Glossary

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Peer Feedback(also: Peer Review, Peer Assessment)

The process of learners observing and providing constructive feedback to each other during learning activities. In collaborative sign language learning, peer feedback enables real-time correction and coaching — players can observe each other's signing and identify mistakes…

Peer Mentoring(also: Peer Support, Peer Tutoring)

A support relationship where individuals with shared experiences provide guidance, emotional support, and practical assistance to one another, typically in informal or semi-structured settings. For ADHD students in higher education, peer mentoring from other ADHD students is…

Peer Note-Taking Program(also: PNTP, Peer Note-Taker Program, Note-Taking Assistance Program)

A disability support service offered by higher education institutions in which peer students (peer note-takers or PNTs) assist students with disabilities (SWDs) by transcribing lecture notes during class or sharing their own notes afterward. PNTPs are widely adopted as academic…

Peer Support(also: Peer-to-Peer Support, Peer Mentoring)

A form of mutual assistance where people with shared experiences or conditions help each other by sharing knowledge, practical advice, and emotional support. In accessibility contexts, peer support communities are particularly valuable for disabled users learning complex…

Personalized Learning(also: Adaptive Learning, Individualized Instruction, Differentiated Instruction)

Personalized learning is an educational approach that tailors content, pace, and delivery method to each learner's individual needs, preferences, and abilities. In accessibility contexts, personalization goes beyond selecting appropriate difficulty levels — it requires creating…

Physical Guidance(also: Hands-On Guidance, Physical Assistance)

A body movement teaching technique in which an instructor physically moves or positions a student's body to demonstrate correct form, rhythm, or placement. Physical guidance is widely used in teaching dance, sports, and martial arts to blind and low vision students, as it…

Postsecondary Education for Students with Intellectual Disabilities(also: PSEID, Inclusive Postsecondary Education, College Programs for ID)

Educational programs at colleges and universities designed to include students with intellectual disabilities in campus life, academics, and career preparation. Unlike traditional special education that ends with high school, these programs extend learning opportunities into…

Presentation video(also: Lecture recording, Recorded lecture)

A video recording of an instructor delivering content alongside visual materials such as slides, whiteboards, or demonstrations. Presentation videos present unique accessibility challenges because they combine spoken content with visual actions like pointing, annotating, and…

Preservice Training(also: Preservice Education, Teacher Preparation)

The education and training that teachers receive before entering the profession, typically through university degree programs or certification courses. In special education and assistive technology contexts, preservice training refers to coursework on AT devices, accessibility…

Professional Development(also: Continuing Education, In-service Training)

Ongoing learning activities that professionals undertake to maintain and improve their skills throughout their careers. For accessibility professionals and special educators, professional development includes workshops, conferences, online courses, peer mentoring, and…

Psychoeducation

The process of providing education about a mental health condition, its symptoms, treatment options, and management strategies to individuals with the condition and their support networks. For OCD, psychoeducation helps people understand the nature of obsessions and compulsions,…

Quorum(also: Quorum Programming Language)

An evidence-based programming language designed with accessibility as a core principle, making it usable by people with and without visual impairments. Quorum provides audio input and output, screen reader compatibility, and an accessible debugger called SODBeans that uses…

Real-Time Captioning(also: Live Captioning, CART, Communication Access Realtime Translation)

The process of converting spoken language into text display in real time, typically with only a few seconds of delay. Professional real-time captioning (CART) uses stenographers with specialised shorthand keyboards who can type at speaking rates of 170+ words per minute,…

Remote Classroom(also: Virtual Classroom, Distance Learning Classroom)

A learning environment in which instructors and learners are geographically separated and connected through video, screen-sharing, and communication channels that approximate in-person teaching. Effective remote classrooms for accessibility purposes typically combine a main…

Residential School(also: Boarding School)

An educational institution where students live on campus during the school term, receiving both education and residential care. In India, many schools for the blind operate as residential schools, with students living at the school away from their families. Residential schools…

Reverse Dictionary(also: Sign-to-English Dictionary, ASL-to-English Dictionary)

A dictionary tool that allows users to search for the meaning of a sign language sign by inputting its visual or linguistic properties — such as handshape, location, movement, and orientation — rather than searching from a known English word. Reverse dictionaries address the…

