Glossary

Plain explanations of the 34 terms that come up in immersive web work. We explain the concepts that appear in proposals and meetings in the same language we use with each other — so that jargon is not a barrier. Every term has its own page: the definition, when it makes sense, when it is unnecessary, and the usual questions.

• Immersive website→ An immersive website is a site the visitor moves through rather than reads.
• 3D website→ A 3D website is a site that shows part of its content three-dimensionally in the browser.
• Scrollytelling→ Scrollytelling is a technique in which the story advances as the visitor scrolls.
• 360° virtual tour→ A 360° virtual tour is a setup that lets a real place be walked through in the browser.
• 3D product configurator→ A 3D product configurator is a tool that lets the customer change a product’s options and see the result in three dimensions immediately.
• Digital showroom→ A digital showroom is a space in the browser where a brand’s products are displayed and walked through.
• WebXR→ WebXR is the browser standard that lets virtual and augmented reality run on a web address.
• Interactive web design→ Interactive web design is an approach in which the page responds to what the visitor does.

• WebGL→ WebGL is the technology that lets the browser draw three-dimensional graphics using the graphics card.
• WebGPU→ WebGPU is the newer browser standard that gives the web access to modern graphics hardware.
• Three.js→ Three.js is the most widely used JavaScript library for building three-dimensional scenes in the browser.
• glTF and GLB→ glTF is the standard file format for carrying 3D models on the web; GLB is its single-file binary form.
• Draco compression→ Draco is a compression method that makes 3D model files dramatically smaller.
• Shader→ A shader is a small program that runs on the graphics card and decides how each pixel or vertex is drawn.
• PBR (physically based rendering)→ PBR is an approach in which materials are described by how they behave physically rather than by how they should look.
• LOD (level of detail)→ LOD is the technique of showing a simpler version of a model as it gets further from the camera.

• Parallax→ Parallax is the effect in which layers move at different speeds as the page scrolls, creating a sense of depth.
• Micro-interaction→ A micro-interaction is a small, single-purpose response the interface gives to something the visitor does.
• Kinetic typography→ Kinetic typography is the technique of making text itself carry meaning through movement.
• Page transition→ A page transition is the animation that carries the visitor from one page to the next without a blank flash.
• Hero section→ The hero section is the first area a visitor sees when the page opens.
• Brand identity→ Brand identity is the whole set of consistent decisions — visual and verbal — by which an organisation is recognised.

• Core Web Vitals→ Core Web Vitals are the three measurements Google uses to describe how a page feels to use.
• LCP (Largest Contentful Paint)→ LCP measures how long it takes for the largest piece of content on screen to appear.
• INP (Interaction to Next Paint)→ INP measures how long the page takes to show a visible response after the visitor interacts with it.
• CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift)→ CLS measures how much the page’s content jumps around while it is loading.
• Lazy loading→ Lazy loading is the practice of loading something only when it is about to be needed.

• Structured data (schema.org)→ Structured data is a machine-readable description of what a page is about, written alongside the visible content.
• GEO (generative engine optimisation)→ GEO is the work of making a site visible and citable inside AI-generated answers.
• llms.txt→ llms.txt is a plain-text file at the root of a site that tells language models what the site contains and where the important pages are.
• Technical SEO→ Technical SEO is the work of making sure a search engine can reach, read and correctly index a site.
• Server-side rendering (SSR)→ Server-side rendering means the HTML is produced on the server, so the page arrives with its content already in it.

• One team, design to code→ Working design-to-code under one roof means the same team is responsible for the design and the implementation.
• Prototype→ A prototype is a working but incomplete version built to test an idea before committing to it.