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Glossary

Terms used in accessibility research and practice. Each entry has a definition, common aliases, and category tags.

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ESP Game(also: Extra Sensory Perception Game)
A human computation game, created by Luis von Ahn, in which two randomly paired online players are shown the same image and independently type words to describe it, earning points when their labels match. The ESP Game was designed to generate accurate, human-validated labels for…
Ecological Metaphor(also: Ecological Validity, Ecological Mapping)
A design principle in sonification and auditory display where the mapping between data and sound aligns with users' real-world sensory and cognitive experience. For example, mapping obstacle distance to pulse rate (like sonar or parking sensors), height to pitch (higher…
Embodied Cognition(also: Embodiment)
A theory in cognitive science proposing that the mind is not an isolated entity but is deeply integrated with the body's sensorimotor systems. In other words, how we think, perceive, and make decisions is shaped by our physical bodies and their interactions with the environment.…
Embodied Conversational Agent(also: ECA, Virtual Agent, Animated Agent)
A computer-generated animated character designed to interact with human users using multiple simultaneous communication channels — typically speech, eye gaze, facial expression, head and body posture, and hand gestures. ECAs are used in tutoring systems, customer-service agents,…
Embodied Interaction(also: Embodied Cognition in HCI)
An approach to human-computer interaction that emphasizes the role of the physical body in how people engage with and understand technology. Embodied interaction recognizes that cognition is not purely mental but shaped by physical experience, movement, and sensory engagement.…
Embodied participation(also: Embodied presence)
The experience of being physically present and actively engaged in a shared space through one's body or a technological proxy for it. In accessibility contexts, embodied participation refers to how technologies like telepresence robots can provide remote users with a physical…
Emulated Empathy
Emulated empathy is the design strategy, central to AI companion systems, of producing interactional cues - attentive language, affective mirroring, memory of previously shared information - that simulate an empathic relationship without the system possessing any subjective…
Engagement Detection(also: Engagement Monitoring, Engagement Recognition)
The use of sensors, computer vision, or other technologies to automatically assess whether a person is actively engaged with a task, device, or activity. Engagement detection systems typically monitor observable behaviours such as gaze direction, touch interaction patterns,…
Experiential Transcoding
An approach to web page transcoding that restructures content based on actual user behaviour rather than relying solely on source code analysis or predefined heuristics. By analysing how sighted users interact with web pages — typically through eye-tracking data — experiential…
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 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…

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