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Glossary

Accessible:
In the case of a facility, readily usable by a particular individual; in the case of a program or activity, presented or provided in such a way that a particular individual can participate, with or without auxiliary aids(s); in the case of electronic resources, accessible with or without the use of adaptive computer technology.
Access barrier:
Any obstruction that prevents people with disabilities from using standard facilities, equipment and resources.
Accessible Web design:
Creating World Wide Web pages according to universal design principles to eliminate or reduce barriers, including those that affect people with disabilities.
Accommodation:
An adjustment to make a workstation, job, program, facility, or resource accessible to a person with a disability.
Adaptive technology:
Hardware or software products that provide access to a computer that is otherwise inaccessible to an individual with a disability.
ALT attribute:
HTML code that works in combination with graphical tags to provide alternative text for graphical elements.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA):
A comprehensive Federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, telecommunications, public services, public accommodations and services.
American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII):
Standard for unformatted text which enables transfer of data between platforms and computer systems.
Assistive technology:
Technology used to assist a person with a disability (e.g., a handsplint or computer-related equipment).
Auxiliary aids and services:
May include qualified interpreters or other effective methods of making aurally delivered materials available to individuals with hearing impairments; qualified readers, taped texts, or other effective methods of making visually delivered materials available to individuals with visual impairments; acquisition or modification of equipment or devices; and other similar services and actions.
Braille:
A system of embossed characters formed by using a Braille cell, a combination of six dots consisting of two vertical columns of three dots each. Each simple Braille character is formed by one or more of these dots and occupies a full cell or space.
Browser:
A program that runs on an Internet-connected computer and provides access to the World Wide Web. Web browsers may be text-only, such as Lynx, or graphical, such as Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.
Captioned film or videos:
Transcription of the verbal portion of films or videos is displayed to make them accessible to people who have hearing impairments.
Closed Circuit TV Magnifier (CCTV):
A camera used to magnify books or other materials on a monitor.
Cooperative education:
Programs that work with students, faculty, staff, and employers to help students clarify career and academic goals, and expand classroom study by allowing students to participate in paid, practical work experiences.
Compensatory tools:
Adaptive computing systems that allow people with disabilities to use computers to complete tasks that would be difficult without a computer (e.g., reading, writing, communicating, accessing information).
Disability:
A physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Discrimination:
The act of treating a person differently in a negative manner based on factors other than individual merit.
Dymo Labeller:
A device used to create raised print or Braille labels.
Electronic information:
Any digital data for use with computers or computer networks, including disks, CD-ROMs, and World Wide Web resources.
Essential job functions:
Those functions of a job or task which must be completed with or without an accommodation.
Facility:
All or any portion of a physical complex, including buildings, structures, equipment, grounds, roads, and parking lots.
FM sound amplification system:
An electronic amplification system consisting of three components: a microphone/transmitter, monaural FM receiver and a combination charger/carrying case. It provides wireless FM broadcasts from a speaker to a listener who has a hearing impairment.
Frame tags:
A means of displaying Web pages. The browser reads the frame tags and produces an output that subdivides output within a browser into discrete windows.
Graphical user interface (GUI):
Program interface that presents digital information and software programs in an image-based format as compared to a character-based format.
Hardware:
Physical equipment related to computers.
Hearing impairment:
Complete or partial loss of the ability to hear, caused by a variety of injuries or diseases, including congenital causes. Limitations, including difficulties in understanding language or other auditory messages and/or in production of understandable speech, are possible.
Independent study:
A student works one-on-one with individual faculty members to develop projects for credit.
Informational interview:
An activity where students meet with people working in careers to ask questions about their jobs and companies, allowing students to gain personal perspectives on career interests.
Input:
Any method by which information is entered into a computer.
Internet:
Computer network connecting governmental, educational, commercial, other organizations, and individual computer systems.
Internship:
A time-limited, intensive learning experience outside of the typical classroom.
Interpreter:
Professional person who assists a person who is deaf in communicating with hearing people.
Job shadowing:
A short work-based learning experience where students visit businesses to observe one or more specific jobs to provide them with a realistic view of occupations in a variety of settings.
Keyboard emulation:
Uses hardware and/or software in place of a standard keyboard.
Kinesthetic:
Refers to touch-based feedback.
Large-print:
Most ordinary print is six to ten points in height (about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch). Large-print type is fourteen to eighteen points (about 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch) and sometimes larger.
Link:
a connection between two electronic files or data items.
Lynx:
A text-based World Wide Web browser.
Macro:
A mini-program that, when run within an application, executes a series of predetermined keystrokes and commands to accomplish a specific task. Macros can automate tedious and often-repeated tasks or create special menus to speed data entry.
Mainstreaming:
The inclusion of people with disabilities, with or without special accommodations, in programs, activities, and facilities with non-disabled people.
