Glossary

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Cognitive Forcing Function(also: Cognitive Forcing)

A design technique that deliberately disrupts automatic cognitive processing to prompt users to engage in more deliberate, analytical thinking. In human-AI interaction, cognitive forcing functions are used to reduce over-reliance on AI outputs — for example, by asking users to…

Cognitive Impairment(also: Cognitive Disability, Intellectual Disability, Cognitive Decline)

A broad category encompassing conditions that affect cognitive functions such as memory, attention, language, problem-solving, and executive function. Cognitive impairments range from mild (noticeable but not interfering significantly with daily life) to severe, and may be…

Cognitive Interviewing

A qualitative research technique used to explore how survey respondents understand and mentally process assessment questions. Cognitive interviewing involves asking participants to think aloud as they interpret and answer questions, revealing misunderstandings, ambiguities, and…

Cognitive Load(also: Mental Load, Cognitive Demand)

The total amount of mental effort required to complete a task, encompassing the processing, storage, and management of information in working memory. Cognitive load theory distinguishes between intrinsic load (inherent task complexity), extraneous load (unnecessary complexity…

Cognitive Load Theory(also: CLT)

An instructional design theory proposing that learning is hindered when too much information is processed at once, overwhelming working memory. In sign language learning, cognitive load is particularly high because learners must simultaneously process and produce multiple…

Cognitive Map(also: Cognitive Mapping)

An internal mental representation of spatial relationships within an environment, formed through direct experience, exploration, or learning from maps and descriptions. Cognitive maps allow people to understand where they are relative to other locations, plan routes, and orient…

Cognitive Orthosis(also: Cognitive Prosthesis, Cognitive Assistive Device)

A technology-based device or system designed to compensate for cognitive deficits by supporting functions such as memory, planning, attention, and task sequencing. Analogous to a physical orthosis that supports a weakened limb, a cognitive orthosis augments impaired cognitive…

Cognitive Orthotic(also: Cognitive Orthosis, Cognitive Support Device)

A cognitive orthotic is an assistive technology device or system designed to compensate for cognitive impairments by providing external support for functions such as memory, planning, sequencing, and decision-making. Analogous to a physical orthotic that supports a weakened…

Cognitive Overload(also: Information Overload, Cognitive Load)

A state in which the amount of information or the complexity of a task exceeds a person's processing capacity, leading to reduced performance, comprehension, or decision-making ability. In accessibility contexts, blind users of visual assistance technologies may experience…

Cognitive Prosthesis(also: Cognitive Prosthetic, Digital Memory Aid)

A cognitive prosthesis is a technology-based system designed to supplement or replace cognitive functions that have been impaired due to conditions such as dementia, traumatic brain injury, or other neurological disorders. These systems can range from simple reminder apps to…

Cognitive Rehabilitation(also: Cognitive Rehab, Neuropsychological Rehabilitation)

A structured program of therapeutic activities designed to restore or compensate for cognitive functions impaired by brain injury, stroke, or other neurological conditions. Cognitive rehabilitation targets specific domains such as memory, attention, executive function, language,…

Cognitive Scaffolding(also: Scaffolded Support, Guided Task Support)

External supports or structures that help a person complete cognitive tasks they might not be able to manage independently. In education, scaffolding refers to temporary supports removed as competence grows; in accessibility, it often means persistent supports embedded in…

Cognitive Stimulation(also: Cognitive Stimulation Therapy, CST)

A structured programme of activities and discussions designed to engage and stimulate cognitive abilities — including memory, attention, language, and problem-solving — in people with mild to moderate dementia. Cognitive stimulation therapy (CST) is one of the few…

Cognitive Strategy Prompting(also: Cognitive Scaffolding, Strategy Prompting)

A design technique that provides cues or prompts within an interface to help users employ effective cognitive strategies for completing tasks, particularly benefiting users experiencing age-related cognitive decline or cognitive disabilities. Examples include framing tasks using…

Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning(also: CTML, multimedia learning theory)

A theory developed by Richard E. Mayer proposing that people learn more effectively from words and pictures together than from words alone, because the brain processes visual and auditory information through separate working-memory channels. CTML underpins design principles such…

Cognitive Training(also: Brain Training, Cognitive Remediation)

Structured programs or applications that use repeated practice on standardized tasks to improve specific cognitive functions such as working memory, attention, or processing speed. In accessibility contexts, cognitive training is particularly relevant for people with learning…

