Hi Scott, Well, I just did some research on your question and it turns out that service pack 3 for XP contains UI Automation so in answer to your question they should receive the same or equal access as a Windows 8 user when UI Automation is used assuming the screen reader has UI Automation support. That's really the rub here. A lot of people are still running Jaws 7 or something like that which doesn't support UI Automation so even though an XP user can install service pack 3 and get UI Automation support on the OS side of things if their screen reader is out of date it won't matter if UI Automation is available or not as the screen reader won't use it.
However, that does sort of bring us back to your original question. What happens if a developer uses UI Automation and either the OS or screen reader doesn't support it? The answer is that Jaws, Window-Eyes, etc will fall back on other means such as video intercept drivers etc to try and determine the WPF controls so the application should still be accessible. Its just that the screen reader won't be able to have as accurate firsthand information from the application itself on what the control is. Cheers! On 5/1/13, Scott Chesworth <scottcheswo...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Tom, > > Thanks, good to know. So then, what would happen for a screen reader > user who was attempting to use a program under XP if a developer had > gone with UI Automation as their accessibility API? Do the screen > readers have some way of bridging the gap between UI Automation and > MSAA, or would that program just be seen as being inaccessible? > Doesn't affect me directly seeing as I'm already running 7, but > thought it was worth asking. I haven't yet heard of any programs that > are accessible in 7 and 8 but totally unusable in XP, so just trying > to get my head around the implications. > > Cheers > > Scott --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.