Package javax.accessibility
The Java Accessibility API package consists of 8 Java programming language interfaces, and 6 Java programming language classes. These are described below.
Interface Accessible
Interface Accessible is the main interface of the Java Accessibility API. All components that support the Java Accessibility API must implement this interface. It contains a single method,getAccessibleContext
, that returns an instance of the class
AccessibleContext. Sun thinks that
implementing this interface is the absolute minimum requirement of every
object that is part of the user interface of a Java application, if that
program is to be compatible with assistive technologies.
Class AccessibleContext
AccessibleContext represents the minimum information all accessible objects return and is obtained by calling thegetAccessibleContext
method on an object that implements the
Accessible interface. This information includes the
accessible name, description, role, and
state of the object, as well as information
about the parent and children of the object. In addition,
JavaBeans property change support is also included to allow assistive
technologies learn when the values of the accessible properties change.
AccessibleContext also contains methods for obtaining more specific
accessibility information about a component. If the component supports it,
these methods will return an object that implements one or more of the
following interfaces:
- AccessibleAction - the object
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 return an object that implements this interface when
the
getAccessibleAction
method is called on an AccessibleContext. - AccessibleComponent - the
object has a graphical representation. This interface provides the
standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine and set the
graphical representation of the object. Any object that is rendered on
the screen should return an object that implements this interface when
the
getAccessibleComponent
method is called on an AccessibleContext. - AccessibleSelection - the
object allows its children to be selected. This interface provides the
standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine the currently
selected children as well as modify the selection set. Any object that
has children that can be selected should return an object that implements
this interface when the
getAccessibleSelection
method is called on an AccessibleContext. - AccessibleText - the object
presents editable textual information on the display. This interface
provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to access
that text via its content, attributes, and spatial location. Any object
that contains editable text should return an object that implements this
interface when the
getAccessibleText
method is called on an AccessibleContext. - AccessibleHypertext - the
object presents hypertext information on the display. This interface
provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to access that
hypertext via its content, attributes, and spatial location. Any object
that contains hypertext should return an object that implements this
interface when the
getAccessibleText
method is called on an AccessibleContext. - AccessibleValue - the object
supports a 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 minimum and maximum values. Any
object that supports a numerical value should return an object that
implements this interface when the
getAccessibleValue
method is called on an AccessibleContext.
Class AccessibleRole
This class encapsulates the Accessible object's role in the user interface and is obtained by calling thegetAccessibleRole
method on an
AccessibleContext. Accessible roles include
"Check box", "Menu Item", "Panel", etc. These roles are identified by the
constants in this class such as AccessibleRole.CHECK_BOX,
AccessibleRole.MENU_ITEM,
and AccessibleRole.PANEL
. The constants in
this class present a strongly typed enumeration of common object roles. A
public constructor for this class has been purposely omitted and applications
should use one of the constants from this class. Although this class
pre-defines a large list of standard roles, it is extensible so additional
programmer-defined roles can be added in the future without needing to modify
the base class.
Class AccessibleState
This class encapsulates a particular state of the Accessible object. Accessible states include things like "Armed", "Busy", "Checked", "Focused", etc. These roles are identified by the constants in this class such asAccessibleState.ARMED, AccessibleState.BUSY, AccessibleState.CHECKED,
and AccessibleState.FOCUSED
. The sum of all the states of an
Accessible object is called the
AccessibleStateSet, and can be obtained by
calling the getAccessibleStateSet
method on an
AccessibleContext.
The constants in this class present a strongly typed enumeration of common object roles. A public constructor for this class has been purposely omitted and applications should use one of the constants from this class. Although this class pre-defines a large list of standard roles, it is extensible so additional, programmer-defined roles can be added in the future without needing to modify the base class.
Class AccessibleStateSet
This class encapsulates a collection of states of the Accessible object and is obtained by calling thegetAccessibleStateSet
method on an
AccessibleContext. Since an object might
have multiple states (e.g. it might be both "Checked" and "Focused"), this
class is needed to encapsulate a collection of these states. Methods in the
class provide for retrieving the individual
AccessibleStates on the state set.