Cognitive Usability

The extent to which a system, interface, or information resource can be effectively used by people with varying cognitive abilities and processing styles. Cognitive usability goes beyond traditional usability measures (efficiency, effectiveness, satisfaction) to specifically…

Cognitive Walkthrough(also: Expert Walkthrough)

An accessibility and usability evaluation method in which one or more experts step through a series of tasks from the perspective of a target user, identifying potential barriers and difficulties at each step. In accessibility evaluations, cognitive walkthroughs often involve…

Cognitive accessibility(also: Cognitive a11y, COGA)

The practice of designing digital content, interfaces, and interactions so they are usable by people with cognitive, learning, and neurological disabilities, including conditions such as dementia, intellectual disabilities, attention deficit disorders, and learning disabilities.…

Cognitive load(also: Mental load, Cognitive burden, Cognitive demand)

The total amount of mental effort required to complete a task, encompassing the processing of information, decision-making, remembering instructions, and managing attention. Cognitive load theory, developed by John Sweller in the 1980s, distinguishes between intrinsic load…

Cognitive mapping(also: Mental mapping, Spatial cognitive map)

Cognitive mapping refers to the mental process by which individuals construct, store, recall, and apply internal representations of their spatial environment to navigate and orient themselves. These mental maps encode relationships between landmarks, routes, and regions, and…

Cognitive-Communication Needs(also: CCN, Cognitive-Communication Disorders)

Difficulties in communication that arise from underlying cognitive deficits in areas such as attention, memory, organization, problem-solving, and executive function, rather than from primary language impairments. Cognitive-communication needs commonly result from traumatic…

Cognitively Assistive Robot(also: CAR)

A category of socially assistive robot designed specifically to support people with cognitive impairments — most commonly mild cognitive impairment (MCI), dementia, traumatic brain injury, or learning disabilities — in everyday cognitive tasks such as remembering appointments,…

Coh-Metrix

A web-based tool developed at the University of Memphis that analyses text on more than a hundred measures of language, cohesion, and readability, including referential and semantic cohesion, lexical diversity, syntactic complexity, and latent semantic analysis. Coh-Metrix moves…

Cohen's Kappa(also: Kappa Statistic, Kappa Coefficient)

A statistical measure of inter-rater reliability that accounts for agreement occurring by chance, used to assess the consistency between two or more raters coding qualitative data. Values range from -1 to 1, where 1 indicates perfect agreement, 0 indicates agreement no better…

Collaboration Awareness(also: Workspace awareness, Collaborator awareness)

The ongoing, up-to-the-moment understanding of what collaborators are doing, where they are working, and what has recently changed in a shared workspace. In sighted collaboration, awareness is typically conveyed through visual cues — cursors, avatars, highlights, and selection…

Collaborative Access(also: Collective Access)

An approach to accessibility that frames access as a shared, negotiated process involving multiple stakeholders rather than an individual accommodation provided to a single person. Collaborative access recognizes that achieving inclusion often requires coordination between…

Collaborative Accessibility(also: Accessible Collaboration)

Design approaches that ensure collaborative activities and shared workspaces are accessible to people with disabilities. Collaborative accessibility focuses on enabling meaningful participation in group tasks, communication, and creative activities by addressing barriers in…

Collaborative Accessibility Authoring(also: Collaborative Authoring, Crowdsourced Accessibility)

An approach to web accessibility in which a community of volunteers collaboratively creates, maintains, and shares accessibility fixes for websites they do not own or control. Rather than relying solely on site owners to make their content accessible, collaborative authoring…

Collaborative Design(also: Collaborative Design Session)

A design approach where multiple participants work together to create shared design solutions, building on each other's ideas and negotiating design decisions collectively. In accessible design workshops with blind participants, collaborative design requires specific…

Collaborative Editing(also: Collaborative Authoring, Co-Editing)

The practice of multiple users simultaneously or sequentially creating and modifying shared documents or content. In accessibility contexts, collaborative editing poses particular challenges when participants use different modalities to interact with the same content — for…

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…

Collaborative Learning(also: Cooperative Learning)

An educational approach involving two or more individuals working together to build knowledge or skills through interaction, information sharing, and joint problem-solving. In sign language education, collaborative learning aligns with social constructivist and sociocultural…

Collaborative Memory(also: Distributed Cognition, Shared Memory)

