Glossary

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ELAN(also: EUDICO Linguistic Annotator)

A free, open-source annotation tool developed at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics for creating, editing, and searching multi-tier, time-aligned annotations on video and audio recordings. ELAN has become the de-facto standard tool for sign-language corpus work…

Ecological Momentary Assessment(also: EMA, Experience Sampling)

A research and clinical method that involves repeatedly sampling people's behaviors, experiences, and physiological states in real time within their natural environments. EMA typically uses smartphone prompts to ask users to report their current thoughts, feelings, activities,…

Ecological Validity

In user experience research, the degree to which a mediated experience feels natural, realistic, and believable—as if it could occur in a real-world context. In immersion measurement frameworks like the ITC Sense of Presence Inventory, ecological validity is a subscale alongside…

Ecological validity(also: Real-world validity)

The degree to which research findings from controlled laboratory settings accurately reflect behaviour and performance in real-world everyday contexts. In accessibility research, ecological validity is a critical concern because laboratory conditions — structured tasks, quiet…

Elicitation Study(also: Gesture Elicitation Study)

An elicitation study is a user research method in which participants are shown the effect of an action (called a referent) and asked to propose the input or gesture (called a sign) that should cause it. This approach generates user-defined interaction techniques rather than…

Emancipatory Research(also: Emancipatory Disability Research)

A research paradigm that positions people with disabilities not merely as research subjects but as active agents who lead and control research about their own lives and experiences. Emerging from the disability rights movement and the social model of disability, emancipatory…

Embodied Critique(also: Embodied Feedback, Body-Based Critique)

A method of expressing critical feedback through physical bodies and bodily actions rather than relying solely on spoken or written language. Embodied critique draws on disability cultures where communication frequently extends beyond verbal or textual modes, recognizing that…

Embodied Ideation(also: Embodied Design Ideation)

A design method that engages participants in generating ideas through physical movement, bodily interaction, and hands-on exploration rather than purely verbal or written communication. In accessibility contexts, embodied ideation is particularly valuable for including…

Embodied Sketching

Embodied sketching is a participatory design method in which participants and designers physically act out interaction ideas with their bodies, props, and the surrounding space rather than only sketching them on paper or screen. It surfaces movement, social, and sensory…

Embodied cognition(also: Embodied learning, Enactive cognition)

A theoretical framework proposing that cognitive processes are deeply shaped by the body's interactions with its physical environment — that thinking is not purely abstract but is grounded in sensory experience, motor action, and bodily engagement with materials. In…

EmojiGrid(also: Emoji Grid, EmojiGrid Scale)

A two-dimensional self-report tool, developed by Toet et al. (2018), in which participants rate the emotional content of a stimulus by clicking on a point in a grid whose axes are valence (horizontal) and arousal (vertical). Rows and columns of emoji faces are arranged around…

End-User Elicitation(also: Elicitation Study, User-Defined Gestures)

A participatory research method where end users are asked to propose or create their own interaction techniques, gestures, or commands for a given system function, rather than having researchers prescribe interactions in advance. In accessibility research, elicitation studies…

Error Taxonomy(also: Error Classification, Error Typology)

A systematic classification of the types of errors that users or learners commonly make, organised into categories based on the nature, source, or linguistic level of the error. In accessibility and educational technology, error taxonomies are used to build intelligent systems…

Ethnographic Study(also: Ethnography, Ethnographic Research)

A qualitative research methodology originating in anthropology that involves prolonged, immersive observation of people in their natural environments to understand their behaviours, practices, and social contexts. In accessibility and assistive technology research, ethnographic…

Evaluation Reliability(also: Inter-rater Reliability, Evaluator Agreement)

The extent to which independent accessibility evaluations of the same content produce consistent results. High reliability means that different evaluators using the same method will identify similar sets of accessibility problems, while low reliability indicates that results…

Experience Sampling Method(also: ESM, Ecological Momentary Assessment, EMA)

A research methodology that collects data about participants' experiences, behaviors, and states in real time and in natural settings through repeated brief surveys or prompts delivered at predetermined or random intervals throughout the day. In accessibility research, ESM…

Experience sampling method(also: ESM, Ecological momentary assessment, EMA)

A research methodology that captures participants' experiences, behaviours, and psychological states in real time as they go about their daily lives, typically through repeated brief surveys triggered at random intervals or after specific events. ESM reduces recall bias compared…

Experience-Based Co-Design(also: EBCD)

A participatory methodology originally developed in UK health services research that treats people's lived experience - their 'emotional touch-points' of confusion, frustration, or insight - as the core material for designing services or systems. Canonical EBCD stages include…

Explanatory Sequential Design(also: Sequential Explanatory Design, QUAN → QUAL)

A mixed-methods research design in which a quantitative phase is conducted first — typically a survey or other structured measurement — and its results are then used to guide a follow-up qualitative phase (often semi-structured interviews) that explores or explains the…

Exploratory Procedures(also: EPs)

Exploratory procedures are stereotyped movement patterns that people use when examining objects through touch to identify specific properties. Defined by Lederman and Klatzky in tactile perception research, these are hand and finger configurations that do not correspond to…

Extractive Research(also: Extractive UX Research)

A critique of research practices — common in industry UX and academic HCI — in which researchers take data, insights, or stories from a community, often marginalized, without ongoing relationship, reciprocity, or benefit flowing back. Extractive research is associated with…

Eye Tracking(also: Eye-Tracking, Gaze Tracking)

A research methodology that uses specialized hardware (such as infrared cameras) to measure where a person is looking on a screen or in an environment, recording the sequence and duration of gaze fixations. In accessibility research, eye tracking provides objective behavioral…

Eye Tracking(also: Gaze Tracking, Eye-Tracking)

A research methodology and assistive technology that measures where a person looks (fixation points), how their gaze moves across a display (saccades), and how long they focus on specific areas (dwell time). In accessibility research, eye tracking reveals how users visually…

Eye tracking(also: Gaze tracking, Eye-gaze tracking, Eye Tracker)

A technology that measures where a person is looking on a screen or in an environment by detecting eye position and movement, typically using infrared light and cameras. In accessibility, eye tracking serves dual roles: as an assistive input method allowing people with severe…

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