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Glossary

Terms used in accessibility research and practice. Each entry has a definition, common aliases, and category tags.

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AI sycophancy(also: Sycophantic AI, AI agreeableness bias)
The tendency of AI systems, particularly large language models, to provide overly affirmative, agreeable, or encouraging responses that cater to the user rather than providing accurate information. In accessibility contexts, AI sycophancy poses serious safety risks — for…
Ability assumption in AI(also: Visual ability assumption, Sighted bias in AI)
The tendency of AI systems to assume users possess typical sensory, cognitive, or physical abilities, leading to inappropriate responses or instructions. In the context of visual AI assistants for blind users, ability assumptions manifest as the system asking users to "read the…
Accessible Photography(also: Blind Photography, Inclusive Photography)
The practice and technology of enabling people with visual impairments to take, manage, browse, and share photographs. People who are blind or have low vision face challenges at every stage of photography: aiming the camera at a target, composing the frame, reviewing the result,…
Adventitious blindness(also: Acquired blindness, Late blindness, Acquired visual impairment)
Vision loss that occurs after a period of sighted experience, as opposed to congenital blindness (present from birth). People with adventitious blindness retain visual memories, mental imagery, and familiarity with visual concepts like color and spatial layout, which…
Age-Related Vision Loss(also: Age-Related Visual Impairment)
Vision impairment that occurs as a consequence of aging, representing the most common cause of blindness and low vision worldwide. Conditions include age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and cataracts. The prevalence of significant visual impairment…
Albinism(also: Oculocutaneous Albinism, Ocular Albinism)
A group of inherited conditions characterized by reduced or absent melanin pigment production, affecting the skin, hair, and eyes. Ocular effects commonly include reduced visual acuity, nystagmus (involuntary eye movements), photophobia (light sensitivity), and reduced depth…
Amblyopia(also: Lazy eye)
A neurodevelopmental vision disorder in which one eye has reduced visual acuity that cannot be fully corrected with glasses or contact lenses, caused by abnormal visual development in early childhood. The brain favors one eye and partially suppresses input from the weaker eye,…
Assisted Photography(also: Accessible Photography, Camera Aiming Assistance)
Assisted photography refers to technologies and techniques that help people with visual impairments take photographs by providing non-visual feedback about camera aiming, composition, and image quality. These systems typically use computer vision to analyze the camera view and…
Astigmatism
A common refractive error caused by an irregularly shaped cornea or lens, resulting in blurred or distorted vision at all distances. The cornea is shaped more like a rugby ball than a sphere, causing light to focus on multiple points rather than one. Astigmatism frequently…
Audio Enriched Links(also: AEL, Audio Link Preview)
A JAWS screen reader extension that provides spoken previews of linked web pages before a blind user follows a hyperlink. When activated on a focused link, the system fetches the destination page in the background and speaks a summary including the page title, its relationship…
Audio Game(also: Audiogame, Audio-Based Game, Accessible Game)
A video game designed primarily or entirely around audio output rather than visual graphics, making it accessible to players who are blind or have visual impairments. Audio games use techniques such as 3D spatial audio, sound effects, text-to-speech, and musical cues to convey…
Audio-Tactile Interface(also: Audio-Haptic Interface, Multimodal Tactile Interface)
A user interface that combines tactile (touch-based) interaction with auditory feedback to convey information that is otherwise visual. Audio-tactile interfaces are widely used in accessibility to make graphical content such as charts, maps, and diagrams accessible to blind and…

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