Glossary

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CLIP(also: Contrastive Language-Image Pre-Training)

A vision-language model developed by OpenAI that learns to associate images with natural language descriptions through contrastive learning on large-scale image-text pairs. CLIP can compute similarity scores between images and text, enabling zero-shot classification and…

Cascading classifier(also: Staged classifier, Multi-stage classifier)

A machine learning architecture that applies progressively more computationally expensive analysis stages, with each stage filtering out easy-to-classify cases so that only ambiguous instances proceed to deeper analysis. In accessibility applications, cascading classifiers…

Chain-of-Thought Prompting(also: CoT Prompting)

A technique for improving the reasoning capabilities of large language models by instructing them to break down complex tasks into intermediate reasoning steps before producing a final answer. In accessibility applications, chain-of-thought prompting is used to improve the…

ChatGPT Accessibility(also: GenAI Accessibility)

The degree to which ChatGPT and similar generative AI interfaces can be effectively used by people with disabilities, including compatibility with screen readers, keyboard navigation, and non-visual interaction patterns. Research with teachers with vision impairments in India…

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…

Circumplex Model of Affect(also: Russell's Circumplex Model, Valence-Arousal Model)

A psychological framework that represents emotions along two continuous dimensions: valence (pleasure vs. displeasure) and arousal (activation vs. deactivation). Proposed by James Russell in 1980, the model maps all emotional states onto a circular space rather than treating…

Clue and Reasoning Prompting(also: CARP, Clue-and-Reasoning Prompting)

A prompt engineering strategy for large language models that instructs the model to first identify textual clues (keywords, phrases, contextual information) in the input and then perform diagnostic reasoning based on those clues before producing a classification output.…

Cognitive Assistance(also: Cognitive Aid, AI-Powered Assistance, Assisted Cognition)

Technology that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to supplement or expand human cognitive and perceptual abilities. In accessibility contexts, cognitive assistance systems recognise people, objects, text, and environments and convey that information through…

Computer Vision(also: CV, Machine Vision)

A field of artificial intelligence that enables computers to interpret, understand, and extract information from visual data including images and videos. Computer vision technologies—such as object detection, image segmentation, scene recognition, and optical character…

Computer-Using Agent(also: CUA)

An AI agent, typically built on a Large Multimodal Model, that perceives a computer's graphical user interface through screenshots, reasons about on-screen context, and directly manipulates the interface by clicking, typing, scrolling, and navigating between applications. Unlike…

Confidence Score(also: Confidence Rating, Certainty Score)

A numerical measure output by AI systems indicating how certain the system is about a particular result or classification. While confidence scores have been proposed as a way to help users assess AI accuracy, research with blind participants has found them difficult to interpret…

Constitutional AI(also: CAI)

A training method introduced by Anthropic in 2022 in which a large language model is aligned to a written set of principles (a 'constitution') through self-critique and reinforcement learning from AI feedback, rather than relying exclusively on human preference labels. The model…

Content Moderation(also: Content Filtering, Automated Content Moderation)

The process of monitoring and filtering user-generated content on digital platforms, increasingly performed by AI systems. Content moderation has documented negative effects on people with disabilities: automated systems have suppressed content from disabled creators (TikTok…

Context Retention(also: Conversational Context, Context Awareness)

The ability of a voice assistant or AI system to maintain awareness of previous interactions and use that information to interpret subsequent commands correctly. In calendar accessibility, context retention is important because scheduling tasks often involve multi-turn…

Contextual Learning(also: Context-Dependent Learning)

The tendency of both humans and AI systems to learn patterns and behaviours from the surrounding context rather than from abstract rules. In web development, contextual learning means that developers working on accessible codebases are more likely to produce accessible code…

Continual Learning(also: Continuous Learning, Lifelong Learning, Never-ending Learning)

A machine learning paradigm in which models learn incrementally from new data over time while retaining previously acquired knowledge, rather than being trained once on a fixed dataset. Continual learning is relevant to accessibility because it enables AI-powered accessibility…

Conversational AI(also: Chat AI, AI Chatbot)

Artificial intelligence systems designed to engage in dialogue with users through natural language, including chatbots, virtual assistants, and generative AI interfaces. Conversational AI has accessibility implications both as an interaction paradigm that can be more accessible…

Conversational Agent(also: Chatbot, Virtual Assistant, AI Assistant)

A software system that uses natural language processing to engage in dialogue with users, answering questions and providing information through text or speech. In accessibility contexts, conversational agents offer potential for flexible, on-demand information access that can…

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…

Convolutional Neural Network(also: CNN, ConvNet)

A class of deep neural network that uses convolutional filters to automatically extract spatial features from data, originally designed for image processing but now widely applied to sensor data, audio, and video analysis. CNNs identify patterns like edges, textures, and shapes…

Counterfactual Explanation(also: Counterfactual XAI)

An explanation technique that communicates what minimal change to the input would have produced a different output from an AI model, for example 'if the applicant's income had been $5,000 higher, the loan would have been approved'. Counterfactual explanations are legally…

Counterfactual Prompting(also: Counterfactual Debiasing, Counterfactual Data Augmentation)

A bias mitigation technique that involves modifying prompts or training examples by swapping identity-related attributes (such as disability status, gender, or race) while keeping all other context identical, in order to expose and counteract biased associations in language…

Cross-Checking(also: Cross-Verification, Multi-Tool Verification)

A verification strategy used by blind and low vision people to assess the reliability of AI-generated image descriptions by comparing outputs from multiple AI tools, taking photos from different angles, using non-visual senses, or consulting sighted individuals. BLV users have…

Crowd Accessibility(also: Crowdsourcing for Accessibility, Human-Powered Access Technology)

An approach that combines human intelligence with machine intelligence to create accessible content and services for people with disabilities. In crowd accessibility, micro-tasks that automated systems cannot yet perform reliably — such as describing images, identifying objects,…

Crowd-AI System(also: Hybrid Crowd-AI, Human-AI System)

A system that combines human crowdsourced input with artificial intelligence to accomplish tasks that neither can handle well alone. In accessibility contexts, crowd-AI systems are used for visual question answering, image description, and environmental sensing. Crowd workers…

25 results.