Major life activities:
Functions such as caring for oneself, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, working, and participating in community activities (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Multimedia:
A computer-based method of presenting information by using more than one medium of communication, such as text, graphics, and sound.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR):
Machine recognition of printed or typed text. Using OCR software with a scanner, a printed page can be scanned and the characters converted into text in an electronic format.
Output:
Any method of displaying or presenting electronic information to the user through a computer monitor or other device (e.g., speech synthesizer).
Portable Document Format (PDF):
The file format for representing documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware and operating system used to create the documents.
Physical or mental impairment:
Any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more, but not necessarily limited to, the following body systems: neurological; musculoskeletal; special sense organs; respiratory, including speech organs; cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genitourinary; hemic and lymphatic; skin and endocrine; or any mental or psychological disorder, such as mental retardation, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disabilities (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Plug-ins:
Programs that work within a browser to alter, enhance, or extend the browser‚s operation. They are often used for viewing video, animation or listening to audio files.
Proprietary software:
Privately owned software based on trade secrets, privately developed technology, or specifications that the owner refuses to divulge, thus preventing others from duplicating a product or program unless an explicit license is purchased. The opposite of proprietary is open (publicly published and available for emulation by others).
Qualified individual with a disability:
An individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable modification to rules, policies or practices, the removal of architectural, communication, or transportation barriers, or the provision of auxiliary aids and services, meets the essential eligibility requirements for the receipt of services or participation in programs or activities provided by a public entity (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Reader:
Volunteer or employee of a blind or partially sighted individual who reads printed material in person or records to audiotape.
Relay service:
A third-party service (usually free) that allows a hearing person without a TTY/TDD device to communicate over the telephone with a person who has a hearing impairment. The system also allows a person with a hearing impairment who has a TTY/TDD to communicate in voice through a third party, with a hearing person or business.
Screen reader:
A text-to-speech system intended for use by computer users who are blind or have low vision that speaks the text content of a computer display using a speech synthesizer.
Service learning:
A structured, volunteer work experience where students provide community service in non-paid, volunteer positions to give them opportunities to apply knowledge and skills learned in school while making a contribution to local communities.
Sign language:
Manual communication commonly used by people who are deaf. Sign language is not universal; deaf people from different countries speak different sign languages. The gestures or symbols in sign language are organized in a linguistic way. Each individual gesture is called a sign. Each sign has three distinct parts: the hand shape, the position of the hands, and the movement of the hands. American Sign Language (ASL) is the most commonly used sign language in the United States.
Specific learning disability (SLD):
A disorder of one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in difficulties listening, thinking, speaking, reading, writing, spelling, or doing mathematical calculations. Limitations may include hyperactivity, distractibility, emotional instability, visual and/or auditory perception difficulties and/or motor limitations, depending on the type(s) of learning disability.
Speech output system:
A system that provides the user with a voice alternative to the text presented on the computer screen.
Speech impairment:
A problem in communication and related areas, such as oral motor function, ranging from simple sound substitutions to the inability to understand or use language or use the oral-motor mechanism for functional speech and feeding. Some causes of speech and language disorders include hearing loss; neurological disorders; brain injury; mental retardation; drug abuse; physical impairments, such as cleft lip or palate; and vocal abuse or misuse.
Speech input system:
A computer-based system that allows the operator to control the system using his/her voice.
Sticky keys:
Enables a computer user to do multiple key combinations on a keyboard using only one finger at a time. The sticky keys function is usually used with the Ctrl, Alt, and Shift keys. Simultaneous keystrokes can be entered sequentially.
Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) or Teletypewriter (TTY):
A device which enables someone who has a speech or hearing impairment to use a telephone when communicating with someone else who has a TDD/TTY. TDD/TTYs can be used with any telephone, and one needs only a basic typing ability to use them.
Trackball:
A pointing device consisting of a ball housed in a socket containing sensors to detect the rotation of the ball " like an upside down mouse. The user rolls the ball with his thumb or the palm of his hand to move the pointer.
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI):
An open or closed head injury resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
Undue hardship:
An action that requires significant difficulty or expense in relation to the size of the employer, the resources available, and the nature of the operation (Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Universal design:
Designing programs, services, tools, and facilities so that they are usable, without additional modification, by the widest range of users possible, taking into account a variety of abilities and disabilities.
Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973:
An act prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability which applies to any program that receives federal financial assistance. Section 504 of the act is aimed at making educational programs and facilities accessible to all people with disabilities. Section 508 of the act requires that electronic office equipment purchased through federal procurement meets disability access guidelines.
Voice input system:
A computer-based system that allows the operator to control the system using his/her voice.
Vision impairments:
A complete or partial loss of the ability to see, caused by a variety of injuries or diseases including congenital causes. Legal blindness is defined as visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses, on the widest diameter of the visual field subtending an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees.
World Wide Web (WWW, W3, or Web):
Hypertext and multimedia gateway to the Internet.