Ticket Q423731
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Accessilbility

MSAA support

created 13 years ago

Hello!

Does DxBar support MSAA events for hearing impared people? Our users ask us to support disabled people with the help of this technology.

They wrote me the following and as I understand, this could be supported by the Ribbon component.

Hi Oleg,
Sorry about taking sometime to reply, but MSAA is nopt an easy subject. Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA) is an Application Programming Interface (
API) for user interface accessibility. In it's basic form this means that when a user presses the Alt key to activate the menu bar, Offline explorer can be told via an MSAA event to break focus with the treeview and now focus on the menu/ribbon control. You Can read about MSAA and UI automation here.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/dd561918%28v=vs.85%29.aspx
And Here
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd373592.aspx
I think my best advise though is to download (Inspect.exe) and open something like microsoft word 2007 and use the inspect.exe tool whilst navigating the ribbon with the keyboard and mouse. this way you will be able to see what propertys roles fvalues and descriptions are being used in a fully accessible ribbon structure, I would all so do the same with a menue structure, even something like notepad can tell you a great deal about an MSAA tree. More information about the Inspect.exe tool can be found and downloaded Here
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd318521%28VS.85%29.aspx
Hope this helps.
Warm regards.
Martin Webster.
I.T. team leader for Kirklees Visual impairment Network.

Comments (3)
DevExpress Support Team 13 years ago

    Hi Robert,
    Thank you for your message. I am afraid I do not quite understand the functionality you are trying to implement. Would you please provide us with more detailed information about the expected result in a step-by-step manner? This will help us answer you precisely whether or not you can accomplish your task using our ExpressBars.
    I am looking forward to hearing from you.

      As I understand, MSAA is a technology to let blind users hear all names of menu entries, button captions, etc. This should be supported on the component level once a user enters it with the Alt key pressed.
      The above text contains a reference to Inspect.exe file that can show you how MS Office implements the technology.
      Without MSAA any application built with the help of your dxBar will be useless for blind users and this greatly limits its features.

        I stubbled across another interesting link which gives more information here.
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_UI_Automation
        I still think for you to get a clear understanding of what's happening you need to look at a fully accessible ribbon structure such as (Microsoft Word) with MSAA tools. You will then see what we as the clients are trying to hook with Window-eyes, then with the same tools, look at your own ribbon/menu structure and to your embarressment you will see the MSAA tree is very nearly empty smile. We simply have nothing to hook.

        Answers

        created 13 years ago (modified 13 years ago)

        Hi Robert,
        Thank you for the clarification. The current version of our controls supports this technology partially. Take a look at theAccessilbility report, which describes a similar issue.

          Comments (2)

            I looked at the:
            http://www.devexpress.com/Support/Center/p/AS11009.aspx
            It was posted 6 years ago. When it can be expected for implementation? Many government agencies have Section 508 Compliance as a requirement when purchasing software. I find this critical for us.
            Thank you!

            DevExpress Support Team 13 years ago

              Hello,
              Thank you for your feedback. I am afraid that this functionality is still unavailable. We understand your point of view, but I cannot give you any time frame at present.
              Please accept my sincere apologies for not being helpful this time.

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