Glossary

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Amazon Alexa(also: Alexa, Echo)

A cloud-based voice assistant developed by Amazon, available on Echo smart speakers, Echo Show smart displays, and third-party devices. Users interact with Alexa through wake-word-activated voice commands to perform tasks such as setting reminders, playing music, controlling…

Aural Interface(also: Voice Interface, Voice-Controlled Interface, Voice User Interface)

An aural interface is a user interface that relies primarily on spoken language for both input (voice commands) and output (spoken responses). Examples include Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and Google Assistant. While aural interfaces have become increasingly popular due to their…

Chatbot(also: Virtual Assistant, Conversational Agent, Dialog System)

A software application that uses text or speech to conduct conversations with users, simulating human-like dialogue to provide information, perform tasks, or guide users through processes. In accessibility, chatbots and conversational user interfaces present both opportunities…

Connected Speech Recognition(also: Continuous Speech Recognition)

A form of automatic speech recognition in which users speak words naturally, with normal coarticulation and minimal pauses, rather than pausing between each word as required by older 'discrete' or 'isolated-word' recognisers. Connected-speech recognition was a significant…

Continuous Voice Control(also: Continuous Vocal Control, Proportional Voice Control)

A voice interaction paradigm in which vocal parameters such as pitch, loudness, vowel quality, and timbre are used to provide smooth, proportional, real-time control of a system, as opposed to discrete voice commands that trigger specific actions. Continuous voice control is…

Conversational Assistant(also: Voice Assistant, Virtual Assistant, Intelligent Personal Assistant)

A software application that uses natural language processing and speech recognition to interact with users through spoken or typed conversation, providing information, performing tasks, and controlling devices. Examples include Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri, and…

Conversational Interface(also: Conversational UI, Voice User Interface, VUI)

A user interface that enables interaction through natural language, either spoken or typed, allowing users to communicate with a system using conversational dialogue rather than traditional graphical controls. Conversational interfaces include voice assistants, chatbots, and…

Conversational User Interface(also: CUI, Conversational Interface, Dialogue Interface)

A user interface that enables interaction through natural language conversation, either via voice (spoken dialogue) or text (chat). Conversational user interfaces encompass voice assistants, chatbots, and dialogue systems that interpret user intent and respond in natural…

Dialog Act(also: Dialogue Act, Speech Act)

A classification label representing the communicative intention behind a spoken or written utterance in a conversational system. In the context of accessible technology, dialog acts are used to interpret what a user wants to accomplish when issuing voice commands — for example,…

Dialog Interface(also: Dialogue Interface, Conversational Interface)

A user interface paradigm in which interaction occurs through a structured exchange of prompts and responses, typically using speech or text. In assistive technology contexts, dialog interfaces present content and navigation options through audio prompts, allowing users to make…

Displayless Interface(also: Screenless Interface, Eyes-Free Interface)

A displayless interface is a computer interaction system that operates without a visual display, relying instead on audio, speech, haptic, or other non-visual output modalities. These interfaces serve two overlapping user populations: individuals with visual impairments who…

Endpoint Detection(also: Voice Activity Detection, VAD)

The process by which a speech-recognition system decides when a user has finished speaking, so the system can stop listening and send the captured audio for recognition. Off-the-shelf voice assistants typically use a silence threshold of 500ms-1s, which cuts off users who pause,…

Grid-Based Cursor Control(also: Grid-Based Navigation, Grid Overlay Navigation)

A hands-free cursor positioning technique that overlays a numbered grid on the screen, allowing users to select a cell by voice command or other input to recursively zoom into smaller screen regions until the desired target is reached. Grid-based approaches reduce the vocabulary…

Humming Interface(also: Control-by-Humming, Hum-Based Interface)

A human-computer interaction method that uses hummed pitch patterns as control signals for operating devices. In a humming interface, a pitch detection algorithm analyses the user's hummed input, segments it into discrete notes based on pitch contour (rising, falling, or flat),…

IBM Home Page Reader(also: Home Page Reader, HPR)

IBM Home Page Reader (HPR) was a pioneering voice browser developed by IBM that provided audio-based web browsing for people with visual disabilities. Unlike screen readers that operate as an overlay on top of a visual browser, Home Page Reader was a self-contained browser that…

