Website Terms Glossary - Executive Snippets
A glossary of jargon terms used in the HTML and Web Development industry! In alphabetical order!
Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that people with disabilities — including people with visual, hearing or physical impairments and people with photosensitive epilepsy — are given access that is comparable to access available to others. In 1998, Congress amended the act to make electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. 1
Content management system (CMS)
A centrally managed computing system that allows non-technical users to easily update text and images and modify their organization within a website.Developer
Someone who uses a programming code or a software package to transform the content and visual design into a functional site.Hyperlink / hotlink / link
A clickable item in a site, usually represented by words or images, that will take a user to information in another page or elsewhere in the same page.Information architecture
The structure or organization of your website, particularly the way in which the different pages of the site relate to one another. It also includes the order in which information is displayed on each page, as well as the navigation scheme selected.Key stakeholders
The people who set the tone and overall goals of a website and give required approvals at various stages of the site’s development.Navigation
Descriptive links or buttons that are grouped together to give a visual cue that your users can click on them to find their way to the information in your site.Project scope
An outline of your site’s goals, parameters and resources. Developing the project scope includes several important activities, such as identifying key audiences, assessing existing and needed content, determining the essential and custom-built functional features and establishing the budget and timeline.Screen Reader
A type of browser that speaks Web text aloud, often used by site visitors with vision impairments.Site map
A visual representation of the content areas and their relationship to one another in your site.Target audience(s)
The primary audience(s) for which a site is built.User
Someone who visits your site for information or to complete a task.User testing
Sessions in which actual users are observed navigating and assessing your site to determine whether or not they can find information easily and complete desired tasks. It also can be used to gauge the user’s overall experience and impression. These findings are often useful when making adjustments to the site’s organization, visual presence and/or functional features.Validate / validation
Ensuring that the decisions you’ve made in your site’s organization, visual presence and/or functional features fulfill your users’ and key stakeholders’ goals. This is often accomplished with user-testing.Visual designer
A person who creates the visual presence of a site.Visual presence
This is the look and feel of a site: the images, typefaces and colors used, the placement of visual elements (based upon a wireframe) and the style of the navigation.Web accessibility
An accessible website provides equal or equivalent access to its content for everyone, including those with varying technical access, language skills and physical abilities. Accessibility can be considered a subset of Web usability.Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that people with disabilities — including people with visual, hearing or physical impairments and people with photosensitive epilepsy — are given access that is comparable to access available to others. In 1998, Congress amended the act to make electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. 1
Comments