View source for Mac:Accessibility/UniversalAccess

= Quick Reference for Universal Access =

This is a quick reference for Apple's accessibility APIs. Most of this info is gathered from [http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Reference/ApplicationKit/ObjC_classic/Protocols/NSAccessibility.html Apple's page about the NSAccessibility protocol].

In the following sections, we will use a few commonly used acronyms for convenience:
* '''AT''', means ''Assistive Technology'', or simply a 3rd party application, e.g., a Screen Reader.
* '''UA''' refers to ''Universal Access'' - Apple's name for all of their accessibility APIs.

== About attributes ==

Every widget that is made accessible supports a range of attributes. 

An AT can query the widget for the attributes it supports, and then get to know more information about each individual attribute. 

An attribute might be a widget's role, its value, or what actions it supports.

See the [[Mac:Accessibility/UniversalAccess:Attributes|full list of attributes]].

== About notifications ==

UA sends out a notification to any obsering AT when some events occur. This is [http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/CocoaFundamentals/CommunicatingWithObjects/chapter_6_section_6.html regular notifications], that are used throughout Cocoa.

See the [[Mac:Accessibility/UniversalAccess:Notifications|list of all accessibility-specific notifications]].

== About actions ==

Actions are those that let the user interact with the software, e.g., via a Screen Reader or any other AT device.

[[Mac:Accessibility/UniversalAccess:Actions|Full list of actions]]

= Comments, suggestions, etc =

Feel free to add and improve this reference, or even copy it to another wiki. At the moment, there is no good resource about these APIs except for Apple's pages, which in some cases have been found to be outdated and incorrect.

--[[User:Hwaara|HakanW]] 09:36, 8 May 2006 (PDT)