Each character on the keyboard of computer has an ASCII value which stands for

Concept

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a character-encoding standard: it assigns a unique numeric value to every letter, digit, punctuation mark, and control character on a keyboard, so computers can store and exchange text in a consistent way. It was developed and standardized in the United States as an ANSI standard.

Application

1. The stem asks what the acronym 'ASCII' stands for when a computer assigns a value to each keyboard character.

2. By its formal definition, ASCII expands to 'American Standard Code for Information Interchange' — 'American Standard' names the issuing national standards body/convention, and 'Code for Information Interchange' names the encoding's purpose of exchanging textual information between systems.

Contrast

• 'American Stock Code for Information Interchange' replaces 'Standard' with 'Stock', a term from financial/inventory contexts unrelated to character-encoding standards.

• 'American Standard Code for Information Interchange' matches the formal ANSI-recognized expansion of the acronym.

• 'African Standard Code for Information Interchange' replaces 'American' with 'African'; ASCII was standardized by an American body (ANSI), not an African one.

• 'Adaptable Standard Code for Information Change' replaces 'American' with 'Adaptable' and shortens 'Interchange' to 'Change'; no standard is issued under this name.

Hence, the acronym ASCII stands for 'American Standard Code for Information Interchange'.