Digital Accessibility Glossary

A review of a website, document, or digital platform to identify barriers that may prevent people with disabilities from accessing or using the content.

A condition or feature that creates a barrier for someone using digital content. Examples include missing alternative text, insufficient color contrast, or an improperly structured document.

The process of correcting identified accessibility issues to improve the usability and accessibility of digital content.

A set of established guidelines or technical requirements used to evaluate and improve accessibility. WCAG is one of the most widely recognized digital accessibility standards.

A written description of an image that communicates its meaning or purpose to people who may not be able to see it. Screen readers can read this description aloud.

A technology that allows different software applications to communicate with one another and exchange information or perform tasks.

A connection between two software applications that allows them to communicate, share information, or perform tasks automatically.

A unique code that allows an authorized software application or integration to access another system's API. API keys should be kept confidential because they can provide access to account resources.

Hardware or software that helps people with disabilities interact with digital content. Examples include screen readers, screen magnification software, and speech recognition tools.

The use of software tools to identify potential accessibility issues in websites or documents. Automated testing can detect many common issues but does not replace manual testing.

Links on a website that lead to pages or resources that cannot be accessed, such as pages that no longer exist or URLs that return an error. Broken links can prevent users from reaching intended information and negatively impact the overall user experience.

The use of software to automatically navigate and interact with a website through a web browser. It can support accessibility testing across pages and interactive elements.

Individual accessibility tests performed on a document or digital content to evaluate whether specific accessibility requirements are being met. Checks help identify potential accessibility barriers and areas that may need attention.

The difference in brightness between text or other visual elements and their background. Sufficient contrast helps people with low vision or color vision deficiencies distinguish content.

Meeting all applicable requirements of a particular accessibility standard or guideline at a specified level.

The organization of digital content using elements such as headings, paragraphs, lists, and tables. Proper structure helps users navigate and understand information.

An image used for visual appearance rather than to communicate important information. Decorative images should generally be identified so assistive technology can ignore them.

A list of the outcome for every page the scanner found: how many succeeded, were unsuccessful, were skipped or are still pending, and how many were document links.

The practice of creating and maintaining documents that can be accessed and understood by people with disabilities, including individuals using assistive technology.

The process of correcting accessibility issues in documents such as PDFs, Word files, Excel workbooks, and PowerPoint presentations.

The organization of content using hierarchical heading levels, such as Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3. A logical heading structure helps users navigate content and understand how information is organized.

The ability to navigate and interact with digital content using a keyboard without requiring a mouse. This is important for people with mobility disabilities and some assistive technology users.

The intended sequence in which content should be read and understood. In an accessible document, the reading order should follow the natural flow of information on the page.

The process of evaluating digital content through hands-on testing. This may include keyboard navigation, screen reader testing, and reviewing content structure.

The maximum number of levels a website scanner will follow when navigating links from the starting page. This setting determines how deeply the scanner explores a website to identify pages and evaluate their accessibility. A higher crawl depth allows the scanner to reach pages that are farther from the starting page.

The practice of ensuring that websites, applications, and digital content are usable on mobile devices by people with disabilities.

Technology that converts text contained in scanned images or documents into machine-readable text. OCR can make scanned documents searchable and support accessibility remediation, but the resulting text must be reviewed for accuracy.

The total number of accessibility checks that received a passing result during a scan. Pass counts provide an overview of how many tested accessibility requirements were successfully met.

The number of accessibility checks that were successfully met, indicating that the tested element or requirement passed the applicable accessibility evaluation.

The practice of ensuring PDF documents are structured so that people using assistive technology can navigate, read, and understand their content.

An international technical standard that establishes requirements for accessible PDF documents.

The sequence in which assistive technology presents content to a user. An incorrect reading order can cause information to be confusing, out of sequence, or difficult to understand.

The level of importance assigned to an accessibility issue to help determine which issues should be addressed first.

Assistive technology that converts digital text and other accessible information into speech or Braille. Examples include JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver.

The use of meaningful elements and labels to communicate the purpose and relationships of digital content. Examples include headings, lists, tables, and links.

A classification used to communicate the potential impact of an accessibility issue. Severity levels help teams understand the relative importance of identified issues and prioritize remediation.

A PDF containing structural tags that identify elements such as headings, paragraphs, lists, tables, and images. These tags help assistive technology interpret the document's structure and content.

The current WCAG 2.x recommendation, republished by W3C in December 2024 (first published October 2023). It provides testable success criteria for improving digital accessibility.

Three levels used to describe how well digital content meets WCAG requirements:

• Level A: The minimum level of accessibility requirements.
• Level AA: Addresses additional accessibility barriers and is a common target for accessibility efforts.
• Level AAA: The highest level of conformance, with more extensive accessibility requirements.

The practice of designing, developing, and maintaining websites so people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with them.

A set of internationally recognized guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to improve the accessibility of websites and digital content.