Java Accessibility FAQ

Getting started with Java Accessibility

• What does 'Accessibility' mean?
• Who do I contact for more information?
• How much does Java Accessibility cost?
• What is Sun doing to make Java accessible?
• What about Microsoft's 'Active Accessibility for Java'?
• Was Microsoft invited to take part in the design of Java Accessibility?

Usage

• What is in the Java Accessibility API?
• What is in the Java Accessibility Utilities package?
• How will Java Accessibility be used?
• How will Java Accessibility be used by developers?
• How will Java Accessibility be used by Assistive Technology vendors?
• Who is using Java Accessibility?
• Is Java Accessibility easy to use?

Certification

• How does Java Accessibility relate to the 100% Pure Java program?
• Is there an "Accessible" certification process?

Performance

• Does Java Accessibility run better on certain platforms?
• Will developers have to worry about the size of Java Accessibility?

Compatibility & Development

• How does Java Accessibility affect Sun's AWT?
• How do the Java Foundation Classes support Accessibility?
• How was Java Accessibility designed?
• What about Java applications that aren't built using JFC?
• Do any class libraries other than those that come with JFC support Java Accessibility?
• Will there be any compatibility issues for accessible applications created with JDK 1.1 and JFC in future versions of the JDK?

Release & Delivery Info.

• Where can I download Java Accessibility?
• When can developers start using Java Accessibility?

 
 
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What does 'Accessible' mean in this context?

There are over 40 million Americans with disabilities, and far more worldwide.  For many of these individuals, their disability makes it difficult to impossible to use computers and computer software as they are shipped from the manufacturer.  These individuals need some form of computer accommodation which provides them with access to the same applications that everyone else can use use unaided.  These accommodations include: screen readers which use synthesized speech to read the contents of a screen to a person who is blind; screen magnifiers which enlarge a portion or all of the screen sometimes as much as 16 times for a person with some sight but who would otherwise be unable to see the screen; on-screen keyboards with word prediction and speech recognition systems for people with physical impairments who cannot type on a standard keyboard.  In order to ensure that these accommodations function properly on a computing platform, that platform needs to make the system and the software that runs on it accessible, either directly (e.g. a talking Web browser), or by ensuring that it works with assistive technologies on that platform (e.g. is compatible with screen readers).  In the United states, there are a number of relevant laws designed to ensure that individuals with disabilities have full and equal access to computer technology in education and the workplace (see: http://java.sun.com/javase/technologies/accessibility/index.jsp).
 
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Who do I contact for more information?

More information on Java Accessibility can be found at at Sun's Accessibility site: http://www.sun.com/access, as well as in the Java Foundation Classes site: http://java.sun.com/products/jfc.  In addition, developers can find support for Java Accessibility questions through Sun's Java Developer Connection at http://java.sun.com/jdc.
 
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How much does Java Accessibility cost?

Nothing -- it is absolutely free.
 
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What is Sun doing to make the Java Platform Accessible?

Sun is broadly doing 4 things with Accessibility on the Java Platform:

1. We have developed an API (the Java Accessibility API) to allow Java applications to be compatible with screen access software.  This API is available in two forms: as the code package 'com.sun.java.accessibility', shipping as part of the Java Foundation Classes version 1.1, downloadable at http://java.sun.com/products/jfc and it will be packaged as the JDK core package 'java.awt.accessibility', to ship with the next release of the JDK.

2. We have developed a set of utilities for Assistive Technology vendors (the Java Accessibility Utilities package), that allows them to easily make queries of the system (things like  "GetObjectAtPoint", "GetTopLevelWindows", etc.), which is available as
a downloadable package to work in any Java VM from JDK 1.1 to the present.

3. We are developing a standard mechanism for getting the Java Accessibility API information out of the Java VM and to assistive technology running in the native host environment (the Java Accessibility Bridge).  This mechanism will be based on JNI - Java Native Interfaces.

4. We have developing the pluggable look & feel architecture to support direct accessibility in the Java Foundation Classes (downloadable at http://java.sun.com/products/jfc).  With the pluggable look and feel architecture, mainstream developers can build Java applications whose user interface is chosen by the user (who might choose an audio interface instead of, or in addition to, a visual interface).
 

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What about Microsoft's 'Active Accessibility for Java'?

Microsoft has an accessibility interface for the Win32 platform called 'Active Accessibility' which provides access to Microsoft Windows-specific information about applications running on that platform.  Microsoft announced an API for extending Active Accessibility to Java applications built using AFC when running in Microsoft Internet Explorer on a Win32 OS.  This API contains a number of things that are only available in Microsoft Windows (e.g. pointers to Microsoft Windows help file entries).
 
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Was Microsoft invited to take part in the design of Java Accessibility?

Yes.  As an important licensee, Microsoft was invited to collaborate on the design of Java Accessibility from the beginning, and took part in the Accessibility review of JDK 1.0.2 (report at: http://www.trace.wisc.edu/docs/java_access_rpt/report.htm, contributed to by the Microsoft Accessibility team), and at every design meeting for Java Accessibility that comprised more than just Sun employees.
 
