Accessibility New Features in the JavaTM 2 Platform, v1.4

Java Accessibility

The features described here were introduced in the Java 2 Platform, v1.4.0. These features are also part of subsequent releases of the Java 2 Platform.

Contents

AccessibleExtendedComponent.getAccessibleKeyBinding
AccessibleRole New Constants
Accessibility Support for HTML Object Tags
Support for Tracking HTMLEditorKit Keyboard Link Traversal
Assistive Technologies Property
Screen Reader Property
API Enhancements
AccessibleEditableText
AccessibleExtendedComponent
AccessibleExtendedTable
AccessibleKeyBinding
Mnemonic Tab Navigation
List Navigation by First Letter
Accessibility Support for HTML Components
Screen Magnifier Property

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AccessibleExtendedComponent.getAccessibleKeyBinding

Interface AccessibleExtendedComponent has a new method, getAccessibleKeyBinding, to return key bindings associated with an object.

AccessibleRole New Constants

Class AccessibleRole contains the following new constants:

• DATE_EDITOR
• FONT_CHOOSER
• GROUP_BOX
• SPIN_BOX
• STATUS_BAR

Accessibility Support for HTML Object Tags

This release adds accessibility support for HTML object tags. CTRL-t and SHIFT-CTRL-t navigate to the next and previous component, respectively, associated with an object tag in an HTML document. CTRL-SPACE activates the default action associated with the component.

Support for Tracking HTMLEditorKit Keyboard Link Traversal

Assistive technologies needed a way to track HTMLEditorKit keyboard link traversal. The constant AccessibleContext.ACCESSIBLE_HYPERTEXT_OFFSET was added to support this feature.

Assistive Technologies Property

The javax.accessibility.assistive_technologies property specifies the assistive technologies to load into the JVM.

Screen Reader Property

The javax.accessibility.screen_reader_present property, when set to true, lets the Java platform libraries know that a screen reader is present on the system. Application developers can check this property. If an application is self-voicing and a screen reader is present, developers can turn off the self-voicing.

API Enhancements

The following new classes and interfaces have been added to the Java^TM Accessibility API:

• javax.accessibility.AccessibleEditableText
• javax.accessibility.AccessibleExtendedComponent
• javax.accessibility.AccessibleExtendedTable
• javax.accessibility.AccessibleKeyBinding

In addition, javax.accessibility.AccessibleContext was updated to reflect the new classes and interfaces.

AccessibleEditableText

Interface AccessibleEditableText provides support for text editing by assistive technologies.

AccessibleExtendedComponent

Interface AccessibleExtendedComponent provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine the extended graphical representation of an object.

AccessibleExtendedTable

Interface AccessibleExtendedTable provides extended information about a user-interface component that presents data in a two-dimensional table format.

AccessibleKeyBinding

Interface AccessibleKeyBinding provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine the key bindings which exist for an object.

Mnemonic Tab Navigation

This new feature provides support for easier tab navigation using mnemonics on a JTabbedPane.

List Navigation by First Letter

This new feature provides support for list navigation using the first letter of list items.

Accessibility Support for HTML Components

This release provides accessibility support for HTML components in Swing.

Screen Magnifier Property

The javax.accessibility.screen_magnifier_present property, when set to true, lets the Java platform libraries know that a screen magnifier is present on the system. Application developers can check this property, and if a screen magnifier is present, developers should make sure their applications are compatible with screen magnification.

Copyright © 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Please send comments to: access@sun.com