Glossary

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Accessibility Evaluation Framework(also: A11y Assessment Framework, Accessibility Testing Framework)

A structured methodology for systematically assessing the accessibility of digital content, products, or services against established standards and guidelines. Effective frameworks define the criteria to be evaluated, the methods for evaluation (automated testing, manual…

Accessible Documentation(also: Accessible Instructions)

Documentation - user manuals, help content, installation guides, release notes, API docs - produced in a form that can be read and acted on by people with disabilities, including blind and low-vision users, users with cognitive disabilities, and Deaf users. Accessible…

Accessible PDF(also: Tagged PDF, PDF/UA)

An accessible PDF is a Portable Document Format file that has been structured with tags, reading order, alternative text for images, and other metadata so that it can be navigated and read by assistive technologies such as screen readers. The PDF/UA (Universal Accessibility)…

Accessible Slides(also: Accessible Presentation Slides, Non-Visually Accessible Slides)

Presentation slides that have been structured and annotated to be usable by people with disabilities, particularly blind and visually impaired users who access content via screen readers. Accessible slides include proper read order for elements, alternative text for images and…

Artifact(also: PDF artifact, Background artifact)

In PDF accessibility, an artifact is content that is marked as decorative or non-essential and should be ignored by assistive technologies. Examples include page numbers, headers/footers, decorative images, background graphics, and watermarks. Properly marking artifacts prevents…

AsTeR(also: Audio System for Technical Readings)

An interactive computing system developed by T. V. Raman in his 1994 PhD thesis at Cornell University that converts LaTeX documents into navigable audio documents. AsTeR parses electronic documents into a tree structure that listeners can interactively browse, enabling…

Audio Formatting(also: 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 formatting uses synthesizer parameters such as pitch, stereo positioning, speaking…

Borne-Accessible Document(also: born-accessible, natively accessible document)

A document that is created accessibly from the outset—its semantic structure, headings, alt text, and tags are built in at authoring time rather than added later through remediation. Borne-accessible PDFs come out of authoring tools (e.g., Microsoft Word, LaTeX with…

Composite Figure(also: Multi-panel Figure, Multi-element Figure)

A figure that contains multiple distinct visual elements combined into a single image, such as a series of screenshots labeled (a) through (f), a set of charts showing different data sets, or a mix of photographs and diagrams. Composite figures present a significant…

Content Element(also: Visual Content Element, Non-Text Content)

A visual component within a document that conveys information beyond running text, including tables, charts, images, diagrams, equations, and code blocks. Content elements are often chosen for their ability to communicate complex information concisely and visually, but they…

Content tagging(also: Structural tagging, Semantic tagging)

The process of adding structural markup to document content that identifies the role and meaning of each element. In PDF accessibility, content tagging involves marking regions of a document as paragraphs, headings, lists, tables, figures, or artifacts so that assistive…

Digital Talking Book(also: DTB, DAISY Digital Talking Book, Talking book)

A multimedia document format that synchronises text, audio narration, and navigation structure to provide accessible reading experiences for people who are blind, have low vision, or have print disabilities. Based on the DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) standard,…

DocBook(also: DocBook XML)

An XML-based markup language designed for technical documentation and publishing, providing a semantic vocabulary for books, articles, and other prose documents. DocBook separates content from presentation, allowing the same source document to be transformed into multiple output…

Document Analysis(also: Document Image Analysis, DIA)

The process of automatically extracting structure, content, and meaning from document images or files, including layout detection, text recognition, and logical structure identification. In accessibility, document analysis is essential for converting print materials and…

Document Layout Analysis(also: DLA, page layout analysis)

A computer-vision task that identifies and classifies the visual regions of a document page—headings, paragraphs, tables, figures, captions, lists, headers, and footers—typically using object-detection models trained on datasets such as DocLayNet, PubLayNet, or DocBank. Document…

Document structure(also: Structural hierarchy, Document hierarchy)

