The Newsletter of ACM SIGACCESS

Microsoft® Windows® User Interface (UI) Automation is the new accessibilityframework for Microsoft Windows, which will ultimately replace MSAA, and is intendedto address the needs of assistive technology products and automated testing frameworksby providing programmatic access to information about the user interface. UI Automationwill be fully supported on Microsoft Windows XP and the next version of the Windowsdesktop operating system code-named “Longhorn”. Support will continue for MSAA inthe Longhorn timeframe as well. UI Automation will also be made available for crossplatform development via a royalty-free license. IntroductionIn 2003, Microsoft Corporation commissioned Forrester Research, Inc., to conduct astudy to measure the potential market of people in the United States who are most likelyto benefit from the use of accessible technology for computers (seehttp://www.microsoft.com/enable/research/). Accessible technology enables individualsto adjust their computers to meet their visual, hearing, dexterity, cognitive, and speechneeds. It includes both accessibility options built into products as well as specialtyhardware and software products (assistive technology products – seehttp://www.microsoft.com/enable/at/types.aspx) that help individuals interact with acomputer. Overall results show that 57% (74.2 million) of computer users in the UnitedStates are likely or very likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology due toexperiencing mild to severe difficulties or impairments (seehttp://www.microsoft.com/enable/research/computerusers.aspx). With the current technology, assistive technology vendors (ATVs) are required to usemany different approaches to obtain and present information about the UI to the end user,thus spending an inordinate amount of time and resources on providing this basicinformation. With such a large percentage of users needing accessible information it isbecoming increasingly important to make it easier for an ATV to programmaticallyobtain information about the UI. The new accessibility model for Windows, UI Automation, is designed to provide asingle reliable source of UI information to assistive technology products and automatedtest scripts. It provides programmatic access that allows automated tests to interact withthe UI and allows assistive technology products to provide information about the userinterface to their end users. UI Automation also provides means for manipulating the UI. UI Automation has two main audiences: UI Automation providers and UI Automationclients. UI Automation providers are applications such as Microsoft Word, or third-partyapplications. UI Automation clients are assistive technology applications, such as screen