Terminology - UNC-Project-Open-AAC/OS-DPI GitHub Wiki

This is a running list of terms that are being used or proposed for use in the OS-DPI.

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Key Terms

Term	Definition	Example
Audio	Customizable component within Layout. Compatible formats are: mp4, ogg, webM, WAV.
Action	A user-initiated event.	Pressing a Button in a named control (the origin) will trigger changes to the state (an update) if any given conditions are met.
Button	A minimally customizable component within Layout. Can customize the button's label, scale, and background color.
CSS (cascading style sheets)	A style sheet language used for creating a document written in a markup language such as HTML.	CSS examples and tutorial
Conditions	A comparison involving states and fields that determines whether the action gets triggered.
Content	Tab that lists the media and the spreadsheet linked and uploaded to the current design.
Cues	What visual things happen when you are selecting something.	A colored overlay, an icon fills up, a circle appears over the icon.
Declarative programming	A non-imperative style of programming that requires users to describe the intended results without requiring they list the specific commands or steps that must be performed.
Designer interface	The level at which researchers work; uses declarative programming. This is where most members of OS-DPI will be working. You can design the layout and program responses in the DSL (domain specific language).
Display	Blank space that may function as a “message window” for any desirable text.
Event	See definition for Action
Field	A named column from a spreadsheet containing content. Names begin with #	#label
Gap	A blank space between components.
Grid	Any combination of rows and columns that can be filled with text, images, etc.
Layout	The arrangement of varying components that the designer can manipulate to create a design. Components can be added, deleted, moved up and down (e.g., audio, buttons, grids, etc).
Logger	A component that allows tracking of any $State or #Field to log.	Choosing to log content output.
Methods	Tab that controls which access method(s) will be compatible with the user interface (UI). It is about mapping the low-level browser events into things that activate the rules and actions.
Modal Dialog	A pop up window that forces users to interact with it before returning to previous (parent) application.
Origin	Located within the Action tab, names the component of the Layout to be edited to perform an action.	The action originates in the keyboard.
OS-DPI	Acronym for Open-Source Design and Programmer Interface, a robust AAC design platform that supports simulation and testing of UI designs common across AAC software applications and exploration of novel interface configurations for research purposes.
Patterns	Tab that is primarily intended for switch access. Think, how scanning patterns will occur. Patterns have an endless combination of ways they can be designed.	Simple patterns examples
Predict	An action that can be utilized if the intended event is to predict text under set conditions.
Programmer Interface	The level at which computer scientists (coders) work.
Radio	A component that may be added within a Page on the Layout tab.
Sequenced data	Where order matters.	Component order of arrangement in the Layout tab matters and the order is reflected in the design.
Speech	A component in Layout that allows the designer to program speech into the design.
Stack	Located in the Layout tab, elements are placed adjacent either in a row or column.
State variable	A variable that is shared among controls. Their names start with $ symbol.	$Display
Tab Control	Layout component that allows the designer to create one design with multiple tabs to toggle between.
User interface (UI)	Design created for an intended user.
Value	State variables have a value. The value is determined in the columns of excel spreadsheets	The column labeled Speak has values that differ among rows.
VSD	An acronym for visual scene display; an interactive image with hotspots that can be activated to produce any combination of actions (e.g., speech, text).