Glossary

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Activity Theory

A conceptual framework originating in Soviet psychology (Vygotsky, Leont'ev) and widely applied in HCI, which analyses human action as goal-directed activity mediated by tools, rules, community, and division of labour. Activity Theory provides a structured lens for studying how…

Adaptive Technology Resource Centre(also: ATRC, Inclusive Design Research Centre)

The Adaptive Technology Resource Centre (ATRC) was a research centre at the University of Toronto dedicated to developing inclusive information technology and promoting digital accessibility. Founded in the 1990s, the ATRC became one of the most influential accessibility…

Artifact Contribution(also: System Contribution, Technical Contribution)

A type of research contribution in HCI that involves the creation of a new system, tool, interface, or technology prototype. Artifact contributions are the most common type in reading support technology research (44.55% of publications), typically consisting of a new reading…

BrainGate(also: BrainGate2)

A long-running multi-site clinical trial program (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00912041) that evaluates implantable intracortical brain-computer interfaces in people with paralysis from spinal cord injury, ALS, brainstem stroke, and other neurological conditions. Participants receive…

Collaborative Ideation(also: Group brainstorming, Co-ideation)

The joint process by which a group generates, refines, clusters, and converges on ideas, typically alternating between divergent and convergent thinking. Collaborative ideation is a cornerstone of design, research, and creative practice and is commonly supported by digital…

Critical Computing

An umbrella term for HCI and computer-science scholarship that interrogates the values, power relations, and social consequences of computing technologies rather than taking their benefits as given. Critical computing draws on disability studies, science and technology studies…

DementiaBank

A shared database of multimedia interactions for the study of communication in dementia, maintained as part of the TalkBank system. DementiaBank contains longitudinal recordings of people with Alzheimer's disease and matched controls performing tasks like the "cookie theft"…

Disability Studies(also: DS, Critical Disability Studies)

An interdisciplinary academic field that examines disability as a social, cultural, and political phenomenon rather than solely a medical condition. Disability studies draws on the social model of disability to analyze how societal structures, attitudes, and environments create…

Evaluator Effect

The phenomenon in accessibility and usability evaluation where different evaluators examining the same interface detect different sets of problems and may reach different conclusions about the same issues. The evaluator effect means that no single evaluation can achieve 100%…

Fitts' Law(also: Fitts Law)

A predictive model of human movement in human-computer interaction that states the time required to move to a target area is a function of the distance to the target and the size of the target. Specifically, larger and closer targets are faster to acquire than smaller and more…

Fleiss's Kappa(also: Fleiss Kappa)

A statistical measure of inter-rater reliability for categorical ratings assigned by three or more raters, extending Cohen's Kappa beyond the two-rater case. In accessibility research, Fleiss's Kappa is commonly used to validate qualitative coding of user reviews, heuristic…

Lab-Based Evaluation(also: Laboratory Study, Controlled Evaluation)

A research evaluation conducted in a controlled laboratory setting rather than in participants' natural environments. Lab-based evaluations are the dominant method in reading support technology research, offering experimental control but potentially limiting ecological validity.…

Lived Experience(also: First-Person Experience)

Knowledge and understanding gained through direct personal experience of a condition, situation, or identity, as distinct from theoretical or observational knowledge. In disability and accessibility research, lived experience is increasingly recognized as a valuable and…

Longitudinal Study(also: Long-Term Study)

A research method that involves repeated observations or measurements of the same subjects over an extended period of time. In accessibility and reading support research, longitudinal studies are important for evaluating the sustained impact of interventions, tracking skill…

Meta-Research(also: Research on research, Metascience)

The systematic study of research itself — the tools, workflows, norms, infrastructures, and institutional practices through which scholarly knowledge is produced, evaluated, and disseminated. Meta-research examines questions such as which methods and technologies researchers…

Music Information Retrieval(also: MIR)

An interdisciplinary field focused on extracting, analyzing, and organizing information from music data. Music information retrieval encompasses tasks like automatic transcription, genre classification, melody extraction, beat tracking, and music recommendation. For…

Reading Model(also: Theory of Reading)

A theoretical framework that explains the cognitive processes involved in reading and how reading skills develop. Key reading models include the Simple View of Reading (comprehension = decoding × language comprehension) and the Rope Model (which describes fluent reading as the…

Research Ethics(also: Ethics in Research)

The principles and practices governing the responsible conduct of research, including informed consent, minimizing harm, protecting privacy, and ensuring equitable treatment of participants. In disability research, ethics considerations include power dynamics between researchers…

Research Experiences for Undergraduates(also: REU, REU Program, REU Supplement)

A U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) funding program that supports active research participation by undergraduate students in areas funded by NSF. REU awards fund either dedicated REU Sites — cohorts of undergraduates hosted by a host institution for a summer research…

SIGACCESS(also: ACM SIGACCESS, SIGCAPH, Special Interest Group on Accessible Computing)

The ACM Special Interest Group on Accessible Computing, the primary professional organization within ACM dedicated to accessibility research. Originally founded as SIGCAPH (Special Interest Group on Computers and the Physically Handicapped) in the 1970s, the group was renamed…

SLPAT(also: Speech and Language Processing for Assistive Technologies)

A special interest group jointly supported by the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) and the International Speech Communication Association (ISCA), focused on speech and language technology for assistive applications. SLPAT brings together researchers from…

Simple View of Reading(also: SVR)

An influential reading model proposed by Gough and Tunmer that defines reading comprehension as the product of two components: decoding ability (D) and language comprehension (L), expressed as RC = D × L. This model suggests that reading difficulties can stem from problems with…

Systematic Literature Review(also: SLR, Structured Literature Review)

A rigorous research methodology that systematically identifies, evaluates, and synthesizes all relevant studies on a particular topic using predefined criteria and transparent processes. Systematic literature reviews in accessibility research help map the state of the field,…

Technology Adoption(also: AT Adoption, Technology Uptake)

The process by which individuals begin using and integrating new technology into their daily routines. In accessibility contexts, technology adoption encompasses the decision to acquire assistive technology, the learning curve involved in using it effectively, and sustained use…

Trace R&D Center(also: Trace Center, Trace Research and Development Center)

A pioneering research center focused on accessibility and assistive technology, originally established at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1971 and later affiliated with the University of Maryland. Founded and long directed by Gregg Vanderheiden, the Trace Center developed…

UAspeech Database(also: UAspeech, UA-Speech, Universal Access Speech)

The UAspeech Database is a standardized corpus of dysarthric speech recordings created for research in accessible speech technology. It contains isolated word recordings from speakers with cerebral palsy exhibiting varying degrees of dysarthria, along with matched control…

User Study(also: Usability Study, User Evaluation)

A research method in which participants interact with a system, tool, or interface while researchers observe, measure, and collect feedback on the user experience. User studies in accessibility research are essential for evaluating whether technologies actually meet the needs of…

Vision User(also: VU, Sighted User)

A person who primarily uses vision to access digital content, interacting with web pages and applications through visual scanning, mouse/trackpad pointing, and visual recognition of interface elements. Vision users can rapidly skim content, identify relevant elements through…

WebAIM Million(also: WebAIM Million Report, The WebAIM Million)

An annual accessibility evaluation study conducted by WebAIM (Web Accessibility In Mind) that automatically tests the home pages of the top one million websites against WCAG 2 success criteria. The study has become a key benchmark for measuring the state of web accessibility…

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