Glossary

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Caregiver Support(also: Carer Support, Family Support)

Assistance, training, and resources provided to family members, paid carers, and other individuals who support people with disabilities in daily life. In the context of assistive technology, caregiver support is essential because caregivers often play a critical role in setting…

Caregiving(also: Carer, Caregiver, Care Partner)

The unpaid or paid work of supporting another person with daily living, health management, social participation, or emotional needs, often in the context of disability, chronic illness, or ageing. In accessibility research, caregiving is usually treated as an interdependent…

Caret Browsing(also: Caret Navigation, Caret Browse Mode)

A browser navigation mode that places a movable text cursor (caret) directly in web page content, allowing users to navigate and select text using standard keyboard commands as if the page were a document in a text editor. Typically activated by pressing F7 in Firefox and…

Carousel(also: Image Carousel, Content Carousel, Slider Carousel)

A UI pattern that displays a rotating series of content items (images, cards, teasers) in a single area, typically navigated by swipe, arrows, or auto-advance. Carousels pose well-known accessibility risks: auto-rotation can violate WCAG 2.2.2 (Pause, Stop, Hide), items beyond…

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome(also: CTS, Carpal Tunnel)

A condition caused by compression of the median nerve as it passes through the carpal tunnel in the wrist, resulting in numbness, tingling, weakness, and pain in the hand and fingers. Carpal tunnel syndrome is commonly associated with repetitive hand and wrist movements,…

Cascading Access Barriers(also: Compounding Barriers, Barrier Cascades)

A pattern where an initial accessibility barrier triggers a chain of subsequent barriers, each compounding the difficulty of the previous one. For example, missing a pharmacy notification (first barrier) leads to a medication gap (second barrier), which worsens executive…

Cascading Style Sheets(also: CSS, Stylesheets)

A stylesheet language used to describe the visual presentation of HTML documents, controlling layout, colors, fonts, spacing, and responsive design. CSS is intentionally separated from HTML content to allow flexibility in styling while prioritizing semantic structure—a design…

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…

Cascading classifier(also: Cascaded detection, Multi-stage classifier)

A machine learning architecture that chains multiple detection stages in sequence, where each stage filters candidates before passing them to the next, progressively increasing detection precision while maintaining recall. In accessibility applications, cascading classifiers are…

Case Study(also: Case Study Research)

A research method involving an in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, event, or situation in its real-world context. Case studies combine multiple data sources such as observations, interviews, and documents to build a detailed understanding of the subject. In…

Cataracts(also: Cataract)

A clouding of the eye's natural lens that causes blurry or hazy vision and increased sensitivity to glare. Cataracts are the leading cause of vision impairment worldwide and become increasingly common with age. People with cataracts may experience difficulty reading, reduced…

Category 3 Blindness(also: ICD-10 H54 Category 3, WHO Category 3 Visual Impairment)

A classification of severe visual impairment under the World Health Organization's ICD-10 coding for disorders of the visual system (H54). Category 3 covers blindness in which the better eye has presenting visual acuity worse than 1/60 (20/1200 Snellen) but can still perceive…

Causal Listening

A mode of listening, identified by composer and theorist Pierre Schaeffer, in which the listener focuses on identifying the source or cause of a sound — for example, hearing crumpling paper and recognising it as something being discarded, or hearing a camera shutter and…

Cause and Effect Software(also: Cause and Effect Games, Contingency Learning Software)

Simple interactive software designed for users with significant cognitive or motor disabilities, where any input (such as pressing a switch) produces an immediate sensory response (visual, auditory, or both). These programs help users understand the relationship between their…

Celebratory technology

Technology designed to highlight, affirm, and celebrate neurodivergent and disabled ways of being, rather than seeking to correct, normalize, or remediate them. Coined by LouAnne Boyd (2023), celebratory technology contrasts with deficit-oriented assistive technology by…

Cell Navigation(also: Table Cell Navigation, Cell-by-Cell Navigation)

Cell navigation is a method of accessing tabular data non-visually by moving between individual cells using directional commands (up, down, left, right). Rather than reading a table linearly from top-to-bottom, cell navigation allows screen reader users to traverse the…

Center of Pressure(also: COP, Centre of Pressure)

