Glossary

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Mixed-ability play(also: Inclusive play, Mixed-ability gaming)

Game design that enables meaningful shared play experiences between people with and without disabilities, ensuring that ability differences do not prevent enjoyable social interaction. Mixed-ability play requires careful balancing of challenge levels, input modalities, and…

Mixture of Experts(also: MoE)

Mixture of experts is a neural network architecture that routes each input through a small subset of specialist subnetworks ('experts') rather than activating the whole model. A gating network decides which experts handle a given token or query, letting the overall model be much…

Mobile AAC(also: Smartphone AAC, App-Based AAC)

Augmentative and alternative communication systems delivered through mainstream mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, rather than dedicated AAC hardware. Mobile AAC applications can significantly reduce costs and stigma associated with dedicated devices, and are…

Mobile AR(also: Smartphone AR, Handheld AR)

Augmented reality experiences delivered on commodity smartphones and tablets using the built-in camera, display, inertial sensors, and (increasingly) depth sensors, without specialized AR headsets. Mobile AR platforms such as Apple's ARKit and Google's ARCore provide plane…

Mobile Accessibility(also: Mobile A11y)

The practice of ensuring that mobile applications, websites, and devices are usable by people with disabilities. Mobile accessibility encompasses touchscreen interaction for blind and motor-impaired users, responsive design for various screen sizes and orientations,…

Mobile App Accessibility(also: Mobile Accessibility, App Accessibility)

The practice of designing and developing mobile applications so they can be used effectively by people with disabilities, including those using assistive technologies such as screen readers (TalkBack on Android, VoiceOver on iOS), switch controls, or voice input. Mobile…

Mobile Automation(also: mobile workflow automation, trigger-action automation)

Mobile automation refers to the use of scripting tools and platform features on smartphones to automatically perform sequences of actions — such as launching apps, capturing screenshots, invoking APIs, or switching contexts — in response to user-defined triggers. On iOS, Apple…

Mobile Disability Gap(also: Digital Disability Divide, Smartphone Disability Gap)

The disparity in mobile phone and smartphone ownership, access, and usage between disabled and non-disabled populations. In Kenya, smartphone ownership among disabled individuals is only 12% compared to 41% for non-disabled people — a 72% gap. The mobile disability gap is driven…

Mobile Health Game(also: mHealth Game, Health Gamification App)

A mobile application that uses game mechanics and play-based interaction to support health management behaviors such as medication adherence, physical activity, dietary choices, and health monitoring. Mobile health games leverage gamification elements like points, leaderboards,…

Mobile Health Technology(also: mHealth, Mobile Health, MHT)

The use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to deliver health services, information, and interventions. In accessibility contexts, mobile health technology is significant because smartphones are often the most accessible and affordable computing device available to…

Mobile Makerspace(also: Maker Van, Makerspace on Wheels, Mobile Maker Lab)

A portable makerspace housed in a vehicle or transportable unit that brings making tools, materials, and activities to different locations rather than requiring participants to travel to a fixed facility. Mobile makerspaces are particularly valuable for reaching underserved or…

Mobile OCR(also: Smartphone OCR, Camera-based OCR)

Optical character recognition performed using a smartphone or tablet camera rather than a traditional flatbed scanner. Mobile OCR apps like KNFB Reader, Prizmo, and Text Detective enable blind and visually impaired users to capture and read printed text on the go, including…

Mobile Phone(also: Cell Phone, Cellular Phone, Mobile)

A mobile phone is a portable radio-telephone that connects to the public telephone network over cellular radio infrastructure. In digital-accessibility practice mobile phones are both an accessibility tool and an accessibility barrier: they are a primary delivery mechanism for…

Mobile Virtual Reality(also: Mobile VR, Smartphone VR)

Virtual reality systems delivered through a smartphone and consumer-grade accessories (wireless headphones, simple hand-held mounts) rather than a dedicated head-mounted display and PC rig. For accessibility, mobile VR is significant because it uses devices that blind and…

Mobile Web Accessibility(also: Mobile Accessibility)

The practice of ensuring websites and web applications are usable by people with disabilities when accessed through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Mobile web accessibility presents unique challenges including small screen sizes, touch-based interaction, device…

Mobile Web Best Practices(also: MWBP, MWBP 1.0)

A W3C recommendation published in 2006 that defines good usability and accessibility practices for delivering web content to mobile devices. Derived from the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 (WCAG 1.0), Mobile Web Best Practices focuses on guidelines that have a direct…

Mobile Web Initiative(also: MWI, W3C Mobile Web Initiative)

