Final answer:
The protocol that translates domain names into IP addresses is the Domain Name System (DNS), allowing users to use easily remembered names instead of numerical IP addresses to access web servers.
Step-by-step explanation:
The protocol that allows a user to type a domain name instead of an IP address to access a web server is Domain Name System (DNS). When you type a website's address into your browser, DNS translates the human-friendly domain name into the IP address that computers use to identify each other on the network. Without DNS, you would have to remember and enter the numerical IP address of every site you wanted to visit, which would be incredibly cumbersome.