Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
6660 terms — page 7 of 333
- Ability requirement (Ability demand, Interaction prerequisite)
- A capability that a person must possess in order to use a technology system, created implicitly by the system's design. AI systems generate new ability requirements: voice assistants require recogniza…
- Ability-Based Design (ABD)
- A design paradigm for accessible technology introduced by Jacob Wobbrock and colleagues that emphasizes adapting systems to meet users' abilities rather than requiring users to adapt to systems. Abili…
- Ability-Based Design (ABD)
- A design philosophy that focuses on what users can do rather than what they cannot, adapting systems to leverage each individual's specific abilities. Instead of designing for a "typical" user and the…
- Ability-Diverse Collaboration (Cross-Ability Collaboration, Mixed-Ability Collaboration)
- A framework for understanding collaborative interactions between individuals with different abilities, where participants strategically combine and share their capabilities to achieve shared outcomes.…
- Ability-Mediating Design
- A design framework introduced by Radu-Daniel Vatavu that focuses on how interactive systems mediate and reshape users' abilities rather than adapting to fixed abilities. Its core principles are mediat…
- Ability-based calibration (Adaptive calibration, Movement range calibration)
- The process of adjusting a technology system's input sensitivity and thresholds to match an individual user's physical capabilities and range of motion, rather than assuming a normative body. In motio…
- Ability-based design (ABD)
- An accessibility framework that shifts the design focus from disability (what users cannot do) to ability (what users can do), arguing that interactive systems should adapt to users' actual capabiliti…
- Ablation Study (Ablation Experiment)
- A methodology, common in machine-learning and systems research, in which individual components of a system are systematically removed or disabled to measure their contribution to overall performance. …
- Ableism (Disability discrimination, Disablism)
- Discrimination, prejudice, or social bias against people with disabilities, rooted in the assumption that typical abilities are superior and that disabled people need to be fixed or are inherently les…
- Ableist Language (Disability Slurs, Derogatory Disability Language)
- Ableist language refers to words, phrases, and framings that demean, stereotype, or pathologize people with disabilities — from explicit slurs such as 'cripple,' 'handicap,' 'retard,' or 'lame' used p…
- Ableist Microaggressions Scale (AMS)
- A validated measurement instrument developed by Conover, Israel, and Nylund-Gibson (2017) to systematically assess the frequency and impact of subtle, everyday expressions of ableism. The AMS organise…
- Ableist microaggression (Disability microaggression, Casual ableism)
- A subtle, often unintentional comment, question, or behavior that communicates hostile, derogatory, or negative assumptions about disability. Examples include unsolicited compliments on "bravery" for …
- Above the Fold (Above-the-fold, First Screen Content)
- Content that is visible on a web page without requiring the user to scroll. The term originates from newspaper publishing where important headlines appeared above the physical fold of the paper. In di…
- Abstract Syntax Tree (AST, Syntax Tree)
- A hierarchical tree representation of source code structure that captures the syntactic relationships between programming constructs like functions, classes, loops, and statements. In accessibility, A…
- Abstract Widget (Abstract Interaction Object)
- A user interface component defined by its semantic purpose and interaction behavior rather than its visual appearance. Abstract widgets specify what a user can do (select from options, enter text, tri…
- Abundant Design (Abundant UI Design)
- A design approach for cognitively accessible interfaces in which primary actions are represented by multiple redundant cues — short text, an icon, a distinctive color, and ample size — so users can id…
- Academic Ableism
- Systemic discrimination against disabled people within academic institutions and research practices. In higher education, academic ableism manifests through inaccessible learning environments, expecta…
- Academic Accessibility (Accessibility in academia, Scholarly accessibility)
- The degree to which the tools, publications, venues, and institutional practices of academic research and higher education are usable by disabled students, faculty, and researchers. Academic accessibi…
- Academic Accommodation (Educational Accommodation, Reasonable Adjustment in Education)
- Modifications to academic requirements, procedures, or environments that enable students and scholars with disabilities to participate equally in educational activities. Academic accommodations may in…
- Academic Accommodations (Educational Accommodations, Disability Accommodations)
- Modifications to academic requirements, environments, or procedures provided to students with disabilities to ensure equal access to education. Common accommodations include extended test time, note-t…