Glossary

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AD Personalization(also: Audio Description Customization, Personalized Audio Description)

The practice of tailoring audio descriptions to individual user preferences rather than providing a one-size-fits-all narration. Personalization can include varying the level of detail (concise vs. comprehensive), focus (character-driven vs. environment-driven), interpretation…

AccessForAll(also: Access For All, AfA)

AccessForAll is an accessibility framework originating from the IMS Global Learning Consortium and later standardized by ISO, based on the principle that accessibility is best achieved by matching content and environments to individual users' needs and preferences rather than…

Adaptive Hypermedia(also: AH, Adaptive Hypermedia Systems, AHS)

Interactive systems that build a model of each user's goals, knowledge, preferences, and context, then use this model to automatically adapt the content, presentation, and navigation of hypermedia documents. Unlike static web pages that present the same interface to all users,…

Adaptive Interface(also: Adaptive User Interface, Self-Adapting Interface)

A user interface that automatically modifies its presentation, behaviour, or content based on detected user characteristics, capabilities, preferences, or environmental conditions. In accessibility, adaptive interfaces can respond to changes in a user's sensory, motor, or…

Adaptive Typography(also: Context-Aware Typography, Dynamic Typography)

The practice of adjusting text presentation - font size, weight, line spacing, character spacing, contrast, and colour - automatically or semi-automatically in response to the user's current needs and context. Adaptive typography goes beyond static accessibility settings by…

Adaptive User Interface(also: AUI, Adaptive Interface, Self-Adapting Interface)

A user interface that automatically adjusts its presentation, behavior, or content based on user characteristics, preferences, context, or interaction patterns. Unlike customizable interfaces where users manually configure settings, adaptive interfaces use algorithms to detect…

Caption Customization(also: Caption Personalization, Adaptive Captioning)

The ability for viewers to adjust caption properties to match their individual preferences and needs. Caption customization can encompass visual attributes like font size, color, and positioning, as well as content-level attributes like level of detail, expressiveness, and sound…

Cloud-Based Assistive Technology(also: Assistive Technology as a Service, ATaaS, Cloud AT)

An approach to delivering assistive technology through cloud computing, where personalised accessibility software configurations, preferences, and tools are stored remotely and delivered on demand to any device via the internet. This model addresses the portability problem:…

Content Adaptation(also: Content Transformation, Web Adaptation)

The process of modifying web content to make it more accessible or usable in different contexts, including for users with disabilities, users of assistive technologies, or users on constrained devices like mobile phones. Content adaptation encompasses techniques such as…

Content Filtering(also: Content Adaptation, Adaptive Content Delivery)

The process of selectively displaying or hiding portions of digital content based on user preferences, roles, device capabilities, or accessibility needs. In an accessibility context, content filtering allows users to control the level of detail they receive, reducing…

Content Personalization(also: Accessibility Personalization, Content Adaptation)

The practice of tailoring digital content presentation and interaction to match individual users' needs, preferences, and abilities. In accessibility, personalization goes beyond one-size-fits-all approaches by allowing users to specify how they prefer to receive information —…

Content Transcoding(also: Content Adaptation, Content Transformation)

The process of automatically modifying web content to make it more accessible or usable for specific users or devices. Content transcoding can involve restructuring HTML, modifying CSS styles, replacing images with text alternatives, simplifying page layouts, or converting…

Customization(also: User Customization)

Customization is the practice of allowing users to adapt a system's behaviour, output, or presentation to match their individual goals, preferences, and context. In accessibility, customization is essential because disability is heterogeneous: users of screen readers, AI…

Description Variation(also: AD Variation, Alternative Description)

Multiple versions of audio descriptions for the same video content, each reflecting different stylistic choices, levels of detail, or narrative focuses. Description variations recognize that BLV users have diverse preferences and that a single description cannot serve all needs…

Design-for-One(also: Design for One, Bespoke Design)

A design philosophy where systems are tailored to individual users rather than attempting to accommodate all users through a single universal solution. In contrast to universal design which seeks one solution for everyone, design-for-one creates systems that adapt to specific…

End-User Customization(also: User Customization, Personalisation)

The ability for users to modify the presentation or behaviour of a digital interface according to their individual preferences and needs. In accessibility, end-user customization is particularly important because there is no universal profile for many disability groups — people…

Fine-tuning(also: Model Fine-tuning, Fine-tune, Supervised Fine-tuning)

A machine-learning technique that adapts a pre-trained foundation model - typically a large language model or vision model - to a specific task, domain, or individual user by continuing training on a smaller, targeted dataset. Fine-tuning preserves the broad capabilities of the…

IMS AccessForAll(also: AccLIP, IMS Accessibility for LIP, AccessForAll)

A specification from IMS Global Learning Consortium that defines how to describe learner accessibility preferences and match them with appropriate learning resources. IMS AccessForAll extends the IMS Learner Information Package (LIP) with detailed accessibility preference…

Interest-Based Personalisation(also: Interest-Based Customization, Special Interest Embedding)

A software design strategy in which content, visuals, or activities are customised to reflect a user's personal interests or preferences in order to increase engagement and motivation. In the context of autism and developmental disabilities, interest-based personalisation…

Interface Personalisation(also: Interface Personalization, UI Personalisation, Adaptive Interface)