The point on a surface where the total sum of pressure forces acts, used as a key measure in balance and postural stability assessment. In standing balance evaluation, COP is measured using force plates or pressure-sensing devices like the Nintendo Wii Balance Board. COP path,…

Central Bank Digital Currency(also: CBDC)

A digital form of a country's official currency issued and regulated by its central bank, designed to function as legal tender alongside physical cash. CBDCs raise significant accessibility and inclusion considerations, as their design determines whether people with…

Central Vision(also: Foveal Vision)

Central vision is the area of sharpest sight in the visual field, corresponding to the fovea at the centre of the retina. It is responsible for detailed tasks such as reading, recognizing faces, and distinguishing fine detail and colour. Loss of central vision, commonly caused…

Central Vision Loss(also: Central Scotoma, Macular Vision Loss)

Loss of vision in the central part of the visual field, typically caused by conditions affecting the macula such as macular degeneration or Stargardt disease. Central vision is responsible for detailed tasks like reading, recognizing faces, and seeing fine detail. Musicians with…

Central Vision Loss(also: Central Field Loss, Central Scotoma)

Loss of vision in the central part of the visual field, typically caused by damage to the macula — the area of the retina responsible for sharp, detailed vision. People with central vision loss experience difficulty seeing fine details directly in front of them, often describing…

Cerebellar Ataxia(also: Ataxic Dysarthria)

A neurological condition caused by damage to the cerebellum that affects coordination, balance, and motor control. In speech, cerebellar ataxia produces ataxic dysarthria characterized by irregular speech rhythm, explosive or scanning speech patterns, imprecise consonants, and…

Cerebral Palsy(also: CP)

A group of permanent movement disorders that appear in early childhood, caused by abnormal development or damage to the parts of the brain that control movement, balance, and posture. Cerebral palsy affects approximately 1 million people in the United States, with symptoms…

Cerebral Palsy(also: CP)

A group of permanent movement disorders caused by abnormal development or damage to the parts of the brain that control movement, balance, and posture. Cerebral palsy affects approximately 1 in 345 children and can range from mild to severe, potentially affecting fine motor…

Cerebral Visual Impairment(also: CVI, Cortical Visual Impairment, Brain-Based Visual Impairment)

A form of visual impairment caused by damage to or dysfunction in the brain's visual processing centres, rather than problems with the eyes themselves. CVI is the leading cause of childhood vision impairment in developed countries and is projected to become a leading cause of…

Cerebral Visual Impairment(also: CVI, Cortical Visual Impairment)

Cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is an umbrella term for visual deficits resulting from damage to the brain rather than the eyes. It affects visual perception, including visual acuity, cortical image processing, and pattern recognition. CVI is often associated with additional…

Certified Deaf Interpreter(also: CDI)

A Deaf or Hard-of-hearing individual who has obtained professional certification from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) to provide interpreting, translation, and transliteration services. CDIs work in tandem with hearing interpreters or independently, bringing…

Chain-of-Thought(also: CoT, Chain of Thought Reasoning, Step-by-Step Reasoning)

Chain-of-thought is a prompting and model-design technique in which a large language model produces its intermediate reasoning steps before giving a final answer. Modern reasoning models (e.g., OpenAI o-series, Claude thinking modes) expose chain-of-thought as visible internal…

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…

Chairable(also: Chair-based interface, Wheelchair-integrated technology)

A design concept for input and output devices that are integrated directly into a wheelchair frame, enabling users to interact with assistive technology without requiring a separate smartphone, wearable device, or other external hardware. Chairables might include thin flexible…

Chairable Technology(also: Chairable Input, Chairable Devices)

Input devices and interactive technologies designed to integrate with the form of a wheelchair, analogous to how wearable technology fits with an individual's clothing. Chairable technology recognises that power wheelchair users spend most of their waking hours in their chairs…

Chairable computing(also: Chairable input, Wheelchair-integrated computing)

A design paradigm in which input devices and computing interfaces are integrated into the form factor of a wheelchair — particularly armrests, trays, and frames — analogous to how wearable computing fits with clothing. Chairable devices are always within reach, require no setup…

