BITV Annex (Part 2)

Glossary

Applet

Short for "application". A program usually written in the programming language Java and inserted into a webpage.

ASCII art

"American Standard Code For Information Interchange"; a set of characters allowing to attribute characters of normal written language to numerical values (bytes). ASCII art are images created by combining ASCII characters and symbols (e.g. emoticons).

Assistive technologies

Software or hardware developed especially to help disabled persons in their daily activities. Assistive technologies are e.g. wheelchairs, reading devices, devices to grasp objects etc. Common assistive technologies for conveying internet content are screen readers, screen magnifiers, speech generators and voice recognition software which are used in conjunction with desktop graphical browsers (apart from other user agents). Hardware assistive technologies are, among others, alternative keyboards and pointing devices.

Attribute value

Commands written in programming language may contain additional information to describe the command; these are called attributes. These attributes can be defined more closely by values.

Browser

Program allowing to access and represent webpages.

Button

Graphically represented field triggering activity.

Client, client-side

Network software program using the services provided by the server, usually at the level of the local computer of the user. Clients either request data from servers (e.g. browsers) or send data to the servers (e.g. e-mails). A function is client-sided when it is performed on the client.

Data table

Tables which are used to represent logical links between data are data tables, unlike tables which only serve document formatting or layout purposes.

Dynamic content

Generic term for different mechanisms to change contents dynamically, either automatically or upon action of the user, while on display.

Event handler

Usually written as attributes in HTML programming language commands; upon being activated by the user, they trigger a pre-defined reaction, usually another program (e.g. script).

Frames

Definable segments structuring the display area of a browser. Each display segment can have its own content.

GIF

"Graphics Interchange Format"; a file format for the representation of graphics. Animated GIFs contain several graphics in one file which are displayed successively, thus creating an impression of movement.

HTML

cf. "markup language"

Hyperlink

Reference in an electronic document to any reference target. The reference target can be located in any source accessible via electronic data exchange.

Image maps

Reference-sensitive graphics; graphics which have been divided into regions with associated actions. Clicking on an active region triggers an action.

Input device

Facilitates interaction with the electronic medium. Examples of input devices are keyboards, computer mice, Braille devices, head pointers or microphones.

Linearized Table

A table rendering process where the contents of the cells become a series of paragraphs. The paragraphs will occur in the same order as the cells are defined in the original document.

Markup language

Category of programming languages, including e.g. HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) or XML (Extensible Markup Language). Mark-up languages are based on SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language), laid down in ISO 8879. In their specific fields of application, they serve to logically describe contents, to exchange data or to define further markup languages.

Metadata

Information on the data or contents used.

Multimedia

The combination of several media such as text, images, sound or three-dimensional simulation to form a complete electronic presentation.

Natural language

Human languages such as German in a spoken or written form or represented through signs and symbols, but also sign language and Braille.

Output device

Places the processed data at the user's disposal. Examples of output devices are monitors, printers, loudspeakers or Braille lines.

Pop-ups

Newly appearing display area or window. Process usually not controllable by the user.

Script

Program written in a special programming language ("script language" such as JavaScript).

Server, server-side

Software program being executed on a host computer and, in networks, providing services (e.g. websites, e-mail) to other computers on which client software is executed. A function is server-sided when it is performed on the server.

Site map

Overview of the structure of a webpage.

Style sheet, style sheet property value

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) is a supplementary language to HTML, facilitating the specification of a document's presentation. It allows free formatting of individual HTML elements or the defining of central formats in documents. Property values contain values attributed to the defined formats.

User agent

Software to access web content, including desktop graphical browsers, text browsers, voice browsers, mobile phones, multimedia players and some software assistive technologies used in conjunction with browsers, such as screen readers, screen magnifiers and voice recognition software.

User interface

Enables users to enter data and determines their representation.