The W3C Mobile Web Initiative (MWI) was a program launched in 2005 to improve the experience of accessing the web from mobile devices such as cell phones and handheld systems. Operating in a manner similar to the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), the MWI developed best…

MobileASL

A research project from the University of Washington that developed video compression technology enabling real-time, two-way American Sign Language (ASL) video communication on mobile phones. MobileASL addressed the challenge that standard mobile video calling consumed too much…

Mobility Aid(also: Mobility Device, Mobility Equipment)

A mobility aid is any device designed to assist people with mobility impairments in moving from one place to another, including wheelchairs, walkers, rollators, canes, crutches, and powered scooters. These devices are a subcategory of assistive technology focused specifically on…

Mobility Assessment(also: Mobility Evaluation, Gait Assessment)

A clinical evaluation that quantifies a person's movement capabilities, including walking pattern, balance, and motor performance. Mobility assessments are used to diagnose conditions like Parkinson's Disease, monitor disease progression, and plan treatment. Traditional…

Mobility Disability(also: Mobility Impairment, Physical Mobility Limitation)

A disability that affects a person's ability to move freely, including walking, climbing stairs, maintaining balance, or using fine motor skills. Mobility disabilities may result from conditions such as spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, amputation,…

Mobility Impairment(also: Mobility Disability, Physical Mobility Limitation)

A condition that limits a person's ability to move freely and independently, affecting functions such as walking, climbing stairs, or maintaining balance. Mobility impairments can result from congenital conditions, spinal cord injuries, amputations, neurological conditions like…

Mobility Impairment(also: Motor Impairment, Physical Disability)

A disability that affects movement, ranging from conditions requiring wheelchair use to limited fine motor control affecting device interaction. Mobility impairments may result from conditions like paraplegia, quadriplegia, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, or limb…

Mobility and Orientation Trainer(also: MOT, Orientation and Mobility Specialist, O&M Specialist)

A qualified professional who teaches orientation and mobility (O&M) skills to blind and partially sighted people, enabling safe and independent travel. MOTs assess individual needs and deliver personalized training that progresses from indoor navigation to outdoor route…

Mobility-as-a-Service(also: MaaS, Transportation-as-a-Service)

A transportation model that integrates various mobility services (public transit, ridesharing, bike-sharing, car rentals) into a single accessible platform, typically via a smartphone app. For people with disabilities, MaaS platforms offer potential benefits through unified…

Modal Dialog(also: Modal Window, Dialog Box)

A user interface element that appears on top of the main content and requires user interaction before returning to the underlying page. In accessibility, modal dialogs must properly manage keyboard focus—trapping focus within the dialog so screen reader and keyboard users cannot…

Modality(also: Interaction Modality, Interface Modality)

The sensory channel or communication method through which a user interacts with a computer system, such as visual (graphical displays), auditory (speech or non-speech audio), tactile (braille, haptic feedback), or textual (command-line) output, and keyboard, mouse, voice,…

Model Cards(also: Model card)

Short structured documents, proposed by Mitchell et al. (2019), that accompany a machine learning model and report its intended uses, performance across relevant demographic subgroups, training data, evaluation metrics, known limitations, and ethical considerations. Model cards…

Model Human Processor(also: MHP, Human Processor Model)

A cognitive architecture developed by Card, Moran, and Newell (1983) that models human information processing as three interconnected subsystems: perceptual, cognitive, and motor processors, each with characteristic cycle times. The perceptual processor (~100ms) handles sensory…

Model Reliability(also: AI Reliability, Model Trustworthiness)

The degree to which an AI model consistently produces accurate, truthful, and complete outputs across different inputs and contexts. In the context of visual access technology for BLV users, model reliability encompasses factual accuracy (not fabricating content), interpretive…

Model-Based Sonification(also: MBS)

A sonification approach in which a virtual model or simulation is constructed from the data, and sound is produced through the user's interaction with that model. Rather than passively mapping data to sound (as in parameter mapping), model-based sonification creates a dynamic…

Model-Based User Interface(also: MBUI, Model-Based UI)

An approach to user interface design where the interface is generated or adapted automatically from abstract models that describe the tasks users need to perform, the data domain, the user's characteristics, and the interaction context. Rather than hard-coding a single fixed…

Model-View-Controller(also: MVC)

A software architectural pattern that separates an application into three interconnected components: the Model (data and business logic), the View (presentation and user interface), and the Controller (input handling and mediation between Model and View). MVC is significant in…

Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity(also: MVPA)