Intelligent Personal Assistant(also: IPA, Virtual Assistant, AI Assistant)

A software agent that uses natural language processing and speech recognition to perform tasks, answer questions, and control devices on behalf of a user. Examples include Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and Microsoft Cortana. While intelligent personal assistants…

Intelligent Virtual Assistant(also: IVA, Virtual Assistant, AI Assistant)

A software-based agent that uses artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and speech recognition to understand and respond to human voice or text commands. Intelligent Virtual Assistants such as Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri are embedded in smart…

Interactive Voice Response(also: IVR, Voice Response System)

A telephony technology that allows users to interact with automated systems using voice commands or keypad input. IVR systems are particularly valuable for accessibility in low-income settings because they work with any phone (including basic feature phones), require no internet…

Listening Window

The interval during which a voice assistant or speech-recognition system actively captures user audio after being activated (by wake word or button press). A short or fixed listening window causes premature cut-offs for users who pause while formulating speech — common for…

Non-Verbal Vocal Interface(also: NVVI, Non-Verbal Vocal Interaction)

An interaction method that uses non-speech vocal sounds — such as humming, hummed melodies, rhythmic patterns, or vowel sounds — to control a computer or communication device. Unlike speech recognition, which requires the user to produce intelligible words, non-verbal vocal…

Non-Verbal Vocalization(also: Non-Speech Vocalization, Vocal Gesture, Non-speech Vocalisation)

A sound produced by the voice that is not a spoken word, such as a sustained vowel sound ("Ahhhhh"), hum, or other vocal noise. In assistive technology and alternative input contexts, non-verbal vocalizations can serve as continuous control signals for cursor movement or other…

Personal Assistant(also: Virtual Assistant, Digital Assistant, Voice Assistant)

A software agent that can perform tasks or provide services based on user commands or queries, typically through voice interaction. Popular examples include Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Apple Siri, and Microsoft Cortana, often embedded in smart speakers, smartphones, and…

Predictive Cursor(also: Anticipatory Cursor, Offset Cursor)

A cursor display technique designed to compensate for the delays inherent in speech-based or other high-latency input methods. A predictive cursor shows an indicator ahead of the actual cursor position, offset by the estimated distance the cursor will travel during the input…

Proactive Prompt(also: Proactive Cue)

In voice-interface and conversational-agent design, a system-initiated utterance or visual cue that surfaces a suggestion, reminder, or next step without the user first asking. Examples include suggesting the weather at a user's usual wake-up time, reminding someone to take…

Push-to-Talk(also: PTT, Push to talk)

An interaction pattern where a user presses and holds (or taps) a dedicated button to signal the start of an input — historically used in two-way radios, now common in voice assistants and conversational interfaces as an alternative to continuous listening. In accessibility…

Put That There(also: Put-That-There)

A pioneering multimodal interactive system built at MIT's Architecture Machine Group (1979-1980), reported by Bolt (1980) and further developed by Schmandt and Hulteen (1982). Users seated in a 'media room' could manipulate a graphical database — such as a Caribbean shipping map…

Repair Mechanism(also: Conversational Repair)

In conversational interface design, a feature that helps the user and the system recover from misrecognition, ambiguity, or misunderstanding — for example, clarification prompts ("Did you mean the [X] cricket match?"), visible candidate lists, or "try again" affordances that…

Speech Repair(also: Self-Correction, Speech Self-Repair, Command Correction)

Speech repair is the process of correcting or modifying a spoken utterance after it has been produced, either within the same turn or in a subsequent one. In natural conversation, speakers commonly interrupt themselves to fix errors, change wording, or update information using…

Speech-Based Cursor Control(also: Voice Cursor Control, Speech-Driven Pointing)

A method of controlling a computer's pointing cursor using spoken voice commands rather than a mouse, trackpad, or other physical pointing device. Users speak directional commands (such as "move left," "move up") to start cursor movement and a stop command to halt it, then issue…

Speech-Based Cursor Movement(also: Voice-Controlled Cursor, Voice Cursor Control)

A technique for moving the on-screen cursor using voice commands rather than physical manipulation of a pointing device. Speech-based cursor movement systems typically use one of two approaches: discrete specification, where the user speaks a command to jump the cursor to a…

