Satellite

   A sophisticated electronic communications relay station orbiting 22,237 miles above the equator moving in a fixed orbit at the same speed and direction of the earth (about 7,000 mph east to west).

Satellite TV

   Satellite television is television delivered by way of orbiting communications satellites located 37,000 km (22,300 miles) above the earth's surface. The first satellite television signal was relayed from Europe to the Telstar satellite over North America in 1962. The first domestic North American satellite to carry television was Canada's Anik 1, which was launched in 1973.

Screen Magnifier

   Software program that magnifies all or part of a computer screen to make the content visible to users with visual impairments.

Screen Reader

   Software for the people with visual impairments that converts the text to speech and reads the content of a computer screen aloud. Screen readers can only interpret text content, so all graphic and multimedia must have alternative text descriptions using ALT text, captions, transcripts, or other methods.

Server

   A computer with a special service function on a network, generally receiving and connecting incoming information traffic.

Single-Channel-Per-Carrier (SCPC)

   A method used to transmit a large number of signals over a single satellite transponder.

Social Networking

   Web-based communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Examples include MySpace and Facebook.

Space Segment

   A term which describes the portion of the total communications satellite system which is physically located in orbit around the earth.

Spectrum

   The range of electromagnetic radio frequencies used in transmission of voice, data and television.

Streaming

   Streaming video is a sequence of “moving images” that are sent in compressed form over the Internet and displayed by the viewer as they arrive. Streaming media is streaming video with sound. With streaming video or streaming media, a Web user does not have to wait to download a large file before seeing the video or hearing the sound. Instead, the media is sent in a continuous stream and is played as it arrives. The user needs a player, a special program that uncompresses and sends video data to the display and audio data to speakers. A player can be either an integral part of a browser or downloaded from the software maker’s Web site.

Sun Outage

   A sun outage is an interruption in or distortion of geostationary satellite signals caused by interference from solar radiation. The effect is due to the sun's radiation overwhelming the satellite signal.

Synchronous

   Communication in which interaction between participants is simultaneous.