Challenge-Point Framework

A motor-learning theory proposed by Guadagnoli and Lee (2004) which holds that learning is optimised when the difficulty of a task is appropriately matched to the learner's current skill level. Tasks that are too easy provide little information to learn from, while tasks that…

Challenging Behavior(also: Problem Behavior, Behaviors of Concern)

Actions by individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities that pose risks to themselves or others, or significantly interfere with daily activities and learning. In the context of autism, challenging behaviors are often classified into categories such as…

ChamBadge(also: Chambadge)

A wearable accessible cell phone device developed as part of the Talking Braille ubiquitous computing system for indoor wayfinding. The ChamBadge combines a cell phone with a bone-conduction headset, an infrared transceiver, and wireless networking capabilities, worn behind the…

Change Blindness(also: Changeblindness, Inattentional Blindness)

Change blindness is a perceptual phenomenon in which observers fail to notice changes to a visual scene when the change coincides with a visual disruption such as an eye movement, blink, or brief occlusion. In accessibility contexts, change blindness is particularly relevant for…

Change Management(also: Organizational Change Management)

A structured approach for transitioning individuals, teams, and organizations from a current state to a desired future state. In accessibility, change management addresses the human and organizational factors that determine whether accessibility improvements are adopted and…

Character Error Rate(also: CER)

A metric for evaluating automatic speech recognition (ASR) and optical character recognition (OCR) accuracy, measuring the minimum number of character-level edits (insertions, deletions, substitutions) needed to transform the system output into the reference text, divided by the…

Character Recognition

In the context of reading and cognitive accessibility, character recognition refers to the ability to correctly identify and distinguish individual letters and numbers. People with dyslexia often experience character recognition difficulties, confusing visually similar…

Character Spacing(also: Letter Spacing, Tracking)

The horizontal space between individual characters in a line of text. Research has shown that increasing character spacing significantly improves reading speed and accuracy for people with dyslexia. This effect is attributed to reduced visual crowding — the phenomenon where…

Charge-Coupled Device(also: CCD)

An electronic light sensor used in cameras and scanners that converts light into electrical signals. CCDs capture images by accumulating electric charge in proportion to the intensity of light hitting each pixel. In accessibility applications, CCD sensors are used in optical…

Charity Model of Disability(also: Charity Model)

A framework that views people with disabilities as helpless victims who are dependent on the goodwill and benevolence of others. Under this model, disability is treated as a tragedy requiring charitable intervention, positioning disabled people as passive recipients of aid…

Chart Question Answering(also: Chart QA, ChartQA, Visual Question Answering for Charts)

The task of answering natural-language questions about a data visualization, typically a chart provided as an image or structured specification. A chart question answering system must identify the chart type, extract the underlying data, interpret axes and legends, and answer…

Chartability(also: Chartability Heuristics)

A set of heuristics for assessing the accessibility of data visualizations, developed by Frank Elavsky and the Dataviz Accessibility group. Chartability provides a systematic framework for evaluating whether charts, graphs, maps, and other data visualizations are accessible to…

ChatGPT(also: GPT, OpenAI ChatGPT)

ChatGPT is a conversational generative AI assistant developed by OpenAI, based on the GPT family of large language models. Users interact via a text chat interface and, in newer versions, through voice, image, and file upload. ChatGPT is widely used as an accessibility tool —…

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…

Chatbot Accessibility(also: Accessible Chatbot Design, CUI Accessibility)

The practice of designing chatbots and conversational user interfaces (CUIs) to be usable by people with disabilities. Chatbot accessibility presents unique challenges compared to traditional web accessibility because CUIs involve dynamic, dialogue-based interactions rather than…

Checklist Accessibility(also: Checklist Conformism, Checklist Compliance)

A critique of accessibility practice in which organisations treat accessibility as a set of discrete technical checks to be ticked off (alt text present, ARIA labels declared, contrast ratios met) rather than as ongoing engagement with disabled users. Checklist accessibility can…

Checkpoint(also: WCAG Checkpoint, Success Criterion, Accessibility Checkpoint)

A checkpoint is a specific, testable accessibility requirement in a set of guidelines — for example, 'provide a text equivalent for every non-text element' is WCAG 1.0 checkpoint 1.1. The term is strongly associated with WCAG 1.0, which was organised into 65 numbered checkpoints…