Glossary

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Experiential learning(also: Learning by doing, Experience-based learning)

Experiential learning is a pedagogical approach in which knowledge and skills are acquired through direct, concrete experience rather than passive instruction. Grounded in theories by Kolb and others, it involves a cycle of experiencing, reflecting, conceptualising, and…

Expert User(also: Advanced User, Power User)

A user who has substantial experience with a system and has internalised its structure, commands, and idioms. Expert users typically prefer direct, efficient interaction — keyboard shortcuts, command-line syntax, scripting, and customised workflows — over step-by-step menus.…

Explainable AI(also: XAI, Interpretable AI)

A set of methods and design approaches that make the outputs and decision-making processes of artificial intelligence systems understandable to human users. Explainable AI aims to provide transparency about why an AI produced a particular result, typically through confidence…

Explanatory Sequential Design(also: Sequential Explanatory Design, QUAN → QUAL)

A mixed-methods research design in which a quantitative phase is conducted first — typically a survey or other structured measurement — and its results are then used to guide a follow-up qualitative phase (often semi-structured interviews) that explores or explains the…

Exploratory Procedures(also: EPs)

Exploratory procedures are stereotyped movement patterns that people use when examining objects through touch to identify specific properties. Defined by Lederman and Klatzky in tactile perception research, these are hand and finger configurations that do not correspond to…

Explore by Touch(also: Touch Exploration)

A screen reader interaction mode on touchscreen devices in which users drag their finger across the screen to discover and hear descriptions of interface elements beneath their fingertip. When Explore by Touch is active, a single tap does not activate a control — instead, the…

Exposure and Response Prevention(also: ERP, Exposure Therapy)

The gold-standard evidence-based treatment for OCD in which individuals gradually confront situations that trigger their obsessions (exposure) while refraining from performing their usual compulsive responses (response prevention). ERP follows a structured approach using a…

Expressive Aesthetics(also: Expressive Design Aesthetics)

A dimension of visual aesthetics in web design characterised by creativity, originality, visual sophistication, and design ingenuity. Identified by Lavie and Tractinsky as one of two main dimensions of perceived web aesthetics, expressive designs tend to be more complex and…

Expressive Captions(also: Affective Captions, Emotion Captions, Typographic Captions)

Captions that go beyond literal word-for-word transcription to convey the prosodic, emotional, or speaker-identity information that traditional captions strip out. Expressive captions may modulate font weight, size, colour, position, or animation to signal loudness, pitch,…

Expressive Communication(also: Expressive AAC, Rich Communication)

Communication that conveys not just informational content but also emotion, personality, attitude, humor, and social nuance. For AAC users, achieving expressive communication is a significant challenge because most AAC technology prioritizes efficient message transmission over…

Expressive Content Creation(also: Expressive Visual Creation)

The creation of digital content — images, videos, documents, social media posts — with intentional aesthetic choices that communicate personal style, identity, mood, or artistic vision. Expressive content creation goes beyond functional tasks (like conveying information) to…

Expressive Writing(also: Pennebaker Paradigm)

A therapeutic writing practice, formalised by James Pennebaker in the 1980s, in which individuals write about emotionally significant or traumatic experiences for short, repeated sessions. Decades of empirical evidence link expressive writing to measurable benefits in physical…

Extended Audio Description(also: Extended AD, Paused Audio Description)

A form of audio description in which the video is temporarily paused to allow time for a longer, more detailed description of visual content before resuming playback. Extended AD is used when gaps between dialogue are too short to convey all essential visual information through…

Extended Audio Description(also: Extended Description)

A form of audio description in which the video playback is paused to allow time for a description that would not otherwise fit within natural gaps in the audio track. Extended audio descriptions are used when the density of dialogue or other important audio leaves insufficient…

Extended Digital Scaffolding(also: WhatsApp-Based Scaffolding)

A new zone in the Digital Scaffolding Framework that extends classroom-based digital skills training through ongoing support via digital communication platforms such as WhatsApp groups. In this zone, trainers continue to assist participants after formal training ends,…

Extended Reality(also: XR, Cross Reality)

An umbrella term encompassing all immersive technologies that blend physical and virtual environments, including virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). In accessibility, extended reality technologies offer promising assistive applications — smart…

External Human-Machine Interface(also: eHMI, External HMI)

A class of interfaces on the exterior of a vehicle — typically an automated or autonomous vehicle — designed to communicate the vehicle's intent, awareness, or state to pedestrians, cyclists, and other road users who would otherwise rely on cues from a human driver (eye contact,…