The logical organization of a document into meaningful components such as headings, sections, paragraphs, lists, and tables. Proper document structure enables assistive technology users to navigate efficiently, understand relationships between content sections, and access…

Exif(also: Exchangeable Image File Format, EXIF)

A standard metadata format embedded within image files (JPEG, TIFF, and others) that stores information about how an image was created, including camera model, date, GPS coordinates, and orientation. Exif data travels with the image file through most sharing and editing…

Figure Accessibility(also: Chart Accessibility, Graph Accessibility)

The practice of making visual figures, charts, graphs, and diagrams in documents and publications accessible to people who cannot see them, particularly blind and low vision users. Figure accessibility encompasses multiple approaches including descriptive alt text, data tables,…

Font Embedding(also: Embedded Fonts, PDF Font Embedding)

The practice of including the complete font data within a PDF document so that the text can be accurately rendered and read regardless of whether the font is installed on the viewer's system. Font embedding is an accessibility requirement because non-embedded fonts can cause…

ICADD(also: International Committee on Accessible Document Design)

A non-profit organization that developed techniques for making structured electronic documents accessible to people with print disabilities. ICADD created the SDA (SGML Document Access) mechanism — a set of attributes that map complex document type definitions to a simplified…

Information Representation(also: information artifact, knowledge representation)

An information representation is any structured artifact that encodes data or knowledge and allows people to interact with that content — examples include documents, spreadsheets, slideshows, diagrams, databases, and videos. Representations are fundamental to knowledge work…

LaTeX(also: TeX)

A document typesetting language widely used in academia and STEM fields for producing scientific documents containing complex mathematical formulae. LaTeX encodes mathematical content as plain text markup commands (e.g., \frac{a}{b} for a fraction), which makes it inherently…

Logical Reading Order(also: Reading Sequence, Programmatic Reading Order)

The sequence in which content within a document is presented to assistive technologies, which should match the intended logical flow of the content as a human reader would understand it. In PDFs, the logical reading order is determined by the tag tree structure, not the visual…

MathSpeak(also: MathSpeak Rules)

A set of rules and conventions for verbally describing mathematical notation in a standardized, unambiguous way that can be understood by people who cannot see the visual representation of formulas. MathSpeak provides consistent patterns for reading mathematical expressions…

Matterhorn Protocol(also: PDF Association Matterhorn Protocol)

A comprehensive set of test conditions published by the PDF Association for verifying PDF/UA (ISO 14289-1) conformance. The Matterhorn Protocol categorizes accessibility checks into those that can be performed by automated tools and those that require human judgment, providing a…

OOXML(also: Open Office XML, Office Open XML, ECMA-376)

An XML-based file format standard for representing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and charts in Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). Introduced in Office 2007, OOXML files use extensions like .docx, .xlsx, and .pptx. For accessibility, the XML…

OpenDocument Format(also: ODF, OASIS ODF)

An open, XML-based file format standard for office documents maintained by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards). ODF includes specifications for text documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and graphics. It incorporates accessibility…

Optical Character Recognition (OCR)(also: OCR, Text Recognition)

Technology that converts images of text — such as scanned documents, photographs of signs, or PDF pages stored as images — into machine-readable text that can be processed by screen readers, search engines, and other software. OCR is a critical tool for making scanned documents…

PDF Accessibility(also: Accessible PDF, PDF A11y)

The practice of creating PDF documents that can be effectively used by people with disabilities, including those who use screen readers, keyboard navigation, magnification, or other assistive technologies. Accessible PDFs require proper document structure (tag trees with…

PDF Form(also: PDF Fillable Form, Interactive PDF Form, AcroForm)

A PDF document that contains interactive form fields — text boxes, checkboxes, radio buttons, signatures, dropdowns — that users can fill in and submit electronically, rather than a static PDF meant only for reading. PDF forms are widely used for government applications,…

PDF Remediation(also: PDF Tagging, PDF Accessibility Remediation, Document Remediation)

