Glossary

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Accessibility API(also: Accessibility Interface, Platform Accessibility API)

A programming interface provided by an operating system or UI framework that exposes information about user interface elements to assistive technologies. Accessibility APIs enable screen readers, switch access devices, and other assistive technologies to programmatically read,…

Accessibility Engineer(also: Accessibility Engineering, A11y Engineer)

A professional role focused on applying specific methodologies and methods to ensure that information and communication technology products and systems are accessible to people with disabilities throughout the entire development lifecycle. Accessibility engineering is positioned…

Accessible Programming(also: Accessible Software Development, Inclusive Coding)

Accessible programming encompasses the tools, practices, and accommodations that enable people with disabilities to write, test, debug, and maintain software code. Challenges for disabled developers include inaccessible development environments, difficulty navigating code…

Automated Web GUI Testing(also: AWGT, Automated GUI Testing, Web Crawler Testing)

Automated Web GUI Testing (AWGT) refers to software testing approaches that automatically explore web applications by performing GUI interactions such as clicking and form input, without requiring manually written test scripts. AWGTs build a state model of the application during…

Code Editor(also: Source Code Editor, Text Editor)

A software application designed specifically for editing source code, offering features like syntax highlighting, code completion, bracket matching, and indentation management. Code editors range from lightweight tools like Notepad++ and Vim to full-featured editors like Visual…

Code Folding(also: Code Collapsing, Outlining)

Code folding is a feature in text editors and integrated development environments (IDEs) that allows programmers to collapse sections of code (such as functions, classes, or loops) into a single line, hiding the detailed content while retaining a high-level structural overview.…

Code Navigation(also: Code Browsing, Codebase Navigation)

Code navigation refers to the process of moving through, understanding, and locating specific elements within a software codebase. For sighted developers, this is supported by visual cues such as syntax highlighting, indentation, code folding, and spatial layout. For blind…

Code Smell(also: Code Anti-Pattern)

A characteristic in source code that indicates a potential deeper problem, even if the code technically functions correctly. In accessibility contexts, code smells include patterns like using div or span elements instead of semantic HTML (buttons, headings, nav), inline styles…

Computational Notebook(also: Jupyter Notebook, Data Science Notebook, IPython Notebook)

A computational notebook is an interactive document that combines executable code, rich text, data visualizations, and narrative explanations in a single shareable format. Widely used in data science, research, and education through platforms like Jupyter, Google Colab, and…

Cross-Platform Development(also: Cross-Platform Framework, Multi-Platform Development)

A software development approach that allows a single codebase to run on multiple operating systems or device platforms, such as iOS and Android. Frameworks like React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin enable developers to write code once and deploy it across platforms, reducing…

Crosscutting Concern(also: Cross-Cutting Concern)

In software engineering, a crosscutting concern is a requirement or feature that affects multiple modules of a system and cannot be cleanly decomposed into a single component. Accessibility is a classic crosscutting concern because requirements like providing text alternatives,…

Entity-Relationship Diagram(also: ER Diagram, ERD)

A type of relational diagram used in software engineering and database design to model the conceptual structure of a system by representing entities (objects or concepts), their attributes (properties), and the relationships between them. ER diagrams are widely used by system…

GUI Testing(also: Graphical User Interface Testing, UI Testing)

GUI testing is a software testing methodology that validates application behaviour by interacting with the graphical user interface, including clicking buttons, entering text, and navigating menus, rather than testing code directly. GUI testing is especially relevant to…

Git Diff(also: Code Diff, Diff View)

A comparison view that shows the differences between two versions of a file or set of files in a version control system. Git diff displays additions, deletions, and modifications using visual markers such as color coding (green for additions, red for deletions) and plus/minus…

IDE Accessibility(also: Accessible IDE, Development Environment Accessibility)

IDE accessibility refers to making integrated development environments — the software applications used for writing, testing, and debugging code — usable by developers with disabilities. IDEs like Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ, and Eclipse present significant accessibility…

Integrated Development Environment(also: IDE)

A software application that provides comprehensive facilities for programming, typically combining a source code editor, build automation tools, a debugger, and often version control integration in a single interface. IDEs like Visual Studio Code, Eclipse, and IntelliJ IDEA are…

Near-Duplicate Pages(also: ND Pages, Near-Duplicate Web Pages)

Near-duplicate pages are web pages that belong to the same functional state from a testing perspective but exhibit low visual or structural similarity due to dynamic content differences. Common causes include dynamically loaded data, dynamically generated HTML attributes such as…

Non-Functional Requirement(also: NFR, Quality Attribute)

A software requirement that specifies how a system should behave rather than what it should do. Non-functional requirements include accessibility, security, performance, maintainability, and usability. In web development, accessibility is a critical non-functional requirement…

Nonvisual Programming(also: Non-Visual Programming, Blind Programming)

The practice of writing, navigating, debugging, and managing software code without relying on visual display, typically using screen readers, braille displays, and audio cues. Nonvisual programmers face unique challenges with syntax highlighting, code indentation, error…

Open Source(also: Open-Source Software, OSS, FOSS)

Software whose source code is publicly available and can be freely used, modified, and distributed, typically developed collaboratively through platforms like GitHub. Open-source development models have significant implications for accessibility: they enable disabled users to…

Programming by Example(also: PBE, Programming by Demonstration)

A technique in end-user programming where a system infers a generalizable program from concrete examples provided by the user, rather than requiring the user to write code directly. In accessibility contexts, programming by example has been used to enable nonprogrammers to…

Requirements engineering(also: RE, Requirements elicitation)

Requirements engineering (RE) is the systematic process of identifying, documenting, analysing, and managing the needs and constraints that a software system must satisfy. It encompasses elicitation techniques (interviews, workshops, prototyping, observation), specification…

Socio-Technical Grounded Theory(also: STGT)

Socio-Technical Grounded Theory (STGT) is a qualitative research methodology adapted from classical Grounded Theory for studying technology within its social and organisational context. It extends the original constant comparison and theoretical sampling principles of Grounded…

State Abstraction(also: Page State Abstraction, State Grouping)

In automated web GUI testing, state abstraction is the process of grouping web pages that exhibit the same behaviour from a testing perspective into a single representative state. Effective state abstraction prevents testing tools from repeatedly exploring functionally identical…

Terminal Buffer(also: Accessible Terminal Buffer, Terminal Output Buffer)

A text-based area in a terminal or command-line interface that stores and displays the output of executed commands. In accessibility contexts, an accessible terminal buffer allows screen reader users to navigate terminal output line by line and character by character using…

Web Compliance Engineering

A discipline within Web Engineering focused on the application of quality assurance, testing, and management processes to ensure that web applications conform to standards, policy environments, and other quality criteria such as accessibility requirements. Web Compliance…

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