Glossary

Search results

Safety Check-in(also: Wellness Check-in, Check-in Call)

A safety check-in is a brief remote-communication exchange — most often a phone call, text, or app-based 'ping' — whose primary purpose is to confirm the safety and wellbeing of a person at a distance, rather than to exchange substantive information. The pattern is common in…

Screen Curtain(also: Display Curtain)

Screen Curtain is an accessibility feature available on iOS and some other platforms that turns off the device's display while keeping the device fully functional and responsive to touch input and screen reader output. Originally designed to save battery power for blind users…

Situational Visual Impairment(also: SVI, Situational Visual Impairments)

A temporary reduction in a person's effective vision or reading performance caused by the environment or context rather than by a medical condition. Common examples include trying to read a phone screen in bright sunlight, while walking or on a moving vehicle, in low light, or…

Smartphone Accessibility(also: Mobile Phone Accessibility)

The design and adaptation of smartphone hardware, operating systems, and applications to be usable by people with disabilities. Smartphones have become increasingly important as assistive technology platforms due to their widespread availability, built-in accessibility features…

Smartphones as Assistive Technology(also: Mobile AT, Phone-Based AT)

The use of mainstream smartphones as assistive devices through built-in accessibility features (screen readers, magnification, live captions, sound amplification) and downloadable applications that support independence for people with disabilities. In low- and middle-income…

Soft Key(also: Softkey, Context-sensitive Key)

A soft key is a physical button on a device whose labelled function changes depending on the current application or screen — typically indicated by an on-screen label positioned next to the button. Soft keys let hardware designers fit more commands into a limited number of…

Sound Amplifier(also: Google Sound Amplifier)

An Android accessibility feature that uses the smartphone's microphone and headphones to amplify and filter ambient sounds in real-time, making it easier for hard of hearing users to hear conversations and environmental audio. Sound Amplifier can boost quiet sounds, reduce…

Speech Input(also: Voice input, Voice control, Speech recognition input)

An input method that allows users to control devices or enter text by speaking rather than using manual touch or keyboard input. Speech input is particularly important for people with visual impairments, who use it significantly more often than sighted users to overcome the…

Speed Dial(also: One-touch Dialing, Quick Dial)

Speed dial is a mobile or landline phone feature that lets a user place a call to a preset contact by pressing one or two assigned digits rather than entering a full phone number. Originally introduced as a convenience feature, speed dial functions as a meaningful accessibility…

Spindex(also: Speech Index)

An auditory navigation technique that uses the first letter of each word (spoken or synthesized) as an index to speed up list navigation. When scrolling through alphabetically ordered lists like contacts, a spindex plays the first letter of each item, allowing users to quickly…

Split Tap(also: Split Tapping)

A touchscreen interaction technique where the user holds one finger on a target element while tapping with a second finger to activate it. Split tap allows blind users to explore the screen with one finger to locate elements (hearing each one announced) and then tap elsewhere to…

Steady Tapping

The ability to place a finger on a touchscreen target and hold it still long enough for the system to register a deliberate tap, as opposed to the unintentional movements caused by hand tremor. For users with motor impairments, maintaining a steady tap is a significant challenge…

Swift Playgrounds(also: Apple Swift Playgrounds)

A hybrid block-based and text-based programming environment developed by Apple for iPad and Mac that teaches coding using the Swift programming language. Swift Playgrounds is notable in the accessibility education space because it integrates with VoiceOver, includes tactile maps…

13 results.