http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/C-Windows-7-UIA-Provider-af7a6e31 In an earlier blog I described how I’d received feedback from attendees of the CSUN 2011 conference which had prompted me to build samples showing aspects of the Windows 7 UIA Client...

Sample #1: http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/Windows-7-UI-Automation-9131f729 Back in March I had the opportunity to attend the 26th Annual International Technology & Persons with Disabilities Conference, otherwise known as CSUN 2011. I was to present...

A colleague asked me recently, “Why do I have to implement a bounding rectangle for each of my UIA fragments, but not for the fragment that corresponds to the whole HWND?”  In other words, why does a fragment root (the root element in a UI Automation...

In part 2 , I talked about how to declare and implement custom methods in UI Automation and promised I would do one more part to wrap it all up. I'll introduce two new objects that play an important role in custom patterns and describe how to register...

In part 1 , I talked about how to create and use custom properties in UI Automation. I want to move on now to custom patterns. In UIA, a pattern (or more formally, a control pattern ) is a bundle of properties, methods, and events that go together: a...

With this post, I’m starting a new series on how to use custom patterns in UI Automation.  Custom patterns (and custom properties and events) are a new feature of UI Automation added in Windows 7, and I thought it would be interesting to build on...

In this post, I’m going to outline the changes we need to make to our custom UI Automation provider to make it connect to the COM API for UI Automation rather than the managed-code API (UIAutomationProviders.dll.)  The samples for this part are here...

In this part, we’ll add the Selection and SelectionItem Patterns to our sample custom control. Compared with all of the hard work of part 5, creating a fragment structure, this part is easy.  So easy, in fact, that I’ll also use this post to talk...

In part 4, we added the Value Pattern to our custom provider.  Now we’re going to learn how to represent items that are contained within our provider.   The sample code for this section is here. .  In our example, we want to represent...

In part 3, we learned how to analyze our control to decide which properties it would be appropriate to support and how to add them. This time, we’ll get into patterns .  The sample code for this section is here . A UIA control pattern is very similar...

In part 2, we created a very simple, “Hello World!” provider. In this part, we’re going to talk in depth about UI Automation properties and add some to our sample provider. Properties describe what a UI element is. They are usually an...

In Part 1, we introduced the idea of UI Automation custom control providers and created a TriColor control as a sample.  Now, we’re going to try to add one basic property: the “Hello World!” of UI Automation.  Here’s the sample code for this...

Creating a UI Automation provider for a custom control is not a difficult task. At least, we members of the UI Automation team don’t think so. Yet, it is one that engineers continue to find challenging. And so it seems worth writing a walkthrough. I’ll...

We are excited to share that the “Transitioning to Windows 7” Accessibility whitepaper has been released to the web . The article is featured on the Windows 7 Accessibility website and will also be featured in the February Accessibility Update newsletter...

Over the Christmas break, one of our very talented Windows developers, Michael Bernstein, posted a CodePlex project called ‘UI Automation COM-to-.NET Adapter’. http://www.codeplex.com/uiacomwrapper The purpose of this project is to relink...

Greetings, I am proud to announce that our Windows Automation API 3.0 Platform has shipped to Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008. Our platform now provides a consistent API surface for both providers and clients...

Take a look at our latest video on Windows 7 accessibility and how interoperability plays a key role in achieving digital inclusion through both Assistive Technology (AT) and Information Technology (IT). You can see how Microsoft enables users to connect...

To ensure successful transition to Windows 7 for our Accessibility ecosystem partners, we’re announcing the release of the Platform Update for Windows Vista which will be available in the Fall of 2009. For detailed installation instructions, please...

The Windows Automation API team is happy to announce that the final release of our tools is available in the Windows 7 SDK . These tools include: · Inspect · AccEvent · UI Spy The RTM release of the Windows SDK for...

Many developers realize they need to make their software accessible, but they don’t know where to start. Scanning the internet will result in lots of different articles, focusing on implementations for a specific framework and platform. In today’s complex...

Windows Automation API 3.0 Some of you may be wondering why we refer to the Microsoft Accessibility programming platform as " Windows Automation API 3.0 ". We named it that way because the SDK isn’t really just about MSAA or UI Automation anymore....

NV Access has been able to implement support in NVDA for Microsoft's unmanaged UI Automation client API found in the up and coming Windows 7 Operating System. NV Access developers have been working on this support since the start of this year and just...

Many people work together make an effective theatre production. Some are actors, others directors, but many work backstage. These guys and gals work hard to make sure the play goes smoothly, both for those on the stage and those in the audience. You probably...

Norm Hodne is the Lead Program Manager in the Windows Experience Group responsible for the accessibility APIs, accessibility applications, and the speech commanding and dictation features shipped in Windows. Norm also is a representative to the INCITS...