A11y

An abbreviation that refers to the eleven letters between the A and the Y in Accessibility. Usually refers to Digital Accessibility.

ACA

Accessible Canada Act

ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

ASD

Autism spectrum disorder

AODA

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act

API

Application Program Interface

DevTools

Developer Tools

ETSI

European Telecommunications Standards Institute

FARs

Functional Accessibility Requirements

IASR

Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation

ICT

Information and communications technology

IT

Information technology

JAWS

Job Access With Speech: A screen reader

NVDA

Non-visual display access: A screen reader

OHRC

Ontario Human Rights Code

OS

Operating System

POUR

An acronym for the four WCAG principles: Perceptive, Operable, Understandable, Robust

SC

Success Criterion

UI

User Interface

W3C

World Wide Web Consortium

WCAG

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

WAI

Web Accessibility Initiative

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Terms

Accessibility

The design of products, devices, services, environments, technologies, policies and rules in a way that allows all people, including people with a variety of disabilities, to access them.

Accommodation

A change that is made so that a person with a disability is able to fully participate or access information.

Adaptive Technology

Special versions of already existing technologies or tools, for example large print books, keyboard modifications, or Operating System (OS) level accessibility tools. The adaptation helps individuals to accomplish specific tasks.

Assistive Technology

Specialized hardware or software that can assist people with disabilities to perceive and interact with digital content.

Barrier

Anything that might hinder people with disabilities’ full and equal participation. Barriers can be architectural, technological, attitudinal, based on information or communications, or can be the result of a policy or procedure. Barriers can be financial, knowledge based, or directly related to an individual’s disability (e.g., no descriptive alternative text accompanying a photo would be a barrier for someone with a vision impairment).

Conformance / conformant

How well something, such as a product, service or a system, meets a specified standard.

Conversion-ready

Describes information that is in an electronic format that can be easily converted into an accessible format.

Compliance / compliant

The act of following requirements for a product, service or system.

Component

An identifiable part of a larger program or construction.

Disability

Any impairment, or difference in physical, mental, intellectual, cognitive, learning, or communication ability. Disabilities can be permanent, temporary, or episodic (meaning that the impact of the disability can change over time). There are different types of disabilities, including physical, vision-related, hearing-related, and cognitive disabilities. The specifics of a disability vary by person and a person can have more than one disability.

Equality and Equity

Equality is when each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity is when each individual or group of people is given resources or opportunities that account for imbalance in social systems. Equity aims for equal outcomes.

Inclusivity

The practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those having physical or mental disabilities or belonging to other minority groups.

Inclusive design

Design that considers the full range of human diversity with respect to ability, language, culture, gender, age and other forms of human difference.

Persona

A  fictional user-type created to represent real people that might use your service, product, or site. Creating multiple and diverse personas can help you recognize different needs and expectations of potential users.

Usability

A principle that ensures that a product, service or a system is not only accessible but also easy to use and understand.

Widget

A  component added to a website or application as a stand-alone feature.

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Assistive and Adaptive Technologies

Screen reader

A technology that helps people who have difficulties seeing to access and interact with digital content, like websites or applications via audio or touch (e.g. Braille). Screen readers include JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver.

Screen magnifier

Software that presents enlarged content, by enlarging part (or all) of a screen.

Switch control

Software that interacts with a digital device using one or more switches instead of the mouse-click or tap on a touchscreen.

Speech-to-Text

Software that converts spoken words to electronic text or commands.

Text-to-speech

Same technology as a Screen Reader. See Screen reader