Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
6660 terms — page 328 of 333
- White Cane (Long Cane, Mobility Cane, Blind Cane)
- A lightweight, typically white or white-with-red-tip cane used by blind and visually impaired individuals as a mobility aid for detecting obstacles, changes in terrain, and environmental features whil…
- White Glove Service
- A hospitality concept denoting personalized, detail-oriented service characterized by five qualities: anticipatory assistance (acting before being asked), discretion and privacy, attention to detail, …
- White Noise (Broadband Noise)
- A sound signal containing equal intensity across all audible frequencies, perceived as a constant hissing or static sound. In accessibility applications, white noise is valued for its localization pro…
- Whole-Self (Whole Self)
- A concept from disability justice that frames a disabled person's identity, needs, and preferences as a rich, multidimensional whole — cultural background, lived experiences, interests, relationships,…
- Wholeness
- Wholeness is a core principle of the 10 Principles of Disability Justice articulated by Sins Invalid: the recognition that 'each person is full of history and life experience' and has inherent worth o…
- Wi-Fi Fingerprinting (WiFi Fingerprinting, Wi-Fi Positioning)
- An indoor localization technique that estimates a device's position by comparing the signal strengths of nearby Wi-Fi access points against a pre-collected database of "fingerprints" — measurements ta…
- Wicked Problem
- A problem that is difficult or impossible to solve because of incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements that are often difficult to recognize. Wicked problems resist traditional problem-sol…
- Wide-Range Achievement Test (WRAT, WRAT-5, WRAT sentence comprehension)
- A standardised achievement test used to measure basic academic skills, including word reading, sentence comprehension, spelling, and math computation. In accessibility research, the WRAT sentence-comp…
- Wideband Audio (HD Voice, High-Definition Audio)
- Audio transmission that captures a broader range of frequencies (typically 50-7000 Hz or higher) compared to narrowband telephony (300-3400 Hz), resulting in clearer and more natural-sounding speech. …
- Widget (UI Widget, Web Widget, Interactive Component)
- A discrete user interface object that users can interact with, such as a dropdown menu, slider, tab panel, date picker, modal dialog, or autocomplete field. The W3C defines a widget as a "discrete use…
- Widget Role (ARIA Role, Component Role)
- A property that identifies the type and purpose of a user interface element to assistive technologies. Widget roles communicate what a component is (such as a button, checkbox, slider, or tab) so that…
- Widget accessibility (ARIA widget roles, Custom control accessibility)
- The practice of ensuring that interactive user interface components — such as drop-down menus, tab panels, accordions, modal dialogs, and sliders — are operable and perceivable by users of assistive t…
- Widgit Symbols (Widgit Rebus, Widgit Literacy Symbols)
- A commercial symbol set used in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and literacy support, developed by Widgit Software in the UK. Widgit Symbols are designed with consistent schematic rep…
- Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test (Wilcoxon Test)
- The Wilcoxon signed-rank test is a non-parametric alternative to the paired t-test, used to compare two related samples when the data are ordinal or not normally distributed. It ranks the absolute dif…
- Williams Syndrome (Williams-Beuren Syndrome, WBS)
- A rare genetic condition caused by the deletion of approximately 26 genes on chromosome 7, characterized by cardiovascular problems, distinctive facial features, and a unique cognitive profile that ty…
- Window Shopping (Recreational window-shopping, Browsing)
- The casual practice of looking at shops, displays, or goods without a specific purchase in mind — social activity valued for its own sake as much as for any eventual transaction. Accessibility researc…
- Window-Eyes
- A commercial screen reader for Microsoft Windows developed by GW Micro that was one of the leading assistive technologies for blind computer users from the 1990s through the 2010s. Window-Eyes provide…
- Windowless Mode (Flash wmode transparent, wmode=transparent)
- Windowless mode is a legacy Adobe Flash rendering option (wmode=transparent or wmode=opaque) in which the Flash player drew into the browser's graphics surface directly rather than into its own dedica…
- Wireframe (Wireframing, UI Mockup, Page Schematic)
- A visual guide representing the skeletal framework of a website or application, showing page layout, content placement, and navigation structure before detailed design begins. Wireframes are fundament…
- Wireless Sensor Network (WSN, Sensor Network)
- A distributed network of small, autonomous sensor devices that monitor physical or environmental conditions and wirelessly transmit data to a central system for processing. In assistive technology app…