A classification of exercise intensity used in public health guidelines that encompasses physical activity raising heart rate to 60-80% or more of heart rate reserve. MVPA is the threshold recommended by health organizations for meaningful health benefits including…

Modified Borg Scale(also: Borg CR10 Scale, MBS, Borg Scale)

A self-report rating scale used to measure the perceived intensity of physical sensations such as breathlessness, exertion, or pain, ranging from 0 (nothing at all) to 10 (maximal). Originally developed by Gunnar Borg in 1982, the Modified Borg Scale is widely used in pulmonary…

Modified Stave Notation(also: MSN)

A system for adapting standard Western music notation to meet the individual visual needs of musicians with low vision. Unlike simple enlargement (large print music), MSN involves tailored modifications such as adjusting spacing between notes and stave lines, changing font sizes…

Modifier Key(also: Modifier Keys)

A key on a keyboard that modifies the action of another key when both are pressed simultaneously, such as Shift, Control (Ctrl), Alt, Option, or Command. Modifier keys present a significant accessibility barrier for users who can type with only one hand or who have difficulty…

Modifier Tactile Pattern(also: Modifier Tacton, Compound Tacton)

A vibrotactile design technique that combines two or more independent Tactons, each conveying a separate parameter, into a single composite pattern. Changing one component modifies one dimension of meaning while the other remains constant, allowing multiple pieces of information…

Momentous Depiction

A conceptual framework proposed by Niu, Clements, and Kim (2026) for using generative AI to visualize critical moments that convey the insights and meanings of disability in storytelling videos. The framework identifies four core GenAI affordances that support or constrain…

Monarch(also: Monarch Tactile Display, Dynamic Tactile Device)

The Monarch is a multi-line refreshable tactile display developed by HumanWare and the American Printing House for the Blind, representing a significant advancement in tactile display technology. Unlike traditional single-line refreshable Braille displays that show only one row…

Money Management(also: Personal Finance Management)

The everyday practices of tracking income and spending, budgeting, paying bills, saving, and making purchasing decisions. For people with cognitive or developmental disabilities, money management is often a shared activity with family, support workers, or fiduciaries, and the…

Moneywork

A term coined by sociologist Sandra Colavecchia and introduced to HCI by Perry and Ferreira, describing the often-invisible labour of managing personal and household finances. Moneywork includes practical tasks (paying bills, budgeting, shopping, filing tax returns) and the…

Monochromacy(also: Achromatopsia, Total Color Blindness)

The rarest and most severe form of color vision deficiency, in which an individual has complete or near-complete absence of color perception, seeing the world only in shades of gray. Monochromacy occurs when two or all three types of cone cells in the retina are absent or…

Monocular(also: Handheld Monocular, Bioptic Telescope)

A small, handheld or head-mounted telescope used by people with low vision to magnify distant objects. Monoculars are commonly used in educational settings to view chalkboards, whiteboards, and projected presentations from a distance. While effective for far-sight tasks,…

Monospaced Font(also: fixed-width font, fixed-pitch font, non-proportional font)

A typeface in which every character occupies the same horizontal space, regardless of its width. Examples include Courier, Consolas, and Monaco. Research shows monospaced fonts like Courier lead to shorter fixation durations for people with dyslexia, making them a strong choice…

Monotropism

A cognitive theory of autism, developed by Dinah Murray, Mike Lesser, and Wenn Lawson, that describes autistic attention as tending to be pulled strongly into a narrow focus (one "attention tunnel") rather than distributed broadly across many concurrent inputs. Monotropism…

Montreal Cognitive Assessment(also: MoCA)

A widely used cognitive screening tool designed to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The MoCA assesses multiple cognitive domains including short-term memory, visuospatial abilities, executive function, attention, language, and orientation. Scores range from 0-30, with 26…

Mood(also: Affect, Affective State)

In affective computing and music research, the emotional quality a stimulus evokes in a listener or viewer, commonly characterized along dimensions such as valence (pleasant–unpleasant) and arousal (calm–energetic). Mood is a core target for music information retrieval systems…

Moodle

An open-source learning management system (LMS) used worldwide by universities, schools, and workplaces for course delivery, assessment, and content hosting. Moodle supports accessibility through themes that meet WCAG, an Accessibility Toolkit plugin for content checking, and an…

Moral Model of Disability(also: Religious Model of Disability)

A historical framework that attributes disability to moral failing, divine punishment, or supernatural causes such as curses or sins. Under this model, disability is viewed as a consequence of wrongdoing by the individual or their family, leading to shame, social exclusion, and…