Glossary

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Reading Assistance(also: Reading Assistance Technology, Reading Support Tools)

Reading assistance refers to technologies and strategies that help people understand written text more easily. This includes tools like text-to-speech, automatic text simplification, screen readers, reading rulers, and dictionary lookups. For accessibility, reading assistance is…

Reading Comprehension(also: Text Comprehension)

The ability to understand, interpret, and derive meaning from written text. Reading comprehension involves multiple cognitive processes including decoding words, activating background knowledge, making inferences, and monitoring understanding. It is a key target for reading…

Reading Disability(also: Reading Difficulty, Reading Disorder)

A condition that impacts a person's ability to read and develop literacy skills. Reading disabilities encompass a wide range of conditions including dyslexia, alexia, and difficulties arising from intellectual disabilities, cognitive impairments, sensory disabilities, or…

Reading Fluency

The ability to read connected text accurately, at an appropriate pace, and with proper expression - distinct from word-level decoding skill on one side and from reading comprehension on the other. Fluency is typically measured along three dimensions: accuracy (proportion of…

Reading Model(also: Theory of Reading)

A theoretical framework that explains the cognitive processes involved in reading and how reading skills develop. Key reading models include the Simple View of Reading (comprehension = decoding × language comprehension) and the Rope Model (which describes fluent reading as the…

Reading Speed(also: Reading Rate, Words Per Minute)

The pace at which a person can read and process text, typically measured in words per minute. Reading speed is a common metric in evaluating reading support technologies and varies significantly among people with different disabilities. People with dyslexia often experience…

Reading Support Technology(also: Reading Assistive Technology, Reading Aid)

Any technology designed to make reading more accessible for people with disabilities, encompassing tools that support decoding, comprehension, readability, navigation, and literacy development. Reading support technologies range from visual augmentations and text simplification…

Regression(also: Regressive Saccade, Regressive Eye Movement)

In the context of reading and eye tracking, a regression is a backward eye movement (right-to-left in left-to-right scripts) where the reader returns to previously read text. Regressions typically occur when a reader has difficulty understanding a word or passage and needs to…

Scotopic Sensitivity(also: Irlen Syndrome, Visual Stress, Meares-Irlen Syndrome)

A visual-perceptual condition in which certain wavelengths of light cause discomfort, distortion, or difficulty when reading. People with scotopic sensitivity may experience text appearing to shimmer, move, or blur on the page, particularly with high-contrast black text on white…

Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome(also: Irlen Syndrome, Visual Stress, Meares-Irlen Syndrome)

A perceptual processing condition in which the brain has difficulty handling certain visual information, particularly high-contrast patterns like black text on a bright white background. People with scotopic sensitivity may experience text appearing to move, shimmer, or blur on…

Sign Language Video(also: Sign Language Interpretation Video)

Pre-recorded or live video content presenting information in sign language, used to augment or replace written text for deaf and hard of hearing users. In reading support contexts, sign language videos have been explored as visual augmentations to text, providing sign…

Simple View of Reading(also: SVR)

An influential reading model proposed by Gough and Tunmer that defines reading comprehension as the product of two components: decoding ability (D) and language comprehension (L), expressed as RC = D × L. This model suggests that reading difficulties can stem from problems with…

Skimming(also: Scanning, Speed Reading, Content Skimming)

Skimming is a speed-reading technique in which a reader quickly glances through text to get the general idea or gist without reading every word. Sighted readers skim by scanning headlines, bold text, first sentences of paragraphs, and visually prominent content. For blind and…

Skimming Interface(also: Skim Reading Tool, Speed Reading Interface)

A technology interface designed to help users quickly scan and identify relevant content within a text without reading every word. Skimming interfaces have been particularly explored for blind and low vision users who use screen readers, where linear reading can be extremely…

Speed-Comprehension Trade-off(also: Speed-Accuracy Trade-off in Reading)

An empirical pattern in readability research: typographic, layout, and presentation choices that increase reading speed often reduce comprehension accuracy, and vice versa. For example, sans-serif faces and shorter line lengths tend to support faster reading but may yield lower…

Surface Dyslexia

A subtype of dyslexia characterized by difficulty with whole-word recognition and irregular word reading, often resulting in confusion with homophonic or pseudo-homophonic words (such as "weather" and "whether"). People with surface dyslexia can typically sound out words using…

Syntactic Simplification(also: Sentence Simplification)

A form of text simplification that restructures complex sentences into simpler grammatical forms, such as splitting compound sentences, converting passive voice to active voice, or resolving relative clauses. Syntactic simplification reduces the cognitive load of parsing…

Text Modification(also: Text Formatting, Text Presentation Modification)

Changes to the visual presentation or formatting of text to improve readability without altering the actual content. Text modifications include adjustments to font type, size, color, spacing, line height, background color, text alignment, and column width. Research with people…

Text Skimming(also: Content Skimming, Accessible Skimming)

A reading strategy where a person quickly reviews a document to get an overview of its content, identify key points, and locate specific information without reading every word. Sighted readers skim using visual cues like headings, bold text, paragraph breaks, and spatial layout.…

Translanguaging

The practice of drawing on multiple languages within a single interaction or communication act, leveraging a person's full linguistic repertoire rather than treating languages as separate, bounded systems. Translanguaging is particularly relevant to accessibility for…

Typography(also: Typographic Design)

The art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and visually appealing. In accessibility contexts, typography encompasses font selection, size, weight, spacing (letter spacing, word spacing, line height), alignment, and contrast. Research has…

Visual Attention Span(also: VAS, Visual Attention Window)

The number of distinct visual elements that can be processed simultaneously in a single glance. Visual attention span is a cognitive capacity linked to reading ability — when reading, the eyes fixate on a word and the visual attention span determines how many letters can be…

Visual Augmentation(also: Text Augmentation, Visual Enhancement)

The addition of visual elements such as icons, images, sign language videos, or highlights to text to aid comprehension and reading support. Visual augmentation is a common reading support strategy across disability communities — for deaf and hard of hearing readers, it may…

Visual Crowding(also: Crowding)

A perceptual phenomenon in which the presence of nearby flanking characters or objects makes it harder to recognise a target character, especially in peripheral vision or when the target is small, low-contrast, or briefly viewed. Crowding jointly with limited visual span sets an…

Visual Presentation(also: Text Presentation)

The way text and content are visually rendered on screen or in print, encompassing typography, layout, color, spacing, and formatting choices. Visual presentation significantly affects readability and accessibility for all users but is especially critical for people with…

Visual-Syntactic Text Formatting(also: VSTF)

Visual-Syntactic Text Formatting (VSTF) is a content presentation method that formats text based on its syntactic structure, using indentation, line breaks, and visual grouping to align with the grammatical structure of sentences. Research has shown VSTF can improve online…

Web Readability(also: Online Readability)

The ease with which web content can be read and understood, encompassing both visual factors (typography, layout, color, responsive design) and linguistic factors (vocabulary, sentence complexity, content structure). Web readability has been the dominant focus of reading support…

Word Frequency(also: Lexical Frequency)

A measure of how often a word occurs in a given language or text corpus. High-frequency words like common function words are encountered regularly and recognized quickly, while low-frequency words are rarer and require more cognitive effort to process. Word frequency…

eBook Accessibility(also: Electronic Book Accessibility, Digital Book Accessibility)

The practice of ensuring that electronic books and digital publications are usable by people with disabilities, including those who use screen readers, refreshable braille displays, or other assistive technologies. Accessible eBooks require proper semantic structure (headings,…