DFC Bridge glossary

This is an advanced reference for contracts, implementation notes, QA, and deviations. Start with the designer quick start if you are preparing a first file.

Usage rule

Human-facing explanations may be localized. Machine-readable layer tags, JSON field names, rule ids, enum values, and stable references remain in their canonical English form. A familiar word does not override its DFC Bridge definition below.

DFC Bridge name

Term	DFC Bridge meaning
Breakpoints	Declared responsive contexts: authored width anchors plus viewport-, container-, fluid-, intrinsic-, directional-, and capability-dependent rules. A breakpoint is not merely a screenshot or an inferred CSS media query.
Roles	The logical purpose of an element, display, action, or owner, derived from native source metadata first and explicit DFC Bridge intent where needed.
Identity	A traceable mapping across role, template, design instance, runtime data, and target implementation. It is not one overloaded id.
Dependencies	Data, actions, targets, states, focus/history effects, capabilities, and inherited contracts required for an outcome to work.
Geometry	Reproducible exact, stepped, fluid, intrinsic, spatial, and temporal properties, including bounds, spacing, text metrics, ranges, and motion tracks.
Exceptions	Intentional, scoped exceptions to a source or contract rule with reason, impact, mitigation, owner, evidence, and review. A responsive transformation or implementation deviation is not automatically an exception.

Source and contract surfaces

Term	Meaning
Design/source evidence	The versioned source file, page, node, component, native metadata, fixture, prototype, annotation, or asset that demonstrates authored intent. Figma is one possible source, not a requirement of the methodology.
Root	The top-level source object for a page, view, responsive context, or standalone section.
Figma Section organizer	A native Figma SECTION used to group objects on the canvas. It is transparent during DFC Bridge page-root discovery and is not the same as a product section carrying [section=...]. Its name/tags do not become page context.
Stable layer name	A human-visible English kebab-case design anchor that does not encode viewport width, device label, or runtime list position.
Short layer tag	A canonical bracketed marker such as [page=catalog], [href=/catalog], or [item=product] used only for concise intent that must remain visible in the layer tree.
Structured bridge metadata	Namespaced data for relationships too rich for layer names: identity mappings, data displays, responsive transformations, reactions, motion, accessibility, capabilities, lifecycle, questions, and exceptions.
DFC Bridge Contract	The versioned, target-independent combination of source evidence, short anchors, structured metadata, requirements, and acceptance criteria delivered to implementation and QA.
Required envelope	A complete payload rooted at bridge with supported version fields plus source, context, and identity; applicable modules are added inside that envelope.
Module fragment	A non-standalone excerpt such as { "bridge": { "data": … } } used to explain one module. It must be inserted into the required envelope before exchange or validation as a complete contract.
Requirement	A stable, scoped statement of behavior or quality whose result can be verified.
Acceptance criterion	An observable condition that determines whether a requirement passes in a declared context.
Evidence	A linkable source, contract, implementation, test, measurement, or review artifact that supports a requirement result.
Revision	An immutable version of source, contract, implementation, or evidence pinned to a lifecycle decision.

Identity and references

Term	Meaning
bridgeKey	The stable contract reference for one logical authored element. It links records but does not replace the five identity dimensions.
Role	What the element does, for example navigation, product data item, status, or form field.
Template	The reusable component or section definition that owns structure and inherited behavior; identified by templateKey where needed.
Design instance	One authored occurrence and its source nodes in declared contexts; identified by designInstanceKey.
Runtime data	The collection, stable record-key rule, and optional fixture binding used when real data is rendered; runtimeDataKey is never an array position.
Target implementation	The component, native control, view, route, entity, or locator that realizes the contract on a target platform.
Interaction target	A modal, state, form, route, or element reached by a reaction through a stable DFC Bridge reference. It is distinct from the target-implementation mapping.
[item=…] value	A repeatable item role/type, for example [item=product]. Sibling items may intentionally use the same value. Their unique authored and runtime identities come from the stable layer name/bridgeKey, designInstance, and runtimeData, not from [item].
Fixture key	A stable authored sample binding used to reproduce a scenario. It may identify the oak-chair example, but it must not be treated as the production record key.

