Glossary

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FaceReader(also: Noldus FaceReader)

A commercial facial-expression recognition software (developed by Noldus) that uses computer vision and deep learning to automatically classify faces into basic emotions (neutral, happy, sad, angry, surprised, scared, disgusted) and to estimate emotional valence and arousal in…

Facial Action Coding System(also: FACS)

A comprehensive, anatomically based system for describing all visually discernible facial movements, originally developed by Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen in 1977. FACS decomposes facial expressions into individual components called Action Units (AUs), each corresponding to the…

Fair Compensation(also: Equitable Compensation, Research Compensation)

The practice of providing adequate and equitable payment to research participants for their time, expertise, and contributions. In accessibility research, fair compensation is particularly important because participants with disabilities contribute specialized lived expertise…

Feasibility Study(also: Feasibility Trial, Pilot Study)

A feasibility study is a small-scale investigation conducted before a full-scale trial to determine whether a planned intervention or system can be delivered as intended in its real-world setting. Feasibility work asks practical questions — Can we recruit? Can participants…

Feature Hashing(also: Hashing Trick)

A technique used in machine learning to convert text or categorical data into fixed-length numerical feature vectors by applying a hash function. Feature hashing is particularly useful for handling high-dimensional sparse data, such as the text of bug reports or user reviews. It…

Field Deployment(also: In-the-Wild Deployment, Real-World Deployment)

A research evaluation method where a system or tool is released to real users in their natural environments rather than being tested only in controlled laboratory settings. In accessibility research, field deployments are important because they reveal how assistive technologies…

Fitts's Law(also: Fitts Law)

Fitts's law is a predictive model of human movement that describes the time required to rapidly move to a target area as a function of the distance to the target and the target's size. Widely used in human-computer interaction (HCI) since the 1970s, it quantifies pointing…

Fitts's Law(also: Fitts Law)

A predictive model of human movement that describes the time required to rapidly move to a target area as a function of the distance to the target and the size of the target. Formulated by Paul Fitts in 1954, the law states that movement time increases logarithmically as the…

Fixation(also: Visual Fixation, Gaze Fixation)

A period during which the eyes remain relatively stationary on a specific point or area, typically lasting 100 to 600 milliseconds. During fixations, the brain processes the visual information at the point of gaze. In eye-tracking research, fixations are a primary unit of…

Focus Group(also: Focus Group Discussion, Group Interview)

A qualitative research method in which a small group of participants (typically 3-10) with shared characteristics discuss a topic guided by a moderator, allowing researchers to explore perspectives, opinions, and experiences through group interaction. Focus groups are considered…

Forced Alignment(also: Phonetic Alignment, Phone-Level Alignment)

Forced alignment is an automatic speech processing technique that aligns a speech recording with its known transcription at the phoneme or word level. Unlike free speech recognition which determines the most likely sequence of sounds, forced alignment constrains the recognizer…

Formative Evaluation(also: Formative Usability Testing, Formative Assessment)

Usability evaluation conducted early in the design process using prototypes, mockups, or wireframes to identify design problems and inform improvements. Formative testing is qualitative and iterative, focusing on understanding user behavior and identifying issues rather than…

Fraudulent Participants(also: Impostor Participants, Fake Participants)

Individuals who falsely claim to meet a study's eligibility criteria in order to participate in research, typically for financial compensation. In accessibility research, fraudulent participants may claim to have disabilities they do not have, undermining data validity and…

Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test(also: FAST)

A brief, standardized assessment tool used to screen for the presence and severity of aphasia in stroke survivors and others with acquired language impairments. The FAST evaluates four language areas: comprehension, expression, reading, and writing, providing scores out of 30.…

Friedman Test(also: Friedman Rank Test)

The Friedman test is a non-parametric statistical test used to detect differences across three or more related samples - for example, the same participants rating three interface conditions. It ranks each participant's responses across conditions and tests whether the rank sums…

Future Workshop

A participatory research method developed by Jungk and Mullert in 1987 that supports collective reflection and idea generation about possible futures. A Future Workshop typically unfolds in phases: critique of present conditions, collective envisioning of ideal futures, and…

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