DRKNYT / Methods glossary
Design terms,
in plain language.
A little orientation before the guide, or a reference whenever you need it. You do not need to speak design to work with us.
Return to the Methods guide- Accessibility
- Making content and actions understandable and usable across different abilities, devices and ways of interacting. It includes access to meaning, as well as controls.
- Artificial intelligence (AI) discoverability
- Making appropriate public content understandable and retrievable by AIArtificial intelligence: software that produces or interprets material from patterns in data.Open the source -powered search and other systems. Useful, attributable content and sound technical foundations help; inclusion or citation is never guaranteed.
- Button
- A control that performs an action, such as saving, submitting or opening a dialog. Its label should describe the result.
- Clear space
- The breathing room around a brand asset that keeps other elements from crowding it. It is part of using the identity correctly.
- Conformance
- Meeting the requirements of a named standard, version and level within a defined scope. A claim needs dated evaluation evidence; a target or automated score alone does not establish it.
- Contrast
- The difference in relative brightness between foreground and background. Measure text and essential interface cues in their actual states, rather than judging a color paletteA defined set of colors, with a role for each one. A brand palette still needs contrast checks in the actual layout. by eye.
- Consent
- An informed choice to permit a specific use or action. Explain the purpose and audience before the choice; ask again when the intended use changes.
- Data on demand (DoD)
- Bringing relevant information forward when someone needs or asks for it, rather than loading or showing everything at once. Keep the initial view useful and the next request clear.
- Disclosure
- Information someone needs to interpret a claim, image, limitation or choice fairly. For example: a scene is AIArtificial intelligence: software that produces or interprets material from patterns in data.Open the source -generated, or a tool is still a prototype.
- Core Web Vitals
- Real-user measures of loading, responsiveness and visual stability: LCPLargest Contentful Paint: a measure of when the largest visible image or text block appears.Open the source , INPInteraction to Next Paint: a measure of how quickly a page visibly responds to a person’s actions.Open the source and CLSCumulative Layout Shift: a measure of unexpected movement in the page layout.Open the source . Keep field evidenceMeasurements collected from real visits, kept separate from a simulated test run.Open the source separate from a simulated lab runControlled simulations of a visit. They help find problems but can differ from what happens during real visits.Open the source .
- Fold
- The boundary of the first visible screen before scrolling. It moves with screen size and orientation; design the opening hierarchy for that variation, not one fixed height.
- Hero
- The opening composition of a page: usually its main headline, explanation and image or visual treatment. It should make the page’s purpose clear.
- Inclusive design
- A practice of identifying exclusion, learning from people with different experiences and designing more ways to participate. AccessibilityMaking information and controls usable by people with different abilities and ways of interacting.Open the source standards are one important part of that work.
- Keyboard focus
- The current place where keyboard input will act. Focus should follow a useful order, remain visible, stay inside an open modalA dialog that temporarily makes the page behind it unavailable until the dialog closes.Open the source and return to a useful control when that modalA dialog that temporarily makes the page behind it unavailable until the dialog closes.Open the source closes.
- Lighthouse
- An automated diagnostic tool for a page under specified conditions. Its performance, accessibilityMaking information and controls usable by people with different abilities and ways of interacting.Open the source , best-practices and SEOSearch engine optimization: improving public content and its technical setup so search engines can find and understand it.Open the source scores cover particular checks; they are not certificates.
- Link
- A route to a named destination. At DRKNYT, ordinary navigation opens a page, resource or experience; same-page jumps are reserved for labeled Skip and Back to top utilities.
- Lockup
- The fixed arrangement of a brand’s mark and wordmarkA brand name drawn as identity artwork rather than ordinary typed text., sometimes including a divider or other approved element. Use the artwork as a whole.
- Machine-readable
- Content whose structure and meaning software can interpret, such as semantic HTMLHyperText Markup Language elements chosen for what content means, such as headings, lists, links, buttons and labels., structured dataNamed facts and relationships written in a recognized format for software to interpret. or a documented JSONJavaScript Object Notation: a text format for exchanging named values, lists and records between systems. record. Preserve the same facts and access boundaries as the human view.
- Mark
- The visual symbol of an identity. It can stand alone where the brand guide permits it; it is different from the written brand name.
- Minimum friction
- The least unnecessary effort between a person and their goal. Reduce repetition and detours while preserving useful choices, consent, access checks and important confirmations.
- Modal
- A dialog over the current page that temporarily makes the content behind it unavailable. Keyboard focus stays in the dialog until it closes, then returns to a useful place.
- Native disclosure
- An in-page control that opens supporting information, such as the expandable example below. It reveals content without pretending to navigate.
- OpenID Connect (OIDC)
- An identity layer used for federated sign-inSigning in to one service through another trusted service that checks who you are.Open the source . It lets a service verify a person through an identity providerA service that verifies a person’s identity for another service when signing in through that service.Open the source . OIDCOpenID Connect: a way for a service to check who is signing in through another trusted service. It does not necessarily remove the need for a password.Open the source can reduce repeated account setup, but it is not inherently passwordlessSigning in without a reusable account password. Email links and passkeys are two methods, with different security and recovery needs..
- OAuth 2.0
- A framework for delegated authorizationDeciding which information or actions a person or application is allowed to access.: granting an application limited access to a service. OIDCOpenID Connect: a way for a service to check who is signing in through another trusted service. It does not necessarily remove the need for a password.Open the source adds an identity layer for sign-in; OAuthA framework for granting an application limited access to another service. It controls permitted actions; it does not establish identity by itself.Open the source alone should not be described as authenticationChecking who is signing in..