Responsive and variation language

Term	Meaning
Responsive context	A named layout context with a declared viewport or container driver and any relevant variation axes.
Breakpoint anchor	A prepared width represented by a root [bp=…]. It is an authored reference point, not automatically a CSS boundary.
Same-tree default	The rule that logical elements, meaning, actions, data relationships, and accessibility semantics remain equivalent across responsive contexts unless a transformation declares otherwise.
Structural transformation	A declared mapping between fromContext and toContext when topology or presentation model changes. It records conditions, source/target mapping, preserved semantics, order, state transfer, history, reverse behavior, and fallback. It is not an exception.
Stepped behavior	A discrete rule that changes at an explicit condition.
Fluid behavior	A value derived continuously between declared minimum, preferred, and maximum bounds.
Intrinsic behavior	Layout determined by content, available space, or a target-native primitive rather than a fixed width.
Variation axis	A user, content, environment, or product dimension such as locale, theme, direction, writing mode, role, data state, input, motion preference, or capability.
Direction and writing mode	The declared ltr/rtl and horizontal/vertical writing context, including logical order/properties and explicit mirror versus non-mirror decisions.
Bidirectional content	Mixed-direction text such as Arabic labels with Latin ids, numbers, dates, or SKUs that needs isolation, ordering, formatting, chart-axis, keyboard-order, and test-fixture decisions.

Content, data, and visualization

Term	Meaning
Authored content	Copy or media whose approved value is part of the design/source contract.
Runtime data	Values supplied by a service, CMS, user, device, or target environment after implementation.
Data display	A table, grid, list, card collection, chart, map, metric, or other presentation that answers a declared question from structured data.
Data schema	Field types, stable keys, nullability, relationships, and cardinality expected by a display or reaction.
Fixture	Versioned sample data for a normal, boundary, failure, localization, direction, privacy, or accessibility scenario.
Provenance	Dataset/source, accountable owner, aggregation, refresh behavior, limitations, privacy, and last-updated information needed to interpret values.
Data state	A distinguishable condition such as loading, empty, partial, stale, error, offline, or unauthorized, with feedback and recovery where applicable.
Format semantics	Locale, unit, currency, time zone, precision, rounding, sign, range, and missing/zero/estimated rules that affect meaning rather than decoration.
Accessible equivalent	A table, list, summary, detail view, or download that exposes the essential values and conclusion of a complex visual without relying on color, hover, canvas, or animation alone.

Interaction and state

Term	Meaning
Reaction	A versioned response to an event, including preconditions, state change, effects, outcomes, focus, announcements, and history behavior.
State machine	A bounded model of reachable states and deterministic transitions for a component, form, flow, or page.
View	A page- or data-level presentation such as default, loading, empty, or error. It is not a substitute for a complete state machine.
Event	The user, system, data, time, or history occurrence that requests a transition.
Guard	A condition that permits, rejects, or redirects a transition.
Effect	Work caused by a transition, such as a request, storage update, focus move, announcement, or navigation.
Outcome	A named success, empty, invalid, failure, timeout, cancellation, or conflict result and its next state.
Async policy	Rules for pending feedback, concurrency, duplicate events, cancellation, timeout, stale responses, retry, rollback, and recovery.
Focus contract	Initial focus, order, movement, restoration, visibility, and announcement behavior across a transition.
History contract	URL path/query/hash/storage plus push/replace, Back/Forward, refresh, deep-link, scroll, and focus-restoration behavior.

Motion and long scroll

Term	Meaning
Motion sequence	A purposeful set of stable states joined by declared timing or progress rules.
Driver	The source of progress, such as time, document scroll, container scroll, drag, media time, or state transition.
Timeline/track	The ordered ranges and property changes driven through a sequence.
Scene	A meaningful stable state or interval in a longer sequence.
Sticky/pinned region	Content held within declared containing bounds while layout space, scroll ownership, focus, and fallback remain defined.
Reverse/re-entry policy	What happens when progress moves backward, the user returns, input changes rapidly, or a sequence is interrupted.
Reduced-motion alternative	A static or shorter behavior that preserves task, content, state, and focus while removing problematic travel, parallax, or looping.
Motion fallback	The semantic result used when the driver or target capability is unsupported; completion must not depend only on an animation-end event.

