web…
- Audio Localization (Sound Localization, Auditory Localization)
- The ability to identify the location of a sound source in space using auditory cues such as interaural time differences (the slight delay between sound reaching each ear) and interaural level differen…
- Audio Probe (Fictional Audio Probe)
- A research method using pre-recorded audio scenarios to ground discussion in qualitative studies. In accessibility research, audio probes present fictional but realistic use cases to participants, ena…
- Audio Production (Audio Engineering, Sound Production)
- The process of creating, recording, editing, mixing, and mastering audio content using specialized software and hardware. For blind and low-vision users, audio production presents unique accessibility…
- Audio Separation (Source Separation, Audio Unmixing)
- The process of isolating individual audio sources from a mixed audio signal—for example, separating speech from background music, sound effects, and ambient noise. Audio separation enables selective c…
- Audio Tone (Auditory Cue, Earcon)
- Non-speech audio signals used to convey information such as the presence, location, or status of objects or interface elements. In accessibility contexts, audio tones can supplement or replace verbal …
- Audio description (AD, Described video, Video description)
- Narration added to a media soundtrack that describes important visual information — such as actions, characters, scene changes, and on-screen text — that cannot be understood from the main audio alone…
- Audio game (Audiogame, Sound-based game, Accessible game)
- A digital game designed to be played primarily or entirely through audio, without requiring visual information. Audio games use spatial sound, earcons, music, voice narration, and other auditory cues …
- Audio-Based Interface (Audio Interface, Auditory Interface)
- A computer interface that uses sound as the primary means of conveying information and supporting interaction, rather than visual display. Audio-based interfaces are essential for blind and visually i…
- Audio-Based Navigation (Audio Navigation, Auditory Navigation)
- A navigation approach that uses audio output — typically synthesised speech, spatial audio cues, or sonification — as the primary means of providing wayfinding information to users. Audio-based naviga…
- Audio-Based Virtual Environment (Audio Virtual Environment, Sound-Based Virtual World, Auditory Virtual Environment)
- An audio-based virtual environment is a computer-generated interactive space that uses sound — including 3D spatial audio, stereo effects, and environmental audio cues — as the primary channel for con…