Glossary

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STEM Accessibility(also: Accessible STEM, STEM for Students with Disabilities)

The design and delivery of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education in ways that are accessible to students with disabilities. STEM accessibility is a particularly acute challenge for students with vision impairments, as STEM subjects heavily rely on visual…

School for the Blind(also: Blind School, Residential Blind School)

A specialized educational institution that serves students with vision impairments, often as a residential facility where students live on campus. In India and other Global South countries, schools for the blind are frequently underfunded, teacher-constrained, and reliant on…

Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome(also: Irlen Syndrome, Visual Stress, Meares-Irlen Syndrome)

A perceptual processing condition in which the brain has difficulty handling certain visual information, particularly high-contrast patterns like black text on a bright white background. People with scotopic sensitivity may experience text appearing to move, shimmer, or blur on…

Screen Magnification(also: Screen Magnifier, Display Magnification)

Software or operating system features that enlarge a portion of the screen content to make it readable for people with low vision. Common modalities include full-screen magnification (which expands the entire display around a movable center point) and lens magnification (which…

Screen Magnifier(also: Screen Magnification Software, Magnification Software)

An assistive technology application that enlarges a portion of the screen display to make content more readable for people with low vision. Screen magnifiers work by rendering a zoomed-in view of the area around the cursor or focus point, often providing additional features such…

Screen Reader(also: Screen Reading Software)

An assistive technology application that converts digital text and interface elements into synthesized speech or braille output, enabling people who are blind or have low vision to interact with computers, smartphones, and other digital devices. Screen readers interpret the…

Screen Reader Output(also: Screen Reader Speech)

The audio or braille output generated by screen reader software as it interprets and conveys on-screen content to blind and low vision users. Screen reader output quality significantly impacts reading comprehension and efficiency, as the linearization of visual content into…

Shoreline Technique(also: Trailing, Edge Following)

An orientation and mobility technique used by people who are blind or have low vision in which the traveler follows a consistent edge or boundary — such as the edge of a sidewalk, a wall, a fence line, or the border between grass and pavement — to maintain orientation and stay…

Shoulder Surfing

A form of visual eavesdropping where an attacker observes a person entering sensitive information such as passwords, PINs, or personal data by looking over their shoulder or from a nearby vantage point. Shoulder surfing is a particularly significant security concern for people…

Simulation Glasses(also: Cataract Glasses, Vision Simulation Glasses, Low-Vision Simulation Goggles)

Simulation glasses are wearable lenses or goggles that reproduce the functional visual experience of specific eye conditions — cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma, hemianopia, and others — by blurring, smearing, adding central scotomas, or restricting the field of view.…

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…

Spatial Learning(also: Spatial Cognition, Environmental Learning)

The process of acquiring and integrating information about an environment into cognitive maps — mental representations of spatial relationships between places, paths, and landmarks. For sighted individuals, spatial learning occurs largely through casual visual observation. For…

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