Lexicon
Participants to the workshop come with a very diverse set of background and expertise in relationship with Inclusive Design and XR. The Program Committee has assembled the following lexicon to help participants prepare for the discussions at the workshop - we do not expect all participants to be familiar with all the terms and jargon, but hope this can be used as a reference before, during and after the workshop to facilicate communication.
- 3D engine
- Software that provides high level APIs to simplify the development of 3D-rendered applications (e.g. games, XR experiences). Examples include Unity, Unreal Engine, and specifically for the Web BabylonJS and Three.js
- 3D model
- An interconnected set of surfaces and geometric shapes in 3D that is used to represent 3D objects or entities. Formats that can be used to package these include glTF, FBX, USDZ.
- 3D scene graph
- A declarative approach to describing a 3D environment as an interconnected collection of 3D objects and entities
- 3DOF (three degrees of freedom)
- Refers to tracking of rotational motion only: pitch, yaw, and roll - in contrast with 6DOF
- 6DOF (six degrees of freedom)
- Freedom to change position as forward/backward (surge), up/down (heave), left/right (sway) translation in three perpendicular axes, combined with changes in orientation through rotation about three perpendicular axes - in contrast with 3DOF
- aframe
- An open-source declarative framework to develop VR experiences on the Web in HTML
- AG (Accessibility Guidelines) Working Group
- W3C Working Group responsible for the standardization of accessibility guidelines, including the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the future Silver Accessibility Guidelines
- AI
- Artificial Intelligence
- Ambisonics
- A sounds format for spatialized audio that allows to describe audio sources in the 3 spatial dimensions
- AOM (Accesibility Object Model)
- A JavaScript API under incubation that enables developer to expose information to assistive technologies in an imperative manner
- APA (Accessible Platform Architectures) Working Group
- W3C Working Group that ensures W3C specifications provide support for accessibility to people with disabilities
- API
- Application Programing Interface - a well-defined set of code instructions developers can use to trigger well-defined outcomes
- AR (Augmented Reality)
- Overlaying virtual artefacts on top of a real-world environment (e.g. through a headset or in a "magic window" approach on a phone)
- AR headset
- A headset that allows to visualize AR artefacts via a seethrough screen in front of the user's eyes - e.g. Hololens or Magic Leap One
- ARCore
- The SDK provided on Android to develop AR experiences
- ARKit
- The SDK provided on iOS to develop AR experiences
- ARIA (or WAI ARIA)
- ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) is a suite of technologies that provides declarative markup to help make Web content accessible via assistive technologies
- Assistive Technologies (AT)
- Artefacts that enhance learning, working, and daily living for persons with disabilities
- ASL
- American Sign Language
- ATAG (Authoring Tools Accessibility Guidelines)
- W3C guidelines for designing web content authoring tools that are both more accessible to authors with disabilities and designed to enable, support, and promote the production of more accessible web content by all authors.
- avatar
- The graphical representation of the user or the user's alter ego or character.
- babylon.js
- an open-source 3D Engine for the Web
- canvas element
- An HTML element which gets combined with an imperative JavaScript API to draw any type of graphical content. It is used in the Immersive Web to draw 3D content via WebGL (and probably WebGPU in the future). Work to make content drawn with this approach in 2D accessible involved providing hit testing support.
- Cardboard | Google Cardboard
- A cheap mobile VR headset where a user would put their phone to enable basic VR experiences
- Community Group
- CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
- Daydream | Google Daydream
- A platform for Android phones to enable them as basis for mobile VR headsets
- declarative (programming language)
- An approach where the developer declares their intent with high level semantics (e.g. via a markup language) and leaves it to the computer to represent that intent to the end-user - by opposition to imperative
- DHH
- Deaf and hard of hearing
- DOM (Document Object Model)
- A JavaScript API that allows developers to modify dynamically the content of a Web page
- FBX
- a proprietary 3D model format
- frustrum
- The 3D space covered by the field of view in a headset
- Gamepad API
- A JavaScript API that enables to use gamepads, and - via WebXR - XR controllers as well, in Web applications
- gaze interaction
- Gaze-based interactions rely on the user rotating their heads and looking at objects to interact with them.
- GearVR | Samsung GearVR
- A mobile VR headset where a user would put their phone to enable basic VR experiences
- glTF
- a standards 3D model format, developed by the Khronos Group
- haptics
- interactions based on the sense of touch (e.g. touch screen, vibrations)
- Hit testing [canvas]
- Accommodation for the canvas element to make imperative user interfaces built with it accessible by exposing them to assistive technologies
- Hit testing [real-world]
- Ability to detect surfaces or objects in the real-world to enable positioning AR artefacts in it
- Hololens | Microsoft Hololens
- An AR headset by Microsoft
- HTML
- the declarative markup language with which most pages are developed
- Image recognition
- AI driven recognition and understanding of the content of images or other graphical material.
- Immersive Web
- The Immersive Web is the project in W3C, carried by the Immersive Web Working Group and Immersive Web Community Group, to make Web browsers a platform to develop and distribute AR & VR experiences to any device using Web technologies. The lead component of that project is the WebXR API.
- Immersive Web Community Group
- A Community Group in W3C that incubates technologies for future standardization to enable the Immersive Web vision
- Immersive Web Working Group
- W3C Working Group that standardizes the technical components to enable the Immersive Web vision, currently focused on WebXR
- imperative (programming language)
- An approach where the developer gives specific instructions (via APIs) to the computer in how the content is rendered and how user input is handled - by opposition to declarative
- incubation [standards]
- Informal process through which technologies can be built and experimented with in a fast iteration approach (typically in a Community Group) before going through the formal standardization process (in W3C, in a Working Group)
- Inclusive Design
- designing for the needs of people with permanent, temporary, situational, or changing disabilities
- JavaScript
- A programming language that can be used for imperative developments in Web browsers via the JavaScript APIs they provide
- JavaScript API
- An API for use in browsers that enable developers to write JavaScript code to achieve certain effects. DOM, WebGL, WebXR, WebGPU, AOM are examples of APIs that have been standardized or are being standardized to enable new capabilities in Web browsers.