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What is in the Java Accessibility API?

The Java Accessibility API defines the contract between mainstream Java applets/applications and Assistive Technologies through the Accessible interface.  This interface contains a method to get the AccessibleContext class, which contains the core common set of Accessibility information that every user-interface object must provide.  In addition, the Java Accessibility API defines a set of additional interfaces for providing access to specific types of user-interface objects.
 
interface AccessibleAction:
For all user-interface objects.  This interface provides the standard mechanism for retrieving all of the accessibility information about an object (by returning an instance of the AccessibleContext class for the object).  All user-interface objects should implement interface Accessible and return the appropriate AccessibleContext when asked.
class AccessibleContext:
For all user-interface objects.  This class provides methods for retireving the name and description of the object, the object's role and states, the objects parent and children, the objects locale, and property change listening a mechanism for tracking changes to this information.  All user-interface objects should implement interface Accessible and return the appropriate AccessibleContext when asked.
 
interface AccessibleAction:
For objects that can perform one or more actions.  This interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine what those actions are and tell the object to perform those actions. Any object that can be manipulated should provide this interface.
 
interface AccessibleComponent:
For objects that have a graphical representation.  This interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine and set the attributes of the graphical representation of the object.  Any object that is being rendered onto the screen should provide this interface.
 
interface AccessibleSelection:
For objects that allow their Accessible children to be selected.  This interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine what the current selection is as well as manipulate that selection.  Any object that contains children we can be selected should provide this interface.
 
interface AccessibleText:
For objects that present editable textual information on the display.  This interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to access that text via its content as well as providing spatial location.  Any object that contains editable text should provide this interface.
 
interface AccessibleValue:
For objects that contain a varying numerical value.  This interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine and set the current value of the object, as well as the objects minimum and maximum values.  Any object that contains a varying numerical value should provide this interface.
 
The Java Accessibility API is extensible, and additional specialized interfaces are planned for future version, including interface AccessibleTable, and interface AccessibleLayout, and draft version of both of these are part of the Java Foundation Classes 1.1 release.
 
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What is in the Java Accessibility Utilities package?

The Java Accessibility Utilities package contains two major pieces:

1. a set of utility classes (the com.sun.java.accessibility.util class package) for use by Assistive Technology Vendors which provides methods for listening to all AWT and JFC events in any running Java applications; for getting the object at any given point in any Java window on the screen; for enumerating the top-level Java windows that are open; for getting the current Java component that has the keyboard focus; and for retrieving the current mouse cursor location

2. example Java applications with full source code illustrating various techniques for providing access to Java applications via the Java Accessibility API
 

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How will Java Accessibility be used...

...by developers?

Developers who want to write directly-accessible Java applications use the Java Foundation Classes an the pluggable look and feel architecture to design applications that are independent of the actual modality of the interface.  In this way, a user can choose to use an interface of that users' choice (e.g. a low-vision interface, or an audio interface, etc.).

Developers who want to ensure that their Java applications will interoperate with assistive technologies, such as screen readers, Braille terminals, etc., use the Java Accessibility API in all of the user-interface components of their applications.  If they are exclusively using the user-interface components of Java Foundation Classes to build their applications, most of their work to ensure compatibility is done; they need to simply ensure that appropriate names and descriptions are set on each of the user-interface components.  If these developers are using user-interface components from other class libraries, or if they are developing their own custom user-interface components, they need to explicitly support the Java Accessibility API.

...by Assistive Technology vendors?

Vendors are building alternate user interfaces for the Java Foundation Classes to provide interfaces in non-traditional modalities, including the current development of low-vision and audio user interfaces for the JFC.

Vendors are also building Assistive Technologies in Java, such as the IBM Special Needs Services group, which is building a screen reader for the Java platform that will provide blind access to Java applications which support the Java Accessibility API.

Finally, vendors of native Assistive Technologies (such as those found on the Macintosh, Microsoft Windows, and OS/2 platforms), will be utilizing the forthcoming Java Accessibility Bridge to provide access to Java applications running within those operating system environments.
 

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Who is using Java Accessibility?

The many developers who are building products on top of the Java Foundation Classes are already automatically transparently using Java Accessibility to make their applications accessible.  Assistive Technology vendors are currently building products on top of Java Accessibility, including the IBM Special Needs Services group, which has announced the development of a screen reader for the Java platform.
 
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Is Java Accessibility easy to use?

Since it is built into the Java Foundation Classes, which is core to the Java Platform and thus don't need to be ported from a different environment, developers will find that the Java Accessibility is very easy to use - virtually all of the work is done for them.  Furthermore, the accessibility information provided by the Accessibility Interfaces can be found in virtually any set of Java User Interface classes, so developers who want to make their own class libraries accessible via the Java Accessibility standard can do so easily, thereby ensuring that their class libraries and applications built using them can be accessible.
 
