Three women sit together outside chatting at a table. A guide dog is sleeping at the feet of one of the women.

Digital Accessibility Glossary

Foundational Concepts and Guidelines

A11Y (Accessibility	A numeronym for "accessibility," where '11' represents the number of letters between 'A' and 'y'. It's a widely used shorthand in the accessibility community.
AA & AAA	Conformance levels within WCAG. Level AA is the generally accepted standard for most websites, while Level AAA represents the highest level of accessibility.
POUR (Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust)	The four fundamental principles upon which the WCAG are based, ensuring that web content can be accessed and used effectively by all.
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium)	An international community that develops open standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web. The W3C's Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) is a key player in developing accessibility guidelines.
WAI (Web Accessibility Initiative)	A program within the W3C dedicated to developing web accessibility guidelines, technical reports, and educational materials.
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)	Developed by the WAI, these are internationally recognized guidelines that explain how to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. They are the benchmark for many accessibility laws and standards.
WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2	Different versions of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, with each new version building upon and extending the previous one to address evolving web technologies and user needs.

U.S. Legislation and Standards

ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act)	A landmark U.S. civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including employment, transportation, and public accommodations (which increasingly includes websites and digital content).
Section 508 (of the Rehabilitation Act)	A U.S. federal law that requires federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology (EIT) accessible to people with disabilities. Many organizations that do business with federal agencies also adhere to Section 508.
VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template)	A document that evaluates how accessible a particular product is according to the Section 508 standards. It helps federal agency buyers assess ICT for accessibility.

Assistive Technologies and Tools

A.C.R. (Accessibility Conformance Report)	A report that formally documents the extent to which an ICT product or service conforms to accessibility standards.
ARRM (Accessibility Roles and Responsibilities Mapping)	A framework for organizations to ensure that accessibility is integrated throughout the digital product development lifecycle.
CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation)	The instant translation of the spoken word into text. The text can be displayed on a screen, mobile device, or computer monitor.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)	A style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language like HTML. Proper use of CSS is crucial for accessible design.
JAWS (Job Access With Speech)	A popular screen reader software program for Microsoft Windows that allows blind and visually impaired users to read the screen either with a text-to-speech output or by a refreshable Braille display.
Narrator	The screen reading software built into Windows by Microsoft.
NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access)	A free and open-source screen reader for Microsoft Windows.
Talkback	The screen reading software for Android mobile devices.
Voiceover	The screen reading software program native to every Apple device.
WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tools)	Free, widely-used suite of evaluation tools developed by WebAIM. WAVE is designed to help web developers, designers, and content creators make their web content more accessible to individuals with disabilities.
WebAIM (Web Accessibility in Mind)	A non-profit organization based at the Institute for Disability Research, Policy, and Practice at Utah State University.