The Accessibility Lingo

• Posted by: Michael Spellacy (Spell), Director, Accessibility
• Pronouns: He/Him
• Posted: Monday, September 15, 2025

As in every industry, there is a shorthand for the common terminology used within it. This list covers the major terminology and will be updated as new ones are required or make themselves known:

• A11y: Short for Accessibility. It's a numeronym, meaning there are 11 letters between the a and the y. Ironically, the term itself isn’t very accessible, but here we are!
• i18n: Similar concept, but this one stands for Internationalization. I'll leave it you to guess how many letter are between the i and the n. A11y and I18n often intersect, which is why it is included here.
• WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The guidelines we live and die by in accessibility. We’re currently at WCAG 2.2, and the gold standard to meet is Level AA. However, websites or applications need to meet Level A fully before we can even say they meet AA. That's just the way it is, folks. WCAG 3 is being worked on, but years away.
• W3C: World Wide Web Consortium. The geniuses who gave us WCAG and, ya know, those awesome web standards all the cool kids use.
• PwD: People/Person with Disabilities.
• ARIA: Accessible Rich Internet Applications. An extension of HTML to make the web more robust and accessible for PwDs.
• AT: Assistive Technology. Various tools used by disabled individuals to navigate the web. For example, a screen reader. SR is also used interchangeably.
• accName: Short for Accessible Name. I drop this baby a lot. All interactive components require an accessible name so that AT users understand what they’re interacting with. Example: A button with a magnifying glass icon. You and I know it’s a search button, but does someone who is blind? Adding an accName ensures they will!
• ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act. U.S. law protecting people with disabilities from discrimination. While it predates the internet, legal precedent has determined that digital content is also covered under the ADA.
• EAA: European Accessibility Act. A new directive from the European Union. Each member nation may intrepret and issue fines differently, depending on local laws.
• EN 301 549: The EU accessibility standard harmonized with WCAG (often cited with EAA compliance).
• Section 508: A requirement for US federal agencies to make their digital content accessible. 508 currently recommends meeting WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
• DEIA: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility. These things still matter to a lot of companies.
• JAWS: Not the shark—the screen reader. Likely the most widely used in the world.
• NVDA: Non-Visual Desktop Access. Another popular screen reader.
• VO: Voice Over. A Mac only screen reader.
• UX/AX: User Experience/Accessible Experience. I tend to group these so it is clear we are talking about an experience that includes everyone—including people with disabilities.
• POUR: Used to define the four principles of accessibility. When evaluating an interface, one must always ask if it is Perceivable, Operable, Understabdable, and Robust. WCAG can be organized better under these principles.
• VPAT: Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. This templates is used to produce an ACR (sometimes used interchangeably with a VPAT)
• ACR: Accessibility Conformance Report. The finsihed report, based on a VPAT. This document can then be used to aid procurement decisions and roadmap initiatives. Many of our clients ask for one.