A digital file designed so that people with visual, physical, cognitive, or hearing impairments can read and navigate it easily using assistive technology like screen readers.

Ensuring that all electronic tools, documents, websites, and learning materials meet federal accessibility standards so individuals with disabilities can use them equally and independently.

A KB user with elevated permissions to manage users, groups, live site settings, workflows, and publishing privileges.

The measurement and tracking of how users and search engines interact with your help documentation.

A bridge that allows other software programs to automatically search, read, write, or sync articles and data without using the human website interface.

An article that is removed from public search results and active viewing, but saved in a back-end storage list for reference or audits

The specific group of people intended to read, use, and benefit from KB articles.

The process of verifying a user's identity before granting access to internal, restricted, or customer-facing information.

The process of verifying a user's identity before granting access to internal, restricted, or customer-facing information. Authentication verifies who a user is (such as logging in with a password or email), authorization decides what files, categories, or administrative settings they can access.

The methods that make self-service information easy to find, simple to read, and accurate enough to solve a problem so a user can help themselves.

A set of published guides and rules that show KB users how to add written text to video.

A top-level container or folder that groups related articles together under a single thematic name. 

A systematic review and evaluation of all existing articles, guides, FAQs, and documents to check for accuracy, relevance, and quality.

The ongoing process of reviewing, updating, structuring, and deleting articles to ensure all stored information remains accurate, useful, and easy to find.

A small text file that a web server sends to your web browser to remember information about your visit.

A styling language used to control the visual presentation, layout, and branding of KB documents and websites.

The hands-on practice of managing, organizing, and maintaining content to ensure information remains accurate, trusted, and easy to find.

A set of defined processes that help your KB Group obtain, organize, store and deliver information crucial to its operation in the most effective manner possible. The stages of a document’s lifecycle include: creation, publication (site access), categorizing (topics and/or audiences), keywords, metadata tagging, delivery or sharing, repurposing, review and reporting, archiving and / or deletion.

The main address of the support or help center site (e.g., ://wisc.edu).

Is a standard identifier attribute that uniquely identifies a person at a campus. At UW–Madison, an ePPN is always formatted as NetID@wisc.edu. It behaves the same as a campus NetID on local systems, but it is scoped so it can work globally. It is the preferred identifier for applications that interact with federated login systems (like SAML Federation, InCommon, or eduGAIN) because it guarantees uniqueness across different universities and worldwide institutions.

Focuses on known-item seeking. When a user has a specific problem and searches or clicks through menus, high findability means the user reaches the correct solution quickly.

Is defined as a binary-encoded 2D raster data type image format that ordinarily uses the .gif extension. KB Authors can drag, copy, or upload non-animated .gif images directly into the text editor of their KB documentation.

The visual layout that lets users and authors interact with the system using buttons, icons, and menus instead of text commands.

The logical, hierarchical order of title tags (from H1 to H6) that organizes knowledge base article like a table of contents.

A clickable element in an article that lets users jump to related content, specific sections within the same page, or external web resources.

A design and content strategy that ensures information can be found, read, and understood by people of all backgrounds, abilities, languages, and technical skill levels.

A back end organized map or catalog of documents, files, and concepts that helps users search to find information quickly.

The blueprint that organizes, structures, and labels content so users can find answers quickly and easily.

A JPEG is a graphic image file produced according to a standard from an ISO/IEC group of experts that develops and maintains standards for a suite of compression algorithms for computer image files. JPEGs usually have a .jpg or .jpeg file extension.

Backend management features in the KnowledgeBase System used by administrators and authors to create, organize, bulk-import, and control access to documentation.

A monthly meeting of KB administrators and authors led by the central UW KB Team. Attendees often see unreleased new features first and give direct feedback to help guide decisions for the KB platform.

The ability to search, browse, and operate all content and interactive features using only a keyboard, without a mouse or trackpad.

A digital document that provides instructions, answers, or troubleshooting steps to help users solve a specific problem or learn how to use a specific campus service.

The main entry or home page that welcomes visitors and helps them find the guides or answers they need.

The active, public-facing (or production) or internal (restricted viewing) of your KB groups space where end-users view published articles, FAQs, and guides in real time.

A dynamic system documentation that provides information that is current, accurate and easy to understand. Documents that are written in a natural language format serve as the core of living documentation. Your content experts can review the documentation to ensure that it describes the desired behavior of the system from a logical standpoint.

Including media like images, videos, and diagrams in a knowledge base helps explain complex ideas and supports different learning styles.

The numbers and data points used to track how well your help articles and self-service resources perform.

A security process that requires users to provide two or more different verification factors to prove their identity before gaining access to a knowledge base space.

A structured list of links that helps users quickly find help articles, categories, and documentation.

A unique electronic username assigned by a university or institution to serve as your central login for digital and campus services.

Clear, concise writing that lets users find information, understand it the first time, and use it to solve a problem.

An image format designed as an improved replacement for GIF. Like GIF, PNG uses lossless compression, meaning all image data is preserved when decompressed for viewing. PNG files typically use the .png extension.

A document that a user can find and read independently to solve a problem without talking to customer support

A document that is visible to its intended audience after approval and release.

A design approach that automatically adjusts support articles, navigation menus, tables and search bars to fit any screen size or device.

A standardized web-based tool that allows campus developers to securely pull, share, or update KB data—such as technical help documents, user permissions, or site content—across external software applications.

A scheduled routine used to check, update, and verify that published articles remain accurate and useful.

A user role responsible for checking, editing, and approving articles to ensure accuracy and quality before they are published.

A built-in log that tracks every change, edit, and update made to an article over time

A visual writing tool that lets you format help articles like a standard word processor without using code. It is often called a WYSIWYG editor, which stands for "What You See Is What You Get".

Practices used to improve article visibility in search results. 

A non-human account used by applications, integrations, or automated processes.

Used by internal site authors, editors, and administrators to immediately retrieve all of their favorited documents.

When managing an internal KB space, you can mark frequently used or regularly shared support documents as a "Favorite". This command bypasses the standard search algorithms and filters the down strictly to your personalized list of saved documents for easy access.

An authentication method that lets users log into your KB site using their existing institution credentials.

A digital, step-by-step guide that explains how to complete a specific, repeatable task correctly and consistently.

An XML-based file format used to describe two-dimensional vector images. It is typically used as a clean, sharp graphic format for UI icons, diagrams, logos, flowcharts, and technical illustrations. Unlike pixel-based formats (like PNG or JPEG), SVGs use mathematical formulas, points, and lines to render images.

TinyMCE is the UW KnowledgeBase embedded rich-text editor used to help write, format, and structure support articles. It provides a WYSIWIG "What You See Is What You Get" interface, toolbar controls and an HTML Source mode to edit the raw HTML directly if custom styling is needed.

A specific category or collection of web-based documents, instructions, policies, and technical guides.

The written text version of an audio or video recording.

A security process that requires users to provide two distinct proofs of identity before they can access an account or system.

A single, centralized web portal that brings together information, documents, and support guides from different KB spaces into one easy-to-search place.

The specific web address used to locate and access an individual help article, category page, or document.

Designates how easily, quickly, and pleasantly a user can find, read, and apply the answers they need. It focuses on removing friction so people can solve their problems without contacting support.

A system that tracks, records, and manages changes to documents and articles over time.

International technical standards used to make digital content accessible to people with disabilities.

Designing help articles, search bars, and navigation menus so users with disabilities can access them.

A technology that uses radio waves to let devices connect to the internet and each other without using physical cables.

A single archive file that bundles and compresses multiple files and folders together to save space and make sharing easier.