Glossary

Definitions of some terms and acronyms used in this web site relating to disability, Higher education and technology. The SDT links page links to some of the organisations mentioned in the glossary.

BSL: British Sign Language - The most commonly used language by Deaf people in the UK.
CEDAG: The Chief Executive's Disability Advisory Group - SFC's advisory group on disability matters.
DDA: Disability Discrimination Act (1995) - UK legislation setting out the rights of disabled people not to encounter unjustified discrimination in society on account of a disability.
DELNI: Department for Employment and Learning for Northern Ireland
DMAG: Digital Media Access Group - Provide consultancy and research into accessibility and usability of digital media
DRC: Disability Rights Commission - An independent body established to eliminate discrimination against disabled people and to promote equality of opportunity.
DSA: Disabled Student Allowance - An allowance for disabled students in Higher Education
HE: Higher Education
HEAG: Higher Education Accessibility Guide - HEAGNET is a web-based database, created by the European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education, providing information regarding disability support services in Higher Education in 17 European countries.
HEFCE: Higher Education Funding Council for England - This organisation promotes and funds teaching and research in English universities and colleges.
HEI: Higher Education Institutions
HESA: Higher Education Statistics Agency - A central source for Higher Education statistics.
HTML: Hypertext Mark-up Language - A mark-up language used to create web pages.
ILTHE: Institute for Learning & Teaching in HE - A professional body for all who teach and support learning in higher education in the UK (also known as the ILT).
JISC: Joint Information Systems Committee - This committee supports further and higher education by providing strategic guidance, advice and opportunities to use Information and Communications Technology to support teaching, learning, research and administration
LTSN: Learning and Teaching Support Network - A network of 24 subject centres which enables the sharing of good practice and the provision of learning and teaching resources and information for the Higher Education community.
MIND: Mental Health Voluntary Organisation - The leading mental health voluntary organisation in England and Wales.
NADO: National Association of Disability Officers - A professional association for disability officers working in UK Higher and Further Education Institutions.
NCTD: National Centre for Tactile Diagrams - Providing tactile diagrams, maps and pictures for blind and partially sighted people.
NDT: National Disability Team - A group contracted by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Department for Employment and Learning for Northern Ireland (DELNI) to undertake the service of a national team to improve provision for disabled students in higher education.
NUS: National Union of Students - A confederation of local student representative organisations in colleges and universities throughout the United Kingdom.
PAS 78: Publicly Accessible Specification 78 - A standard produced by the British Standards Institute, commissioned by the Disability Rights Commission, and launched in March 2006. It provides organisations with Good Practice in Commissioning Accessible Web sites.
QAA: Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education - An independent body established to provide an integrated quality assurance service for UK higher education.
RNIB: Royal National Institute of the Blind - A voluntary organisation offering practical support and advice to anyone who is blind or has a visual impairment.
RNID: Royal National Institute of the Deaf - Voluntary organisation offering support and advice to anyone with hearing loss.
SAAS: Student Awards Agency for Scotland - An Agency of the Scottish Executive, responsible for processing support applications from eligible Scottish domiciled students undertaking full time, higher education courses up to degree level throughout the UK. SAAS also administers the Postgraduate Student Allowances Scheme and the Student Nursing and Midwifery Bursary Scheme and provide DSA (Disabled Students Allowance)
SAMH: Scottish Association for Mental Health - SAMH operates a range of services across Scotland for people with mental health problems, and also aims to influence public policy as it affects people with mental health problems.
SENDA: Special Educational Needs and Disability Act - Act that went through Parliament in May 2002, to remove the exemption of Education from the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. It has now been embedded into the DDA as DDA (Part IV).
SFC: Scottish Funding Councils - The non-departmental public bodies of the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) and the Scottish Further Education Funding Council (SFEFC)
SKILL: National Bureau for Students with Disabilities - A voluntary sector organisation that promotes opportunities for young people and adults with any disability in Post-16 education, training and employment across the United Kingdom.
TechDis: Technology for Disabilities Information Service - A service providing the UK Higher and Further Education sectors with advice and information on disability-related technology issues.
W3C: World Wide Web Consortium - an organisation drawn from commercial, public and academic sectors and charged with developing technologies to advance development of the Web as an information source and communication medium.
WAI: Web Accessibility Initiative - Initiative of the W3C, involved in developing guidelines, technologies and techniques that promote accessibility of Web content.
WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - The most thorough and widely referenced guidelines specifically dealing with the design of accessible web sites. Developed by the WAI of the W3C, involved in developing guidelines, technologies and techniques that promote accessibility of Web content.