External Memory

Information held outside the brain — in notes, calendars, photographs, voice recordings, alarms, labelled objects, or digital systems — that a person draws on to remember names, dates, tasks, procedures, or autobiographical content. External memory is a core accessibility…

External Metadata(also: Accessibility Metadata Overlay, Third-Party Metadata)

External metadata in the context of web accessibility refers to supplementary information stored separately from a web page that can be applied to improve the page's accessibility without modifying the original source code. This approach allows volunteers, developers, or…

Extra-Speech Information(also: ESI, Paralinguistic Information)

Aspects of spoken language beyond the words themselves that convey additional meaning, including how something is said rather than what is said. Examples include tone of voice (yelling, whispering), vocal emotion (sarcasm, anger, joy), singing, the language being spoken, speaker…

Extractive Research(also: Extractive UX Research)

A critique of research practices — common in industry UX and academic HCI — in which researchers take data, insights, or stories from a community, often marginalized, without ongoing relationship, reciprocity, or benefit flowing back. Extractive research is associated with…

Extractive Summarization(also: Extractive Text Summarization)

Extractive summarization is a natural language processing technique that creates summaries by selecting and preserving key words, phrases, or sentences directly from the original text, rather than generating new text (which is called abstractive summarization). In accessibility…

Extraneous Cognitive Load(also: Extraneous Load)

One of three types of cognitive load identified by cognitive load theory, referring to the unnecessary mental effort caused by poor instructional design or interface presentation rather than the learning material itself. Extraneous load arises from confusing layouts, irrelevant…

Extreme Users(also: Lead Users, Edge Cases)

A design methodology that focuses on a small set of users with unusual, demanding, or outlying needs rather than statistically representative users. Developed by Pullin and Newell (2007), the approach recognizes that the variability among older and disabled users is too great to…

Extrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation refers to engaging in an activity to achieve external rewards, avoid punishment, or meet external expectations rather than for inherent enjoyment. In accessibility and technology design, extrinsic motivators include gamification elements like badges, points,…

Eye Cursor(also: Gaze Cursor)

A visual indicator displayed on screen that shows where an eye tracking system has determined the user is currently looking. The eye cursor serves the same function as a mouse cursor but is controlled by eye gaze rather than hand movement. Because eye gaze is inherently less…

Eye Gaze(also: Gaze, Gaze Direction, Visual Gaze)

The direction and focus of a person's eyes during visual attention, used both as a communication signal and as a measurable indicator of cognitive processing. In sign language communication, eye gaze serves critical linguistic functions including marking grammatical…

Eye Gaze Communication(also: Gaze-Based Communication, Eye Tracking Communication)

The use of eye movements and gaze direction as a means of communication, either naturally (making eye contact, looking at objects to indicate interest) or through technology (eye-tracking systems that allow users to select items on a screen by looking at them). For AAC users,…

Eye Gaze Technology(also: Eye Control Technology, Gaze Control)

Technology that tracks and responds to eye movements, enabling users to control electronic devices using only their eyes. Eye gaze technology typically uses infrared cameras to track pupil position and gaze direction, allowing users to move cursors, make selections, type text,…

Eye Tracking(also: Gaze Tracking)

Technology that detects and follows the movement of a user's eyes, enabling gaze-based interaction, attention monitoring, and foveated rendering. In accessibility contexts, eye tracking serves as an alternative input method for users who cannot use traditional controllers,…

Eye Tracking(also: Eye-Tracking, Gaze Tracking)

A research methodology that uses specialized hardware (such as infrared cameras) to measure where a person is looking on a screen or in an environment, recording the sequence and duration of gaze fixations. In accessibility research, eye tracking provides objective behavioral…

Eye Tracking(also: Gaze Tracking, Eye-Tracking)

A research methodology and assistive technology that measures where a person looks (fixation points), how their gaze moves across a display (saccades), and how long they focus on specific areas (dwell time). In accessibility research, eye tracking reveals how users visually…

Eye tracking(also: Gaze tracking, Eye-gaze tracking, Eye Tracker)

A technology that measures where a person is looking on a screen or in an environment by detecting eye position and movement, typically using infrared light and cameras. In accessibility, eye tracking serves dual roles: as an assistive input method allowing people with severe…

Eye-Gaze Control(also: Gaze Control, Eye-Controlled Interface, Gaze-Based Input)

