Glossary

Search results

Accessibility Annotation(also: A-Annotation, Accessibility Metadata)

External metadata added to a web page to describe its visual layout structure, content groupings, and element roles for the purpose of improving accessibility without modifying the original page. Accessibility annotations typically identify visually distinct groups on a page,…

Annotation-based Transcoding(also: Annotation-driven Transcoding, External Annotation)

Annotation-based transcoding is a web accessibility technique in which a third party (not the site owner) authors a separate metadata file — the 'annotation' — that describes how to restructure or re-label a web page for screen reader users, and a transcoding proxy or browser…

BETSIE(also: BBC Education Text to Speech Internet Enhancer)

BETSIE (BBC Education Text to Speech Internet Enhancer) was an early web accessibility tool developed by the BBC as a CGI Perl script that produced text-only versions of web pages optimized for users of text-to-speech systems. BETSIE handled frames by serializing them,…

CC/PP(also: Composite Capability/Preference Profiles)

A W3C framework for describing device capabilities and user preferences using RDF (Resource Description Framework). CC/PP enables content servers to adapt the delivery of web content based on the characteristics of the requesting device and the preferences of the user, including…

Content Rearrangement(also: Information Rearrangement, Content Reordering, Page Restructuring)

An accessibility technique in which the content of a web page is automatically reorganised to present the most relevant information first, based on user context, intent, or navigational history. Content rearrangement addresses the sequential nature of screen reader output by…

Delivery Context

Delivery context is a term defined by the W3C Device Independence Working Group to describe the set of attributes that characterize the environment in which web content is delivered and consumed. This includes device capabilities (screen size, supported markup languages, color…

Heuristic Transcoding(also: Rule-based Transcoding)

Heuristic transcoding is the automated transformation of web content to improve accessibility, device compatibility, or readability using a fixed set of predefined rules that inspect the page structure, media types, or visual characteristics — for example, rules that strip small…

Page Segmentation(also: Web Page Segmentation, VIPS)

The process of dividing a web page into distinct visual or structural blocks based on layout cues such as whitespace, borders, colors, and font properties. Page segmentation algorithms like Vision Based Page Segmentation (VIPS) analyze the rendered appearance of pages to…

Renarration(also: Content Renarration, Web Renarration)

The process of re-telling, re-presenting, or re-styling existing web content to make it accessible to new audiences who face barriers the original content was not designed to address. Renarration goes beyond traditional accessibility remediation by enabling transformations that…

Responsive Design(also: Responsive Web Design, RWD, Mobile First Design)

A web design approach in which layouts, images, and other content elements adapt fluidly to the size and capabilities of the user's device, providing an optimal viewing experience across desktops, tablets, and mobile phones without requiring separate versions of a site.…

Semantic Transcoding(also: Annotation-driven Transcoding, Ontology-based Transcoding)

Semantic transcoding is the transformation of web content using explicit semantic information about the structure, role, or meaning of page elements — typically supplied through external annotations, ontologies, microformats, or ARIA. Because the transformation uses real…

Text Simplification(also: Automatic Text Simplification, Content Simplification)

The process of transforming complex written text into simpler, more understandable versions while preserving the essential meaning. Text simplification can be performed manually by content authors following plain language guidelines, or automatically using natural language…

Web Intermediary(also: Web Proxy, Transcoding Proxy)

A system that sits between a user's web browser and the web server, intercepting and modifying HTTP requests and responses to adapt web content before it reaches the user. In accessibility contexts, web intermediaries can transform web pages to make them more accessible — for…

Web Localization(also: L10n, Website Localization)

The process of adapting a website for a specific locale or target audience, going beyond translation to include cultural, visual, and technical elements such as date formats, colors, images, menu sizes, and page structure. In the context of accessibility, web localization…

Web Proxy(also: HTTP Proxy, Intermediary, Edge Service)

A web proxy (or intermediary) is a server that sits between a user's browser and the origin web server, intercepting and potentially modifying HTTP requests and responses as they pass through. In the context of accessibility, proxy-based systems have been used to transform web…

Web Transcoding(also: Content Transcoding, Web Content Transformation)

The process of automatically transforming web content to improve its presentation or accessibility for specific users or devices. Transcoding techniques can include simplifying page structure, adapting content for different screen sizes, or modifying text for users with…

XSLT(also: Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations, XSL Transformations)

A W3C standard language for transforming XML documents into other formats such as HTML, plain text, or different XML structures. XSLT uses template rules that match patterns in the source XML and produce corresponding output, enabling the separation of content from presentation.…

17 results.