Spoken Dialog System(also: SDS, Voice Dialog System, Conversational AI)

A computer system that uses speech as both input and output to conduct goal-oriented conversations with users. Unlike simple voice command systems, spoken dialog systems can handle multi-turn exchanges, track conversation context, manage misunderstandings, and adapt to user…

Spoken Dialogue System(also: SDS, Voice Dialogue System)

A computer system that communicates with users through spoken natural language, allowing them to interact via voice rather than visual or manual interfaces. Spoken dialogue systems are used in telecare, customer service, and home care applications, and are particularly relevant…

Spoken Web(also: World Wide Telecom Web, WWTW, Telecom Web)

An alternative web paradigm designed for people in developing regions who are excluded from the traditional World Wide Web by illiteracy, unaffordability, or lack of locally relevant content. In the Spoken Web, nodes are voice applications called VoiceSites that are created by…

Subvocal Input(also: Subvocal Control, Subvocalisation Input)

An input method that uses very quiet or nearly silent vocalisations — sounds produced with minimal vocal effort that are typically inaudible to nearby people. Subvocal input includes techniques such as humming, whispering, or producing sounds detectable only by bone-conduction…

Target-Based Navigation(also: Target-Based Cursor Control, Object-Based Navigation)

A cursor control method where users identify the desired destination directly by name or label, such as saying "Select Friday" to move the cursor to that word on screen. Target-based navigation can be efficient when targets are clearly identifiable, but becomes error-prone as…

Vocal Joystick(also: VJ, Voice Joystick)

A voice-based human-computer interface that uses continuous non-verbal vocal sounds (rather than spoken words) to provide proportional, real-time control of devices, cursors, or robotic systems. The Vocal Joystick engine extracts pitch, loudness, and vowel quality from the…

Voice Assistant(also: Smart Speaker, Voice-Activated Assistant, Conversational Agent)

A software application that uses speech recognition and natural language processing to respond to voice commands and perform tasks. Common examples include Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri. Voice assistants offer accessibility benefits for users who have difficulty…

Voice Browser(also: Voice Web Browser, Audio Browser)

A voice browser is a type of web browser that presents web content through speech output and accepts voice or keyboard input rather than relying on visual display. Voice browsers convert web page content to synthesized speech using text-to-speech technology, allowing users who…

Voice User Interface(also: VUI)

A user interface that enables interaction with a device or system through spoken voice commands and audio responses. Voice user interfaces use speech recognition to interpret user input and text-to-speech or pre-recorded audio for output. For accessibility, VUIs provide an…

Voice User Interface(also: VUI, Voice Command Interface, Voice Interface)

An interface that allows users to interact with a device or application through spoken language commands rather than touch, mouse, or keyboard input. Voice user interfaces use automated speech recognition (ASR) to convert speech to text and natural language understanding (NLU)…

Voice user interface(also: VUI, Conversational interface, Voice interface)

A human-computer interaction paradigm that uses speech as the primary input and audio output as the primary feedback channel. Voice user interfaces range from simple command-and-response systems to conversational agents with natural language understanding. VUIs offer significant…

Voice-Assisted Technology(also: VAT, Voice-Activated Technology)

Technology that uses voice recognition and natural language processing to enable users to interact with devices, applications, and services through spoken commands. Voice-assisted technology encompasses smart speakers, virtual assistants on phones, and voice-enabled appliances.…

Voice-activated personal assistant(also: VAPA, Smart assistant, Virtual assistant)

An AI-powered software agent that responds to voice commands to perform tasks such as answering questions, controlling smart home devices, managing schedules, and reading content aloud. For people with visual impairments, VAPAs like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri…

VoiceXML(also: Voice Extensible Markup Language, VXML)

VoiceXML (Voice Extensible Markup Language) is a W3C standard markup language for creating voice-based user interfaces, particularly interactive voice response (IVR) systems and voice browsers. VoiceXML allows developers to define dialogs between a user and a system using…

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…

Wake Word(also: Hotword, Trigger Word, Activation Word)

A specific word or phrase that activates a voice-controlled device, such as "Hey Google," "Alexa," or "Hey Siri." The wake word must be spoken before any command for the device to begin listening. Wake words present accessibility barriers for people with speech disfluencies, as…

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