- Passkey
- A phishingAn attempt to trick someone into giving sign-in details or sensitive information to an imitation or dishonest destination.Open the source -resistant sign-in credential based on public-keyA security method using a public part a service can store and a private part that stays with the person’s device or their sign-in service.Open the source cryptography. The private key stays with the person’s device or credential provider, and a device unlock such as a PINPersonal identification number: a short secret used locally to unlock a device or sign-in key. A passkey device unlock number is not sent to the website.Open the source or biometricA body-based device unlock, such as a fingerprint or face check. When signing in with a passkey, the website does not receive the face or fingerprint data.Open the source is not shared with the website.
- Web Authentication (WebAuthn)
- The web standard applications use to request and verify public-key credentialsA security method using a public part a service can store and a private part that stays with the person’s device or their sign-in service.Open the source , including passkeysA sign-in key tied to the real website, designed to resist imitation sites. DRKNYT does not currently claim passkey sign-in.Open the source . It is one part of the broader FIDOFast Identity Online: open standards for sign-in with a pair of security keys instead of a password shared with the website.Open the source approach to authenticationChecking who is signing in..
- Fast Identity Online (FIDO)
- A family of open authenticationChecking who is signing in. standards built around public-key credentialsA security method using a public part a service can store and a private part that stays with the person’s device or their sign-in service.Open the source . FIDOFast Identity Online: open standards for sign-in with a pair of security keys instead of a password shared with the website.Open the source -based passkeysA sign-in key tied to the real website, designed to resist imitation sites. DRKNYT does not currently claim passkey sign-in.Open the source are designed to resist phishingAn attempt to trick someone into giving sign-in details or sensitive information to an imitation or dishonest destination.Open the source and remove shared passwords from the website sign-in exchange.
- Passwordless
- Sign-in without a reusable account password. PasskeysA sign-in key tied to the real website, designed to resist imitation sites. DRKNYT does not currently claim passkey sign-in.Open the source and email magic links can both be passwordlessSigning in without a reusable account password. Email links and passkeys are two methods, with different security and recovery needs. experiences, but their trust, recovery and phishingAn attempt to trick someone into giving sign-in details or sensitive information to an imitation or dishonest destination.Open the source properties are different.
- Email magic link
- A time-limited sign-in link sent to an email address. It depends on access to that email account and the security of the delivery path; it is not equivalent to an origin-boundRestricted to the real website address, which helps stop a sign-in key from working on a look-alike site.Open the source passkeyA sign-in key tied to the real website, designed to resist imitation sites. DRKNYT does not currently claim passkey sign-in.Open the source .
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- Sign-in that requires more than one independent factor, such as a credential plus a device or possession check. Two steps are not necessarily two independent factors.
- Single sign-on (SSO)
- Using one identity-provider session to enter multiple connected services. SSOSingle sign-on: using one trusted sign-in session to enter multiple connected services.Open the source describes the shared sign-in experience; OIDCOpenID Connect: a way for a service to check who is signing in through another trusted service. It does not necessarily remove the need for a password.Open the source is one protocol that can support it.
- PageSpeed Insights
- A Google service showing LighthouseAn automated tool that runs selected diagnostics on a web page under stated test conditions. lab diagnosticsControlled simulations of a visit. They help find problems but can differ from what happens during real visits.Open the source and, where available, real-user Chrome UXUser experience: what a person encounters while trying to understand and complete a task. Report data. Lab and field results answer different questions and may differ.
- Preview
- A version for inspection. Our review previews stay passive: they do not send messages, record live analytics, take payment or change production state.
- Progressive disclosure
- Showing the information needed now, with more detail available when it helps. It should reduce clutter without concealing a material condition.
- Provenance
- The record of where something came from, who or what made it and how it changed. Keep known sources and transformations; identify gaps rather than inventing a history.
- Prototype
- A model for exploring an idea or interaction. Its appearance alone does not establish that its features, accounts, payments or integrations work.
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Search engine optimization: helping search engines discover, understand and present useful public pages. It includes content quality and technical foundations, not a promise of placement.
- Structured data
- An explicit description of content and its relationships in a recognized format. It should agree with the visible page and does not guarantee a search feature or AIArtificial intelligence: software that produces or interprets material from patterns in data.Open the source citation.
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
- Web Content AccessibilityMaking information and controls usable by people with different abilities and ways of interacting.Open the source Guidelines. Our public accessibilityMaking information and controls usable by people with different abilities and ways of interacting.Open the source policy names WCAGWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines: testable requirements for making web content more accessible.Open the source 2.2 Level AALevel Double-A: the middle level of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It includes the applicable basic and intermediate requirements.Open the source as a target; this guide does not establish current site-wide conformanceMeeting the requirements of a named standard, version and level within a clearly stated scope.Open the source .
- Wordmark
- The name of a brand drawn as identity artwork. A heading in a similar typeface is not a replacement for the source wordmarkA brand name drawn as identity artwork rather than ordinary typed text..
- Vector artwork
- Artwork described by shapes and paths instead of a fixed grid of pixels. It can be resized without making its edges blocky. The logo still needs enough space to be recognizable at the actual size.
An example of showing detail on demand
This is supporting information, revealed in place. The page has not moved and no new destination has opened. This control simply opens and closes the explanation.