The process of adding structural tags to an existing PDF document to make it accessible to assistive technologies such as screen readers. Remediation involves identifying logical content elements (headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, images), assigning appropriate tags,…

PDF Tagging(also: Tagged PDF, PDF Tags)

The process of adding a logical structure tree to a PDF so that assistive technologies can interpret the document's content, reading order, and semantics independently of its visual layout. Tags label each piece of content with its role — heading, paragraph, list item, figure,…

Print Disability(also: Print Impairment)

A condition that prevents a person from effectively reading standard printed material. Print disabilities include blindness, low vision, dyslexia, and physical disabilities that make it difficult to hold or manipulate printed books. People with print disabilities rely on…

Product Manual(also: Instruction Manual, User Manual, OEM Manual)

The documentation shipped with a consumer product that explains how to assemble, operate, and troubleshoot it. Product manuals come as paper booklets, fold-out sheets, PDFs, web pages, or occasionally audio. They are a chronic accessibility problem for blind and low-vision users…

Reading Order(also: Logical Reading Order, Narration Order)

The sequence in which content is presented to assistive technology users, particularly screen reader users, when navigating a document or web page. For sighted users, the visual layout of a document (columns, sections, sidebars) implicitly suggests a reading flow, but screen…

SGML(also: Standard Generalized Markup Language)

An international standard (ISO 8879:1986) metalanguage for defining markup languages that describe the structure and content of electronic documents. SGML introduced foundational concepts including descriptive markup (tagging what content is, not how it should look), document…

SMILES(also: Simplified Molecular-Input Line-Entry System)

A text-based notation system that represents chemical molecular structures as short character strings, making them both machine-readable and human-readable. For accessibility, SMILES is significant because it provides a linear, non-visual way to represent chemical structural…

Semantic Tagging(also: Structural Tagging, PDF Semantic Markup)

The process of marking up content within a PDF document with tags that convey the semantic meaning and structural role of each element — such as headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, figures, and links — rather than just visual formatting. Proper semantic tagging ensures that…

Single-Source Publishing(also: Single-Source Authoring, Multi-Channel Publishing)

An authoring and publishing methodology where content is written and maintained in one master source and then automatically transformed into multiple output formats such as HTML, PDF, Braille, or mobile-optimized views. This approach is significant for accessibility because it…

Slide Deck Accessibility(also: Presentation Accessibility)

The practice of designing slide presentations to be usable by people with diverse disabilities, encompassing visual design choices (font size, colour contrast, background colour), structural elements (reading order, alt text for images, slide numbers), content considerations…

Table Recognition(also: Table Detection, Table Extraction)

The automated process of detecting and reconstructing tabular data structures from document images, scanned PDFs, or other non-structured formats. Table recognition goes beyond basic OCR by identifying the spatial relationships between text elements — rows, columns, cells,…

Table accessibility(also: Accessible tables, Data table accessibility)

The practice of structuring data tables so they can be understood by assistive technology users. Accessible tables require proper markup that distinguishes header cells from data cells, establishes relationships between headers and the data they describe, provides captions or…

Tag Tree(also: 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 Model) in HTML — it identifies headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, figures, and…

Visual Document Understanding(also: VDU, Document Understanding)

A field of AI research focused on the interpretation and analysis of visually-rich digital documents such as forms, tables, menus, reports, receipts, and academic papers. Visual document understanding goes beyond basic OCR text extraction by comprehending the spatial layout,…

Visual Layout Analysis(also: Layout Analysis, Document Layout Analysis)

The automated process of examining the spatial arrangement and visual properties of elements within a document to infer meaningful structural relationships between them. In accessibility contexts, visual layout analysis is used to automatically generate metadata about how…

eBook Accessibility(also: Electronic Book Accessibility, Digital Book Accessibility)

The practice of ensuring that electronic books and digital publications are usable by people with disabilities, including those who use screen readers, refreshable braille displays, or other assistive technologies. Accessible eBooks require proper semantic structure (headings,…

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