Universally Designed Technology in Schools: Glossary

Glossary

Accessible Digital Instructional Materials
Accessible digital instructional materials include textbooks and other resources that can be converted to specialized formats, such as Braille print, large print, or audio.
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)
The American with Disabilities Act protects qualified persons from discrimination on the basis of disability. It applies to private employers and federal, state, and local government agencies.

For more information, visitwww.ncd.gov/disabilityrights.htm.
Assistive Technology
Assistive technology refers to any equipment, tool, or other product that helps people with disabilities increase, maintain, or improve their ability to function. Assistive technology is defined in several laws, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004).
Audio Description
Audio description is the spoken depiction of important visual content in a television show, video, movie, or other multimedia production.
Audio Navigation
Audio navigation provides a way for people who are blind or visually impaired to operate multimedia menu options by sound. In products with audio navigation, the multimedia menu items are spoken out loud.
Blog
Blog, short for Web log, is a public Web site where a person makes entries into a personal journal.
Captioning
Captioning is the text equivalent of the audio in a television show, movie, or other multimedia product.
Curriculum
A curriculum is the overall teaching plan that guides a school’s instructional activities, content, and methods.
Digital Audio
Digital audio recordings, such as books on CD, provide an alternative means of accessing print materials. Digital audio recordings can be listened to on a computer, CD player, or MP3 player.
Electronic text (e-text)
Electronic text is content that can be viewed on a computer screen, read aloud by the computer with a text-to-speech program, or enlarged or modified in other ways to be more readable. E-text also can be converted to Braille.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004)
Passed in 1997 and reauthorized in 2004, IDEA is a federal special education law that requires public schools to provide a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment to eligible students with disabilities. It also requires that students have equal access to the general curriculum.

For more information, visitwww.ncd.gov/disabilityrights.htm.
Information Technology
Information technology includes any product used to acquire, store, manipulate, or transmit information. Examples of information technology are computers, operating systems, software, Web sites, Web-based applications, telecommunications, and multimedia presentations.
Multimedia
Multimedia is the delivery of information using various combinations of text, graphics, animation, audio, and video. It comes in a range of formats, such as VHS, CD, DVD, streaming online media, broadcast television, and film.
National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS)
This provision in IDEA 2004 establishes a national standard file format for digital textbook. Its primary goal is to promote the timely delivery of accessible instructional materials to students who have print disabilities.

For more information, visithttp://nimas.cast.org.
Screen Reader
A screen reader is a software application that translates material displayed on a computer screen into synthesized speech or Braille. It is used by people who are blind or visually impaired to access computers.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of a person’s disability. It applies to federal government agencies, federal contractors, and recipients of federal financial assistance.

For more information, visitwww.ncd.gov/disabilityrights.htm.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act establishes accessibility requirements for electronic and information technology developed, maintained, procured, or used by federal agencies.

To learn more, visithttp://www.section508.gov.
Universal Design
Universal design refers to the principle of creating products and environments that are accessible to the broadest range of people possible, without the need for adaptation.

To learn more, visithttp://www.ncsu.edu/www/ncsu/design/sod5/cud/.
Universal Design for Learning
Universal design for learning is an approach to education that emphasizes flexibility in curriculum design to reach students with different learning styles.

For more information, visitwww.cast.org.
Universally Designed Technology
Universally designed technology incorporates design principles that make technology accessible to people with a broad range of abilities and backgrounds. It includes such things as captioned multimedia, accessible Web sites, and accessible digital instructional materials.
Webcast
A Webcast is a live broadcast over the Internet. It may take the form of a presentation or an interactive discussion among the participants. Webcasts may include audio, video, text, or pictures.
Wiki
Wiki refers to a type of Web site that allows visitors to add or edit the content. The term comes from the Hawaiian word "wiki-wiki," which means "fast."

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