Audio Cue

A non-speech sound used to convey information in an interface. In accessible programming environments, audio cues represent code structures, syntax errors, or navigation landmarks—for example, a door-opening sound for an "if" statement or distinct tones for different indentation levels. Audio cues can reduce cognitive load compared to continuous speech by conveying structural information quickly and non-intrusively, though research shows speech remains more accurate for conveying code content while non-speech sounds are preferred for overview tasks.