The Fundamentals of Accessibility

Article
08/31/2004

Consider this article your one-stop shop for all things IAccessible. Below is a summary of the most important topics under my accessibility category.

Getting Started

New to Accessibility? So was I three years ago. Get caught-up by reading my MSDN whitepaper on Testing for Accessibility. Also, remember that Accessibility isn’t a feature. Just like localization, globalization, security, performance, and so forth, it is a standard that must be addressed.

MSAA / IAccessible

If you want your feature to be accessible, you’ll need to implement IAccessible.

Must Read: Explanation of each of the IAccessible Properties

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/08/25/220499.aspx

Must Read: Which Control-Types Support Which Properties

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/08/20/217941.aspx

Must Read: How To Really Support MSAA Names

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/01/25/62669.aspx

Commonly Asked Questions regarding Invisible, Offscreen and Unavailable States

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/01/06/48091.aspx

Which Properties Must Be Localized

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/04/16/114809.aspx

Must Read: MSAA / IAccessible Samples

Fiona, one of the devs on my team VSCore, has put together a really nice sample on how to implement IAccessible for a Custom Push Button https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/06/18/159730.aspx

Must Read: MSAA Testing Tools

Have you ever used AccExplorer or Inspect and wondered whether the information presented was correct? Have you ever wanted to know which controls really need Names, Keyboard Shortcuts, Descriptions, and so forth? It’s time to MsaaVerify! MsaaVerify will verify 9 Microsoft Active Accessibility properties for 10 Microsoft Active Accessibility Role types.

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/05/11/130002.aspx

Updated! How To Really Do Screen Reader Testing.

In the past, I’ve focused on testing MSAA Properties. Now we’re ready to take screen reading testing to the next level by adding Events into the algorithm. It is not only essential that a control support the correct MSAA properties, but it is also essential that the control fire the right event for these properties.

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/08/20/218078.aspx

Updated! Role-Based Testing Strategy for Verifying Microsoft Active Accessibility

This paper contains of my thoughts regarding MSAA testing. Consider this the grand specification for MsaaVerify. Provided i had enough time, this is everything i wanted to implement in MsaaVerify. Hopefully someone out there will find this useful and can put it to use.

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2005/06/06/425729.aspx

Accessibility Macros

As demo’ed at CSUN, these macros allow users to tweak the Visual Studio .NET 2003 IDE by easily increasing and decreasing font size, toggling colors in the editor to pure black on white (or vice versa), and maximizing tool windows.

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/05/14/132296.aspx

Bugs to look out for

A listing of unpopular bugs given to me by an Assistive Technology Vendor

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/01/06/48090.aspx

What the High Underline Letters Checkbox Actually Does

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/04/16/114935.aspx

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/04/27/121810.aspx

Why Radio Buttons don’t resize

https://blogs.msdn.com/saraford/archive/2004/05/25/141462.aspx

Channel 9 Video

My Channel 9 Interview on Accessibility and Visual Studio

https://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=5382