An input method that uses eye-tracking technology to detect where a user is looking and translates gaze direction into control commands for computers, wheelchairs, communication devices, and other systems. Eye-gaze control is essential for people with severe motor disabilities —…

Eye-Gaze in Sign Language(also: Eye Gaze, Gaze Direction)

The use of eye direction and movement as a grammatical and communicative feature in sign languages. In American Sign Language and other sign languages, eye-gaze serves multiple linguistic functions including indicating the location of referents in signing space, marking…

Eye-Hand Coordination(also: Hand-Eye Coordination, Visuomotor Coordination, Oculomotor Coordination)

The ability to coordinate visual input with hand movements to perform tasks requiring precision, such as reaching for objects, writing, typing, or using tools. Eye-hand coordination involves the integration of visual perception, spatial awareness, and motor control. Deficits in…

EyeDraw(also: Eye Draw)

A software application developed at the University of Oregon that enables people with severe motor impairments, particularly children, to create freehand drawings using eye movements tracked by an eye tracker. EyeDraw uses a two-state interaction model where users alternate…

EyeMusic

A visual-to-auditory sensory substitution device that converts images into sound, enabling people who are blind to perceive visual information including shape, location, and color. EyeMusic uses a left-to-right sweep algorithm where horizontal position maps to time, vertical…

Eyelid Gesture(also: Eyelid Interaction, Eyelid-Based Input)

An eyelid gesture is a deliberate eye movement used as an input method for controlling digital devices, involving intentional opening and closing of one or both eyelids in specific patterns, sequences, and durations. Unlike simple blink detection, eyelid gestures exploit the…

Eyes-Free Interaction(also: Eyes-Free Computing)

Interaction with digital devices and interfaces without requiring visual attention to a screen. Eyes-free interaction is essential for blind users but also benefits sighted users in contexts where looking at a screen is unsafe (driving), impractical (exercising), or socially…

Eyes-Free Interaction(also: Eyes-Free, Eyes-Free Gaming, Eyes-Free Interface)

Eyes-free interaction refers to the use of digital systems and interfaces without relying on visual output, using alternative modalities such as audio, haptic feedback, or speech. In gaming contexts, eyes-free games use 3D spatial audio, sound cues, and non-visual feedback to…

Eyes-free Interaction(also: Eyes-free Input, Nonvisual Interaction, Eyes-free Interface)

Interaction techniques that allow users to operate devices without looking at the screen or interface. Eyes-free interaction is essential for people who are blind, but also benefits sighted users in contexts where visual attention is unavailable or dangerous, such as while…

Eyes-free interaction(also: Eyes-free interface, Non-visual interaction)

An interaction paradigm in which users operate technology without relying on visual feedback, instead receiving information through auditory, haptic, or other non-visual channels. Eyes-free interfaces are essential for people who are blind or have low vision, but also benefit…

F-Droid

A catalogue and package repository for free and open-source Android applications, used as an alternative to Google Play, with every app built and signed from publicly auditable source code. Accessibility researchers frequently use F-Droid as a target ecosystem for studies and…

F-measure(also: F-score, F1 Score)

A metric that combines correctness (precision) and sensitivity (recall) into a single balanced score, calculated as the harmonic mean of the two values. In accessibility evaluation research, the F-measure provides a single number representing the overall effectiveness of an…

FAIR Principles(also: FAIR Data Principles, Findable Accessible Interoperable Reusable)

The FAIR Principles are a set of guidelines for making digital data and resources Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable. Developed by an international consortium and published in 2016, they are widely adopted in research, libraries, and cultural heritage…

FATE Framework(also: FATE, Fairness Accountability Transparency Ethics)

An ethical framework for evaluating AI and machine learning systems across four dimensions: Fairness (ensuring equitable treatment and outcomes across different groups), Accountability (establishing responsibility for system decisions and impacts), Transparency (making system…

FERPA(also: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, Buckley Amendment)

A United States federal law enacted in 1974 that protects the privacy of student education records. FERPA gives parents and eligible students (those over 18 or attending postsecondary education) rights to access, review, and request corrections to their educational records. The…

FOSTA-SESTA(also: Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act)

U.S. federal legislation (2018) that amended Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to make online platforms liable for user content that facilitates sex trafficking. While intended to combat trafficking, the laws have had significant negative consequences for disabled…

FPGA(also: Field-Programmable Gate Array)

An integrated circuit that can be configured by the user after manufacturing to implement custom digital logic. FPGAs contain an array of programmable logic blocks and interconnects that can be reprogrammed to perform different functions. In assistive technology, FPGAs enable…