The process by which memory tasks and cognitive load are distributed across multiple people, typically within families or close social groups. In the context of disability and caregiving, collaborative memory refers to how family members collectively manage the memory needs of a…

Collaborative Note-Taking(also: Shared Note-Taking, Co-Note-Taking)

An educational practice where two or more people collectively take notes, annotate content, exchange feedback, and ask questions about material being learned. In the context of disability support in higher education, collaborative note-taking transforms the traditionally…

Collaborative Play(also: Cooperative Play)

Play in which two or more people work together toward a shared goal, coordinating their actions, attention, and turns rather than competing or playing in parallel. Collaborative play is a common vehicle for building social skills - imitation, joint attention, turn-taking, and…

Collaborative Robot(also: Cobot, Co-Robot)

A robot designed to work alongside humans in shared workspaces, as opposed to traditional industrial robots that operate in isolation. Cobots are of particular interest for workplace inclusion because they can reduce physical workload, adapt to individual abilities, and create…

Collaborative Tracking(also: Collaborative Self-Tracking)

Collaborative tracking is the practice of multiple people - typically a person with a health condition and their caregivers or allies - contributing to and reviewing shared health or behaviour data. It extends personal informatics from individual self-knowledge into…

Collaborative Troubleshooting(also: Cooperative Problem-Solving)

A process where two or more people work together to identify, diagnose, and resolve technical problems, sharing knowledge and strategies to reach a solution. In assistive technology contexts, collaborative troubleshooting between screen reader users presents unique challenges…

Collaborative virtual environment(also: CVE, Shared virtual space)

A computer-based distributed virtual space where multiple users can interact with one another and with virtual objects in real time from separate physical locations. For children with autism, CVEs offer controlled social practice environments that reduce the sensory overload of…

Collective Communication Access(also: CCA)

A framework developed by McDonnell et al. (2023) that reconceptualises communication access as a shared, co-constructed practice distributed across everyone involved in an interaction, rather than as an individual accommodation provided to disabled participants. CCA argues that…

Collective Quality Control(also: Community Quality Control, Crowdsourced Quality Assessment)

The process by which online communities collectively monitor, assess, and improve the quality of shared content through comments, ratings, corrections, and supplementary information. In disability communities on video platforms, collective quality control manifests as viewers…

Collective access(also: Collective communication access)

A disability justice concept that frames accessibility as a shared, relational practice created by a group rather than an individual accommodation delivered to one person. In contrast to traditional models where a disabled person requests and receives access (such as captioning…

Collision Avoidance(also: Obstacle Avoidance, Anti-Collision System)

A safety feature in assistive technology, robotics, and intelligent wheelchairs that automatically detects obstacles in the user's path and takes action to prevent impact — typically by stopping the device, alerting the user, or redirecting movement. Collision avoidance systems…

Collision Detection(also: Contact Detection, Intersection Testing)

In virtual reality and haptic systems, collision detection is the computational process of determining when virtual objects come into contact with each other or with a user's virtual representation (such as a virtual hand or cane). When a collision is detected, the system can…

Collision Prediction(also: Collision risk prediction, Trajectory prediction)

The task of estimating the future trajectories of surrounding pedestrians and obstacles and determining whether any of them will intersect with a user's own future position within a short prediction horizon (typically 2–4 seconds). In assistive technology for blind travellers,…

Color Adaptive Graphics(also: Colour Adaptive Graphics)

A technique for automatically adjusting the colours in graphical content so that objects maintain similar colour contrast relative to their reference background colours, regardless of the viewing context. Unlike recolouring approaches that focus on preserving the author's…

Color Blindness(also: Color Vision Deficiency, CVD, Colour Blindness)

A condition in which the ability to distinguish certain colors is reduced or absent, most commonly affecting the perception of red and green. Color blindness affects approximately 8% of males and 0.5% of females of Northern European descent. In music education, color-coded…

Color Contrast(also: Colour Contrast, Contrast Ratio)

The difference in luminance between foreground text (or UI components) and their background, measured as a ratio. WCAG 2.1 requires a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text at Level AA, and 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text at Level…

Color Filter(also: Color Filters, Display Color Filter)

An operating-system or browser-level feature that alters how colors are rendered on screen, including grayscale, inverted colors, and filters for protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia color vision deficiencies. Used by low-vision users and users with color vision deficiency…