Acronyms
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
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.
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
