Skills for Access

Glossary

• A
• B
• C
• D
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• L
• M
• N
• P
• Q
• R
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• X

• A

  ACCLIP

  Accessibility for Learner Information Profile

  ADD

  Attention Deficit Disorder

  ADHD

  Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

  AIFF

  Audio Interchange File Format

  Alt text

  Colloquial name for the HTML alt attribute of the <img> element. This is the way in which HTML allows web authors to specify a text alternative for each image present on a web page - and if omitted or inappropriately provided, can cause screen reader users significant problems.

  Alternative input device

  Generic term for a device that replaces the keyboard or mouse as an input device, used by people with physical impairment.

  Assistive technology

  Generic term for hardware or software used to reduce or overcome the impact of a sensory, cognitive or physical impairment when using computer technology.

  ATAG

  Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines

  Audio description

  Additional spoken audio supplementing a video soundtrack by describing key events taking place.

• B

  BECTA

  British Educational Communications and Technology Agency

  BSL

  British Sign Language

• C

  Captions

  Text equivalent alternatives for spoken and non spoken information present in a video or animation, an accessibilty solution for when a user cannot hear the soundtrack. Often referred to as "subtitles" in the UK.

  CSS

  Cascading Style Sheets

• D

  DCD

  Developmental Co-ordination Disorder

  DDA

  Disability Discrimination Act

  Device independent access

  The ability to access informaton and functionality of a multimedia resource without requiring to use a specific input device, such as a mouse.

  DHTML

  Dynamic HyperText Markup Language

  DOM

  Document Object Model

  DTD

  Document Type Definition

• F

  Flash

  Multimedia format developed by Macromedia for providing online animated content.

• G

  GIF

  Graphics Interchange Format

• H

  HTML

  HyperText Markup Language

• I

  IMS Global Learning Consortium

  A non-profit organisation that develops and promotes the adoption of open technical specifications for interoperable learning technology.

• J

  JISC

  Joint Information Systems Committee

  JPEG

  Joint Photographic Experts Group

• L

  LIP

  Learner Information Profile

  LOM

  Learning Object Metadata

• M

  MAGpie

  Media Access Generator - software for creating and combining captions and audio descriptions with digital video clips.

  MPEG

  Moving Pictures Expert Group

  MSAA

  Microsoft Active Accessibility

• N

  NCAM

  National Centre for Accessible Media

  NDT

  National Disability Team

• P

  PDF

  Portable Document Format

  PNG

  Portable Network Graphics

• Q

  QuickTime

  Popular application for creating and viewing multimedia content

• R

  RealPlayer

  Popular application for viewing multimedia content.

  RNIB

  Royal National Institute of the Blind

  RNID

  Royal National Institute for Deaf People

  RSI

  Repetitive Strain Injury

• S

  SAMI

  Synchronised Accessible Media Interchange

  Screen reader

  Software that converts from text into synthesised speech the output of desktop applications such as web browsers and word processing applications.

  Section 508

  Section 508 of the US Rehabilitation Act was amended in 1998 to establish a legal requirement of federal agencies in the US to both use and provide information and communication technology that is accessible to disabled people. The Section 508 Standard includes technical criteria for accessibility to be met by web sites of federal organisations.

  SENDA

  Special Educational Needs and Disability Act

  Shockwave

  Multimedia format developed by Macromedia for digital animated content.

  SLD

  Specific Learning Difficulty

  SMIL

  Synchronised Multimedia Integration Language

  Speech browser

  Dedicated software for web browsing, converting the textual content of web pages into synthsised speech.

  SpLD

  Specific Learning Difficulty

  Subtitles

  In media accessibility, text alternatives for spoken media content, added to translate from the language of the spoken media content to another language (e.g. English subtitles for a French movie clip). Not to be confused with captions - however in the UK, the term "subtitles" is widely used to refer to both accessibility features.

  SVG

  Scalable Vector Graphics

• T

  TechDis

  Advisory service to the UK Higher and Further Education Community on disability, technology and learning.

  TIFF

  Tagged Image File Format

  Transcript

  Separate text file containing spoken dialogue, non-spoken sound information and other necessary description from a video.

  TTS

  Text to Speech

• U

  UAAG

  User Agent Accessibility Guidelines

  URI

  Uniform Resource Identifier

  URL

  Uniform Resource Locator

• V

  VLE

  Virtual Learning Environment

• W

  W3C

  World Wide Web Consortium

  WAI

  Web Accessiblity Initiative

  WCAG

  Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

  Windows Media Player

  Software provided with Windows PCs for playing digital media content.

• X

  XHTML

  eXtensible HyperText Markup Language

  XML

  Extensible Markup Language