Glossary of Digital Accessibility Terms and Abbreviations

Glossary of Digital Accessibility Terms and Abbreviations

Accessibility Laws, Government Agencies, and Organizations

United States

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in public life, including digital spaces.
• New ADA Title II Ruling: Updates (April 24, 2024) to ensure web content and mobile apps from state and local governments are accessible.
• Section 508: Requires federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible.
• Department of Justice (DOJ): Enforces laws like the ADA to uphold civil rights.
• U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR): Ensures equal access to education and enforces laws like Section 504 and Title II of the ADA.
• W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI): Provides guidelines and resources like WCAG, ATAG, and UAAG for web accessibility.

European Union

• EU Web Accessibility Directive (EN 301 549): Sets accessibility standards for public sector websites and apps in EU member states.

Canada

• Accessible Canada Act (ACA): Aims to eliminate barriers for people with disabilities by 2040.

Standards and Guidelines

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): Provides standards for making web content accessible. Current version: WCAG 2.1.
• Section 508 Standards: Guidelines to ensure information technology complies with Section 508.
• MathML: An XML-based language for accessible mathematical notations on the web.
• ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications): Enhances accessibility for dynamic content and interfaces.

 Accessibility Compliance Documents

• VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template®): Describes how a product meets accessibility requirements. Required by some institutions despite being "voluntary."
• Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR): Summarizes how a product conforms to accessibility standards, derived from a VPAT.
• HECVAT: A questionnaire for assessing third-party vendor security and accessibility practices.
• Accessibility Roadmap: Outlines an organization’s plan to improve accessibility.
• Accessibility Statement: Communicates an organization’s commitment to digital accessibility, including standards followed and contact information.

 Technical Terms

• Accessibility Testing: Evaluates digital products for usability by individuals with disabilities.
• Accesskeys: Keyboard shortcuts for easier navigation.
• Alt Text: Descriptive text for images, aiding non-visual access.
• Assistive Technology (AT): Tools (e.g., screen readers) aiding access to digital content.
• Automated Accessibility Checkers: Scan for WCAG compliance but require manual review.
• Built-In Accessibility Checkers: Identify software-specific accessibility issues.
• Built-In Accessibility Features: Software features like screen reader compatibility and text-to-speech.
• Color Contrast Ratio: Minimum WCAG ratios: 4.5:1 for regular text, 3:1 for large text.
• Color Contrast: Difference between text and background for readability.
• Document Accessibility: Ensures documents (e.g., PDFs) are usable with assistive technologies.
• Inaccessible PDF: PDFs lacking proper structure for assistive tools.
• Keyboard Navigation: Allows website or app navigation via keyboard alone.
• Keyboard Shortcuts: Enable quick access to functions, enhancing usability.
• Magnifier: Enlarges text and images for users with low vision.
• Optical Character Recognition (OCR): Converts scanned images into searchable, editable text.
• PDF Accessibility: Makes PDFs accessible via features like tags and readable text.
• PDF Remediation: The process of making a PDF document accessible.
• PDF Tags: Provide structure for screen readers to interpret content.
• Screen Reader: Reads text aloud for visually impaired users (e.g., JAWS, NVDA).
• Screen Magnifier: Assistive technology used by low vision users to read and navigate web pages and documents
• Semantic HTML: HTML that conveys structure and meaning for assistive technologies.
• User Agents: Software like browsers and screen readers.
• Web Accessibility: Ensures digital content is usable by individuals with disabilities.
• Zoom: Enlarges screen content for better visibility.

Common Digital Accessibility Acronyms

Testing Tools

• Axe Devtools Pro Automated testing tool for individual web pages
• Color Contrast Analyzer testing tool for individual web pages
• DubBot Automated testing tool used by the 4 campuses
• UDOIT Automated testing tool for Canvas courses
• WAVE Automated testing tool for induvial web pages

Testing Terms

• Alt Text: Text that is read when a screen reader encounters an image
• Automated Testing: tools that are used to quickly identify common accessibility issues
• Color Contrast: Difference between text and background for readability.
• Heading levels Provides structure to web pages. Enables screen reader users to navigate efficiently
• Keyboard focus: The border around an element that where the user is.
• Manual Testing: Uses human judgement to assess the accessibility of content
• Placeholder text: Is the temporary text displayed inside a text or search box.
• Reflow: Increase the web browser to 400% and test website
• Resize: Increase the web browser to 200% and test website
• Screen Reader: Assistive technology used by blind users to read and navigate web pages and documents
• Severity Level: Method of prioritizing accessibility issues according to impact on users with disabilities
• Skip navigation link: Allows user to bypass repetitive content such as menus to go directly to the main content.
• Zoom: Browser command used to adjust the size of web page content

For more information, please contact the IT Accessibility Center at itaccessibilitycenter@missouri.edu or call (573) 884-2828.