Glossary

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Data Structure

A way of organizing and storing data in a computer so that it can be accessed and modified efficiently. Common introductory data structures include arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees (such as binary search trees), graphs, and hash tables, each with different access,…

Deafness

A hearing loss profound enough that a person cannot rely on hearing as the primary channel for language and environmental awareness, typically defined audiologically as a loss of 90 decibels or more in the better ear. Deafness exists on a spectrum and has strong cultural…

Decision Confidence

A reframing of accessibility as whether a user can judge product suitability, transaction risk, and information trustworthiness well enough to act independently — introduced by Ryskeldiev et al. (2026) in the context of blind and low-vision e-commerce. Where WCAG conformance…

Delegated Agency(also: Delegated Technical Agency)

Delegated agency occurs in augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) when a close conversation partner (such as a parent or aide) acts on behalf of an augmented communicator to advance the communicator's conversational goals. This may include expanding on the…

Design Exclusion(also: Exclusion Audit, Technology Exclusion)

The process by which certain users are prevented from effectively using a product or service due to mismatches between the design of the technology and their abilities, circumstances, or available resources. Design exclusion can result from physical, sensory, or cognitive…

Desire Paths(also: Desire lines)

A term from urban design describing the unofficial trails that pedestrians wear into grass or dirt when built sidewalks do not meet their needs - the visible trace of an infrastructure users have improvised for themselves. In accessibility design, the metaphor is used (e.g., by…

Dialogue Design(also: Interaction Dialogue, User Dialogue Design)

Dialogue design in human-computer interaction refers to the structured planning of the conversational exchange between a user and a system, defining how input is accepted, how the system responds, and how errors are handled across interaction turns. In accessible interface…

Digital Citizenship

Digital citizenship refers to the capacity to participate fully, safely and recognisably in online and digital public life - having roles, routines and voice in the platforms where shared culture and civic life are increasingly located. For disabled users, and particularly…

Direct Speech Access(also: Speech-Enabling)

An approach to providing speech output where applications generate spoken feedback directly from their semantic context, as opposed to the traditional screen-reading approach where an external program interprets the visual display. In direct speech access, each application has…

Dual User Interface(also: Dual Interface, Concurrent Accessible Interface)

An interface design approach in which two distinct, purpose-built user interfaces are provided simultaneously for different user groups — typically one visual interface for sighted users and one non-visual interface for blind or visually impaired users. Unlike screen reader…

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