- Khronos Group
- A standards organization for 3D graphics, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Parallel Computing, Neural Networks, and Vision Processing. The Khronos Group standardized WebGL, OpenXR, glTF among other things.
- Magic Leap One | Magic Leap
- An AR headset by Magic Leap
- magic window
- Approach to render VR or AR content where a mobile phone screen is used as if it was a window on the virtual world or the augmented world - by opposition to immersive VR
- markup
- Declarative code that allows to structure, annotate and enrich content - HTML is a markup language that serves as the basis of most Web pages
- Mixed Reality (MR)
- Sometimes used to refer to AR experiences that are more integrated in the real world; also the name of the XR platform in Windows
- mobile VR headset
- Headset for immersive VR that can be used independently from a computer (e.g. GearVR, Daydream, Cardboard)
- native applications
- Applications developed using SDKs specific to an OS or a platform - by opposition to Web applications
- OpenXR
- A standard cross-platform API for native development of VR & AR applications
- Quest | Oculus Quest
- a mobile VR headset by Oculus
- Recommendation (W3C)
- The name W3C gives to its finalized standards. The Process through which they are produced is known as the Recommendation track.
- Rift | Oculus Rift
- a tethered VR headset by Oculus
- RQTF (WAI Research Question Task Force)
- A task force of the W3C APA Working Group focused on addressing accessibility knowledge gaps and barriers in emerging and future web technologies
- screen magnifier
- Software that magnifies a small portion of on-screen content multiple times, allowing it to take up all the available screen space.
- screen reader
- Software that translates on-screen content into synthetic speech or electronic braille.
- SDK (Software Development Kit)
- A set of tools and APIs that enable developers to build applications for a certain platform or product
- Silver guidelines
- The next generation of accessibility guidelines envisioned by the W3C Accessibility Guidelines Working Group to replace WCAG and other guidelines
- Spatialized audio
- Audio content that is rendered to be perceived as coming from different positions in the 3D space
- speech recognition
- Software that enables technology and interaction to be controlled with voice commands.
- tag [HTML]
- A piece of markup that developers use to convey a well-defined semantic
- tethered VR headset
- Headset for immersive VR that is used in combination with (and often plugged into) a computer (e.g. Oculus Rift, Windows Mixed Reality headsets, HTC Vive)
- Three.js
- an open-source 3D Engine for the Web
- UAAG (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines)
- Guidelines that explain how to make user agents ( accessible to people with disabilities. User agents include browsers, browser extensions, media players, readers and other applications that render web content
- Unity
- A commercial 3D Engine developed by Unity Technologies, available both in native and Web context
- Unreal Engine
- A commercial 3D Engine developed by Epic Games, available both in native and Web contexts
- user agent
- Software that acts on behalf of the user when interacting with content or protocols; often used as a synonym to Web browser in the W3C context
- USDZ
- a proprietary 3D model format
- TTML (Timed Text Markup Language)
- A declarative markup format to describe timed text, such as captions or audio descriptions. The format is not currently natively interpreted by Web browsers. See also WebVTT.
- Vive | HTC Vive
- a tethered VR headset by HTC
- voice assistant
- Software or hardware that that uses voice as its primary mode of interaction.
- VR (Virtual Reality)
- Computer-generated environments in which the user can evolve in all dimensions of space; can be either through a VR headset or through a magic window approach
- VR headset
- Headset that fills (most of) the user field of view and make them feel completely immersed in the virtual environment - by opposition to magic window mode of VR
- WAI
- Web Accessibility Initiative, a W3C initiative that makes the Web accessible through the development of standards and support materials to help understand and implement accessibility.
- WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
- Guidelines standardized in W3C to help make Web content more accessible. Currently at version 2.1, with plans for a version 2.2, and future plans for a more radical evolution known as Silver
- Web applications
- Applications developed with Web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript APIs) that run in Web browsers - by opposition to native applications
- Web Assembly
- Technology developed in W3C available in recent Web browsers that enable to run code developed in other programming languages than JavaScript, with very high performance
- Web Audio API
- A JavaScript API developed in W3C that allows to render audio in Web browsers
- WebGL
- A JavaScript API developed in Khronos that enables graphical rendering of 3D content in Web browsers via the canvas element. WebGPU may provide a more powerful alternative in the future.
- WebGPU
- A JavaScript API developed in incubation in a Community Group in W3C, similar in scope to WebGL (incl. enabling 3D graphics) but with more modern and Web-friendly characteristics
- WebVR
- An experimental and now deprecated JavaScript API that was available in browsers to render VR experiences via Web browsers. Replaced by WebXR
- WebVTT
- A declarative format (inspired from SRT) to describe timed text, such as captions or audio descriptions. Natively supported by recent Web browsers.
- WebXR
- A JavaScript API being standardized by the W3C Immersive Web Working Group that provides access to AR & VR devices from Web browsers and the necessary hooks to render 3D content (e.g. via WebGL, Web Audio and the gamepad API). Replaces WebVR and constitutes the current main component of the Immersive Web project.
- Working Group
- In W3C, a formally chartered group that follows the W3C Process and its Recommendation track to develop standards for the Web.
- XR (extended reality)
- An umbrella term that encompasses Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR) and Virtual Reality (VR)