An issue of definitions


To whom it may concern

During use of the accessibility guidelines as a reference for compliance, I have happened upon the following error:

I the section “Glossary”, of WCAG 2.1 and - 2.2, under “abbreviation”, two varieties of abbreviations are listed: Initialisms and Acronyms.
Initialisms are defined as “shortened forms of a name or phrase made from the initial letters of words or syllables contained in that name or phrase” e.g.: ESP
Acronyms are defined as “abbreviated forms made from the initial letters or parts of other words (in a name or phrase) which may be pronounced as a word” e.g.: NOAA

Further down the same section, one finds “CAPTCHA” as an example of abbreviation of the initialism-variety, but as stated above, abbreviations pronounced as a word are classified as acronyms.

It is my understanding that the entry for “CAPTCHA” should read: “acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart"”

Kind regards

Gisli Karason
Consultant
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Received on Monday, 25 August 2025 13:46:04 UTC