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Open Source Accessibility for Windows

IBM has developed the IAccessible2 accessibility API extension for Windows, and led the implementation of this API in applications such as the Firefox browser for Windows and in the IBM Lotus Notes productivity editors:

Overview

IAccessible2

IAccessible2 is an engineered accessibility interface that enables application developers to leverage their investment in Microsoft® Active Accessibility (MSAA) and provide an assistive technology (AT) access to rich document applications, such as IBM Lotus® Documents (the suite of productivity editors in IBM Lotus Notes®) and Web browsers such as Firefox. Additional function in the API includes support for rich text, tables, spreadsheets, Web 2.0 applications, and custom controls in other large mainstream applications. Through the Linux Foundation Open Accessibility Workgroup, IBM is consulting and collaborating with assistive technology vendors and other companies and open source communities regarding their implementations of IAccessible2, including Freedom Scientific, GW Micro, the Access Mozilla project, Sun Microsystems and the OpenOffice community, the Eclipse Foundation, Adobe, Oracle, SAP, and others.

IAccessible2:

  • Is a new accessibility application programming interface (API) that complements Microsoft's earlier work on MSAA. The new API was built to fill critical accessibility API gaps in MSAA that were discovered when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts wanted to purchase and install a usable and accessible OpenDocument Format (ODF)-based office suite. By implementing IAccessible2, developers of IBM Lotus® Documents, which is ODF-based, were able to demonstrate that an ODF-based office suite could be both usable and accessible.
  • Has been harmonized with the Linux® accessibility APIs to allow for efficient multi-platform development. This work was done through close collaboration with IBM, Linux, and Mozilla accessibility architects who have intimate knowledge of both Windows accessibility APIs (MSAA plus IAccessible2) and the Linux accessibility APIs (ATK and AT-SPI).
  • Was a joint effort initially between IBM and the leading AT vendors. These vendors saw the need for an enhancement to MSAA and worked closely with IBM architects and engineers during the definition and implementation of IAccessible2 in Lotus Documents and the screen readers.

Last updated, July 27, 2007

IAccessible2 Resource