Accessibility

Term	Meaning
Accessibility profile	The target standard/version/level and the semantic, input, visual, media, motion, responsive, and QA requirements for the delivered scope. The default web profile uses WCAG 2.2 Level AA.
Conformance target	The standard a complete implementation aims to meet. It is not a conformance claim for a mockup, isolated component, automated score, or unfinished process.
Accessible name/description	The programmatically exposed label and supporting explanation for an element; visible text, label-in-name, and repeated-control context remain aligned.
Reading order	The semantic order in which content relationships are exposed, independent of purely visual placement.
Focus order	The keyboard/assistive-technology traversal order through operable content. It must remain logical and visible and may differ from reading order only intentionally.
Live status	A meaningful dynamic update announced without unexpectedly moving focus.
Reflow	Preservation of content and functionality at required zoom and narrow equivalent width without unjustified two-dimensional scrolling.
Target size	The operable pointer area, including applicable WCAG exceptions and any stronger product/platform requirement.

Capabilities and performance

Term	Meaning
Target profile	A named platform/runtime and input, output, layout, media, network, storage, memory, and power capability context.
Capability	A target feature the contract may rely on only when support or a tested alternative is declared.
Essential experience	Content, task, media meaning, and outcome that must survive degradation even when visual fidelity or advanced effects cannot.
Fallback	A planned safe alternative used for an unsupported, unresolved, failed, or constrained condition. A fallback is not automatically a deviation.
Degradation	The intentional transition to a reduced but usable experience under low bandwidth, offline, data saver, low power, memory pressure, missing API/codec, or similar conditions.
Performance budget	A measurable limit with metric, unit, owner, target environment, measurement point, and evidence.
Art direction	The crop, focal/safe area, aspect, resolution, format, quality, poster/preview, and source selection needed to preserve media meaning.
Virtualization threshold	The declared data volume after which rendering/windowing strategy changes while identity, order, focus, selection, and accessibility remain correct.

Lifecycle and governance

Term	Meaning
Lifecycle	The traceable chain from design to contract, implementation, QA, release, operation, and feedback.
Gate	A design, contract, implementation, QA, or release decision with scope, revisions, evidence, owners, and an explicit result.
Handoff	Delivery of the accepted source and contract to implementation; it is one lifecycle transition, not the end of responsibility.
DFC Bridge-ready	Explicit enough for the affected gate to proceed without inventing behavior and without untracked unknowns.
Open question	A known unknown, unsupported, or TBD decision with stable id, exact scope, owner, blocking status, due/review point, safe fallback, status, and eventual decision link.
Blind spot	Relevant meaning or uncertainty that is absent from the versioned source/contract and exists only in chat, speech, memory, or an unlinked task. “No blind spots” means no untracked unknowns, not that every answer is already known.
Exception	An approved exception to a methodology, source, or contract rule, recorded before implementation relies on it.
Deviation	An intentional, reviewed mismatch between an accepted contract and the implementation or supported target. It records requirement, scope, difference, reason, impact, mitigation, owner, status, evidence, and review date as applicable.
Mitigation	A verified measure that reduces the user, accessibility, data, security/privacy, performance, or maintenance impact of an exception or deviation.
Traceability	The ability to follow a stable requirement or identity across source, contract, implementation, tests, questions, deviations, and release revisions.

Validation and reporting

Term	Meaning
Automatic check	A deterministic test with a reproducible pass/fail result.
Heuristic check	A tool finding that identifies a likely risk and requires human judgment.
Manual check	A semantic, product, visual, accessibility, or target-specific review by a qualified person.
Runtime check	A measurement or observation in a declared implementation environment.
Validator	A tool that evaluates only the rules represented in its declared coverage; a clean report is not complete DFC Bridge or WCAG validation.
Severity	The reporting priority error, warning, or info; it does not replace gate status.
Gate status	pass, pass with accepted deviations, blocked, or a precisely justified not applicable decision for a reviewed scope.

Writing and naming

• Keep machine-readable names, tag values, ids, references, enum values, and JSON fields in canonical English.
• Keep stable design identities in English kebab-case; use localized product copy for visible labels.
• Do not use “breakpoint” as shorthand for every responsive decision, “state” as shorthand for every screenshot, or “exception” as shorthand for every difference.
• Distinguish a responsive transformation, safe fallback, source/contract exception, and implementation deviation.
• Distinguish a design fixture from runtime data and a bridgeKey from a target-platform locator.
• Distinguish handoff, implementation, QA, release, and asset export: they are different lifecycle operations.