New Microsoft Accessibility Model

From Schoolforge-UK

"Microsoft's New Accessibility Model to be Offered as Cross-Platform Solution for Industry"

Well initially it will be Cross-Windows only and being the next version of Microsoft Active Accessibility is to be available in Longhorn in 2006. There are few clues to the licensing details which are necessary if it is to be a new Industry standard. You can read the usual pompom waggling cheerleading on User Interface Automation.

So why mention it on Schoolforge-UK? Well the intent is

to address the needs of assistive technology products and automated testing frameworks by providing a consistent model to programmatically access graphical UI information. It provides mechanisms to gather all relevant UI information, a rich event model to detect state changes, and the ability to programmatically manipulate UI elements.

Such a standard accessibility interface will be invaluable to assistive technology developers and has the potential to make all school software much more accessible. So can a truly Open equivalent be created for Linux and Windows? Perhaps the existing Linux X server architecture could be extended to provide such a model and that would work on both desktops and via LTSP. Why not discuss on the Schoolforge Discussion List? Steve Lee 09:38, 20 Jun 2005 (BST)