The ability for users to configure and customise the user interface of a digital system to match their individual needs, preferences, and abilities. In accessibility contexts, interface personalisation allows users to adjust settings such as text size, colour schemes, audio…

Model-Based User Interface(also: MBUI, Model-Based UI)

An approach to user interface design where the interface is generated or adapted automatically from abstract models that describe the tasks users need to perform, the data domain, the user's characteristics, and the interaction context. Rather than hard-coding a single fixed…

Multi-Objective Optimization(also: Many-Objective Optimization, Pareto Optimization)

A computational approach to finding solutions that simultaneously satisfy multiple, potentially conflicting goals. Unlike single-objective optimization which seeks one best answer, multi-objective optimization produces a set of trade-off solutions where improving one objective…

Near-Miss Detection(also: Near-Miss Interaction)

A strategy for identifying when a user almost but not quite succeeds at a device interaction, suggesting they might benefit from an accessibility accommodation. For example, if a user repeatedly attempts a double-click but falls just outside the required timing threshold, the…

Object-Based Audio(also: OBA, Object-Based Broadcasting)

An audio production and delivery paradigm in which speech, music, effects, and ambience are transmitted as discrete objects with metadata describing their role and relationships, rather than as a single mixed stream. The receiver renders the final mix, enabling per-listener…

Personal Needs and Preferences(also: PNP, Learner Preferences Profile, Access Needs Profile)

Personal Needs and Preferences (PNP) is a component of the AccessForAll framework (standardized in ISO 24751 and IMS AccessForAll) that provides a structured way to describe an individual learner's accessibility requirements and interaction preferences. A PNP profile specifies…

Personalization Semantics(also: WAI-Adapt)

A W3C specification that defines standardized semantics enabling content to be adapted to individual user needs and preferences. Personalization Semantics allows web authors to add metadata attributes to HTML elements that describe their purpose, importance, or function in a way…

Personalized Accessibility(also: Personalized Web Accessibility, User-Tailored Accessibility)

An approach to accessibility evaluation and design that considers the specific disability profile, capabilities, and needs of individual users rather than treating accessibility as a single universal property. Personalized accessibility evaluation tools filter WCAG success…

Personalized Dynamic Accessibility(also: Dynamic Accessibility, Adaptive Accessibility)

An approach to accessibility where systems automatically detect user abilities and adapt interface settings in real-time to match current needs. Unlike static accessibility settings that remain constant, personalized dynamic accessibility recognizes that an individual's…

Pointing Device Gain(also: Control-Display Gain, Mouse Sensitivity, Pointer Speed)

The ratio between the movement of a physical input device (such as a mouse or trackball) and the resulting movement of the cursor on screen, typically measured in pixels per inch of device movement. Higher gain means the cursor moves further for a given physical movement. In…

Scanning Rate(also: Scan Rate, Scan Speed, Dwell Time)

The speed at which options in a scanning interface are sequentially highlighted, typically measured in seconds per item. The scanning rate is a critical configuration parameter in switch-access systems — too fast and the user cannot react in time to make a selection, too slow…

Self-Adaptive System(also: Self-Adapting System, Adaptive Interface)

A software or hardware system that automatically monitors user behaviour and adjusts its configuration or interface to better suit the user's needs without requiring explicit manual intervention. In accessibility, self-adaptive systems can detect changes in a user's motor…

Speaker Adaptation(also: Voice Adaptation, Speaker-Adaptive Training, Voice Personalization)

Speaker adaptation is the process of adjusting an existing automatic speech recognition (ASR) system — usually one trained on a large, demographically broad corpus of able-bodied speakers — to a particular individual's voice using a relatively small amount of that person's…

Teachable AI(also: Teachable Machine Learning, Interactive Machine Learning)

Teachable AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that allow end users to personalize the system by providing their own training examples, high-level constraints, or prompts — without requiring programming or machine learning expertise. In the accessibility context,…

Universe of One(also: Universe-of-One, Personalized Prompting)

A design approach in assistive technology where content, prompts, and guidance are tailored to each individual user rather than providing generic or standardized instructions. The concept is particularly important for people with cognitive impairments, who often struggle with…

User Modelling(also: User Modeling, User Profiling)

The process of creating and maintaining a digital representation of a user's characteristics, preferences, needs, and behaviours to personalise their interaction with a system. In accessibility contexts, user modelling captures information about a person's disabilities,…

User Preference Profile(also: Customization Profile, Personalization Profile)

A stored set of user preferences and settings that can be automatically applied to new content, reducing the need for repeated manual customization. In video accessibility for ADHD, user preference profiles could store preferred layout, background, caption, and audio settings…

Voice Customization(also: Voice Personalization, Custom Voice)

The process of creating or modifying synthetic voices to match a user's preferences or identity, including attributes such as gender, age, pitch, breathiness, hoarseness, and speech variation. Voice customization is particularly important in accessibility for people with speech…

Voicemarking(also: Voice Bookmark, Speech-Based Bookmark)

A speech-based technique for creating and retrieving semantic bookmarks in assistive web browsers. Users create voicemarks by speaking the name of a concept (e.g., "Major Headlines") and optionally a keyword, allowing them to later jump directly to that content on any website…

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