Right to Education(also: RTE, Right to Education Act)

Legal frameworks guaranteeing the right to free and compulsory education for all children, including children with disabilities. India's Right to Education Act (2009) mandates free education for all children aged 6-14 and includes a controversial "no detention" policy requiring…

Role Switching(also: Role Rotation, Role Alternation)

An educational strategy where learners alternate between different roles or responsibilities within a collaborative activity. In collaborative sign language learning, role switching allows players to alternate between controlling manual signs and non-manual signs, ensuring both…

STEAM(also: STEAM education)

An extension of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) educational framework that explicitly integrates the Arts (design, music, visual art, storytelling, humanities). STEAM is often used in informal and inclusive learning contexts, including makerspaces…

STEM(also: STEM Education, Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics)

An acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, used to describe educational disciplines and career fields. In accessibility contexts, STEM engagement is particularly important because people with disabilities are severely underrepresented in these fields.…

STEM Accessibility(also: Accessible STEM, STEM for Students with Disabilities)

The design and delivery of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in ways that are accessible to students with disabilities. STEM accessibility is a particularly acute challenge for students with vision impairments, as STEM subjects heavily rely on visual…

STEM accessibility(also: Accessible STEM education)

The practice of making science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education and activities accessible to people with disabilities. STEM fields present particular accessibility challenges because they rely heavily on visual representations (diagrams, graphs, microscopy),…

Scaffolded Learning(also: Scaffolding, Graduated Support)

An instructional approach that provides structured, temporary support to help learners progressively build skills, with support gradually reduced as competence increases. In assistive technology training, scaffolded learning involves starting with simplified configurations…

Scaffolded interaction(also: Structured interaction, Guided interaction)

A design approach where technology provides structured support that gradually guides users through increasingly complex social or cognitive tasks, with the system mechanics enforcing desired behaviours rather than merely encouraging them. In autism interventions, scaffolded…

Scaffolding(also: Instructional Scaffolding, Cognitive Scaffolding)

A support strategy that provides temporary, structured assistance to help a learner accomplish tasks they cannot yet perform independently. In digital accessibility, scaffolding can take the form of progressive disclosure, step-by-step guidance, contextual help, or adaptive…

School Management Resistance(also: Administrative Resistance)

Opposition or skepticism from school leadership and administration toward the integration of technology in educational settings. In schools for the blind in India, management resistance manifests as policies restricting mobile phone use, interpreting technology use as laziness…

School for the Blind(also: Blind School, Residential Blind School)

A specialized educational institution that serves students with vision impairments, often as a residential facility where students live on campus. In India and other Global South countries, schools for the blind are frequently underfunded, teacher-constrained, and reliant on…

Science Communication(also: SciComm, Science Outreach)

The practice of informing, educating, and engaging public audiences about scientific topics and findings. Accessible science communication ensures that people with disabilities can participate fully in science learning through accommodations such as tactile models, audio…

Science Museum(also: Science Center, Science Centre)

An institution dedicated to informally communicating science to the public through interactive exhibits, multimedia displays, hands-on workshops, and themed experiences. Unlike traditional collection-based museums, science museums emphasize engagement, experimentation, and…

Scribe(also: Amanuensis, Exam Writer)

A person who writes or types on behalf of a student with a disability during examinations, transcribing the student's dictated answers. In India, students with vision impairments typically complete exams in Braille up to 9th grade but must transition to using scribes for public…

Second Language Acquisition(also: SLA, L2 Acquisition)

The process by which a person learns a language other than their first (native) language. In deaf education and accessibility, second language acquisition theory is particularly relevant because written English is effectively a second language for native signers of American Sign…

Section 504(also: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act)

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a US federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. It requires educational institutions, government agencies, and other…

Segregated Education(also: Separate Schooling, Special Schooling)

An educational model where students with disabilities are educated in separate institutions or classrooms apart from their non-disabled peers. While segregated schools like residential schools for the blind can provide specialized instruction and peer support from other students…

Self-Regulated Learning(also: SRL, Self-Directed Learning)