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Is there an "Accessible" certification process?

Not at this time.  To 100% certify that a Java application is accessible, one would have to certify that it is accessible by every possible alternative means of using a computer (e.g. screen reader, keyboard alternative, etc.), on a per-Assistive Technology basis.  However, Sun is investigating ways to certify that an application fully implements the Java Accessibility interfaces, which will go a long way toward ensuring that it will work properly with Assistive Technologies.
 
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How does Java Accessibility relate to the 100% Pure Java program?

The Java Accessibility API, which is implemented in the Java Foundation Classes, provides the building blocks that enable developers to easily create a accessible applications that are 100% Pure Java.
 
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Does Java Accessibility run better on certain platforms?

No.  Since Java Accessibility is designed to be truly cross-platform, developers can take advantage of it's ease of use on all Java Compatible Platforms.

The Java Accessibility Bridge, which provides a mechanism for existing native Assistive Technologies to communicate with programs on the Java platform using the Java Accessibility API, requires platform-specific code and when released may function differently on different platforms.
 

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Will developers have to worry about the size of Java Accessibility?

No.  The code itself is very small, even though it is quite comprehensive.  Furthermore, because Java Accessibility is core to the Java Platform, it will already be every machine that supports the Java Foundation Classes as well as the next version of the JDK.
 
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How does Java Accessibility affect Sun's AWT?

The Java Accessibility Utilities package includes a lot of accessibility support for AWT, providing mechanisms for externally monitor all AWT events, and for externally retrieving the AWT object at any given point on the screen.  AWT is not made fully accessible with this release of Java Accessibility, as that requires changes to AWT, which will not be part of the JDK 1.2 release in 1998.
 
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How do the Java Foundation Classes support Accessibility?

In addition to including the Java Accessibility API, the Java Foundation Classes are build using the Pluggable Look & Feel architecture.  The Pluggable L&F separates the Look & Feel of a Java application from the underlying model and logic behind that application.  While this make it easy to have custom looks for an applications (such as a "Macintosh" look and a "Windows" look), it more importantly means that standard applications built using the JFC can have instead an "audio" look, a "Braille" look, and so forth.  With the JFC, for the first time in the history of the Assistive Technology industry, applications built using the JFC can be directly accessible via speech or Braille simply by having the user choose an audio or Braille UI factory for that application.  This direct accessibility support means that alternative interfaces such as audio and Braille are first-class citizens, alongside their visual counterparts, rather than only being supported through interpretive layers such as screen readers and screen magnifiers.
 
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How was Java Accessibility designed?

The Java Accessibility API was created through an open design process based on input from experts in the assistive technology field, including developers who have implemented screen readers on four different platforms, the alternative keyboard interfaces standard that is part of X Windows, accessibility professors from Stanford and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and engineers from Sun, IBM, Apple, and Microsoft.  In addition, the IBM Special Needs Services group contributed source code to the implementation of the Java Accessibility API on a number of the user-interface components in the Java Foundation Classes, as well as proof-of-concept testing via the development of their screen reader.

The Pluggable Look and Feel architecture of the Java Foundation Classes was developed based on the input of many experts in user-interface design, and tested by the over 300,000 developers who have downloaded them during their development cycle.  One of the key design reasons for making the Pluggable Look and Feel was to support direct accessibility in the modality of the user's choice.  Several Assistive Technology developers are creating alternate user interfaces using the Pluggable Look and Feel architecture, and their input helped shape the design during its development.
 

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What about Java applications that aren't built using JFC?

These programs will automatically be somewhat accessible because they are build on top of AWT, to which the Java Accessibility Utilities provide some access.  However, to be fully accessible, these applications should directly support the Java Accessibility interfaces, or be built on top of some other class libraries that support Java Accessibility.
 
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Do any class libraries other than those that come with JFC support Java Accessibility?

None have announced their support at this time, though a number of class library vendors and Java Bean developers are reviewing the Java Accessibility API, and several took part in the design of Java Accessibility.
 
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Will there be any compatibility issues for accessible applications created with JDK 1.1 and JFC in future versions of the JDK?

Absolutely not -- the JDK is completely backwards compatible which means that JFC applications created for JDK 1.1 and JFC will be able to run on JDK 1.2, to be released later this year.
 
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Where can I download Java Accessibility?

The Java Accessibility API is available for download as part of the Java Foundation Classes version 1.1, at http://java.sun.com/products/jfc.  Information on downloading the Java Accessibility Utilities package is available at http://www.sun.com/access.
 
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When can developers start using Java Accessibility?

We want developers to start using Java Accessibility, and using the Java Foundation Classes to write accessible Java applications immediately, as several licensees and partners already have.  JDK 1.1 supports Java Accessibility and the Java Foundation Classes, which means that ISVs can not only develop accessible applications as well as Assistive Technologies for Java, but can deploy them now.
 
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