The process by which learners actively manage their own cognition, motivation, and behavior to achieve learning goals. Self-regulated learning involves planning approaches, monitoring comprehension, adjusting strategies when needed, and evaluating outcomes. Research shows that…

Self-Scaffolding

Self-scaffolding is a process in which learners independently create their own support structures to achieve objectives they would not have reached without that support. Unlike traditional scaffolding, which is provided by teachers or designed into tools, self-scaffolding…

Sequential Presentation(also: Step-by-Step Presentation, Progressive Disclosure)

An information delivery method that reveals content incrementally in a structured sequence rather than presenting it all at once. In accessible education, sequential presentation is particularly effective for blind users because tactile perception is inherently sequential —…

Service Learning(also: Community-Based Learning)

A teaching method that combines academic instruction with meaningful community service, allowing students to learn through hands-on participation that addresses real needs. In accessibility education, service learning often involves students working directly with people with…

Sighted Braille Learner(also: Visual Braille Learner)

A person with typical vision who learns to read and write braille, usually for professional or personal reasons such as teaching blind students or supporting a blind family member. Sighted braille learners process braille visually rather than tactilely, which creates a…

Sign Language Dictionary(also: SL Dictionary, ASL Dictionary)

A reference tool that allows users to look up signs in a sign language, providing video demonstrations, definitions, and usage examples. Sign language dictionaries can be organized by English gloss (word-based lookup), linguistic features (handshape, location, movement), or…

Sign Vocabulary(also: Signing Vocabulary, Sign Lexicon)

The set of signs that a person knows or that a sign language recognition system can identify. In the context of sign language technology, vocabulary size is a critical constraint that determines a system's practical utility — current AI-powered sign language recognition systems…

Signed Exact English(also: SEE, SEE-II, Signing Exact English)

A manually coded sign system that represents spoken English visually by following English grammar, word order, and morphology rather than using the natural grammar of American Sign Language (ASL). Unlike ASL, which is a distinct language with its own syntax and structure, Signed…

Signing Avatar(also: Sign Language Avatar, Virtual Signer)

A 3D computer-generated character that produces sign language through animated hand movements, facial expressions, and body posture. Signing avatars are used in educational contexts to deliver accessible sign language instruction, provide real-time multi-angle content, and offer…

Situated Learning Theory(also: Situated Cognition)

An educational theory proposing that learning is most effective when it occurs in authentic contexts naturally tied to the activity, culture, and environment where the knowledge will be used. In sign language education, situated learning supports embedding ASL practice in…

Social Cognitive Theory(also: SCT, Social learning theory)

A psychological framework developed by Albert Bandura that explains how people learn through observing others, building self-efficacy, and interacting with their social environment. In the context of accessibility and digital literacy, SCT provides a foundation for designing…

Social Constructivism(also: Sociocultural Theory)

An educational theory emphasizing that learners co-construct knowledge through social interactions with others, particularly more knowledgeable individuals. Rooted in Vygotsky's work, social constructivism highlights that learning is fundamentally a social process where…

Social Emotional Learning(also: SEL, Social-Emotional Learning)

A pedagogical approach focused on developing students' self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making abilities to support academic success and mental wellbeing. During the COVID-19 pandemic, social emotional learning…

Social Play

Social play is intrinsically motivated, voluntary activity between two or more children that has no purpose beyond itself, yet is essential to emotional, cognitive, and social development. Developmental researchers categorise it along two axes: social level (Parten's six stages…

Social Skills Intervention(also: Social Skills Training, SST, Social Skills Therapy)

Structured approaches to teaching social interaction skills to individuals who experience difficulties in social situations, commonly used with people with Autism Spectrum Disorder, ADHD, or social anxiety. Interventions may include direct instruction, modeling, role-playing,…

Social Skills Training(also: SST, Social Skills Intervention)

A behavioral intervention approach that teaches interpersonal skills through instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. For individuals with autism spectrum disorder or social communication difficulties, social skills training may address areas like initiating…

Social Stories(also: Social Narratives)

Short, structured narratives developed by Carol Gray that describe social situations, expected behaviors, and appropriate responses in a clear, visual format. Social stories are widely used as therapeutic and educational tools for individuals with autism spectrum disorder and…