Class AccessibleBundle
This class is used to maintain a strongly typed enumeration. It is the super class of both the AccessibleRole and AccessibleState classes. Programmers normally do not interact with this class directly, but will instead use the AccessibleRole and AccessibleState classes.Interface AccessibleAction
The AccessibleAction interface should be supported by any object that can perform one or more actions. This interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine what those actions are as well as tell the object to perform those actions. Any object that can be manipulated should support this interface.
Applications can determine if an object supports the AccessibleAction
interface by first obtaining its
AccessibleContext (see
Accessible) and then calling the
getAccessibleAction
method of
AccessibleContext. If the return value is
not null
, the object supports this interface.
Interface AccessibleComponent
The AccessibleComponent interface should be supported by any object that is rendered on the screen. This interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine and set the graphical representation of an object.Applications
can determine if an object supports the AccessibleComponent interface by
first obtaining its AccessibleContext (see
Accessible) and then calling the
getAccessibleComponent
method of
AccessibleContext. If the return value is
not null
, the object supports this interface.
Interface AccessibleSelection
The AccessibleSelection interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine what the current selected children are, as well as modify the selection set. Any object that has children that can be selected should support this the AccessibleSelection interface.
Applications can determine if an object supports the AccessibleSelection
interface by first obtaining its
AccessibleContext (see
Accessible) and then calling the
getAccessibleSelection
method of
AccessibleContext. If the return value is
not null
, the object supports this interface.
Interface AccessibleText
Interface AccessibleText is the contract for making rich, editable text Accessible. Not all text displayed on the screen is rich and editable (e.g. text contained in buttons, labels, menus, etc., which users aren't expected to manipulate). However, objects containing editable text must implement interface AccessibleText if they are to interoperate with assistive technologies.This interface provides support for going between pixel coordinates and the text at a given pixel coordinate, for retrieving the letter, word, and sentence at, before, or after a given position in the text. This interface provides support for retrieving the attributes of the character at a given position in the text (font, font size, style, etc.), as well as getting the selected text (if any), the length of the text, and the location of the text caret.
Applications can determine if an object supports the AccessibleText interface
by first obtaining its AccessibleContext
(see Accessible) and then calling the
getAccessibleText
method of
AccessibleContext. If the return value is
not null
, the object supports this interface.
Interface AccessibleHypertext
The AccessibleHypertext interface should be supported by any object that presents hypertext information on the display. This interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to access that text via its content, attributes, and spatial location. It also provides standard mechanisms for manipulating hyperlinks. Applications can determine if an object supports the AccessibleHypertext interface by first obtaining its AccessibleContext (see Accessible) and then calling the AccessibleContext.getAccessibleText() method of AccessibleContext. If the return value is a class which extends AccessibleHypertext, then that object supports AccessibleHypertext.Interface AccessibleHyperlink
An object that is a hyperlink should support the AccessibleHyperlink interface. An object that implements this interface will be returned by calling the getLink method on an AccessibleHypertext object.Interface AccessibleValue
The AccessibleValue interface should be supported by any object that supports a numerical value (e.g., a scroll bar). This interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine and set the numerical value as well as get the minimum and maximum values.
Applications can determine if an object supports the AccessibleValue
interface by first obtaining its
AccessibleContext (see
Accessible) and then calling the
getAccessibleValue
method of
AccessibleContext. If the return value is
not null
, the object supports this interface.
- Since:
- 1.2
-
ClassDescriptionService Provider Interface (SPI) for Assistive Technology.Interface
Accessible
is the main interface for the accessibility package.TheAccessibleAction
interface should be supported by any object that can perform one or more actions.This class collects together the span of text that share the same contiguous set of attributes, along with that set of attributes.Base class used to maintain a strongly typed enumeration.TheAccessibleComponent
interface should be supported by any object that is rendered on the screen.AccessibleContext
represents the minimum information all accessible objects return.TheAccessibleEditableText
interface should be implemented by all classes that present editable textual information on the display.TheAccessibleExtendedComponent
interface should be supported by any object that is rendered on the screen.ClassAccessibleExtendedTable
provides extended information about a user-interface component that presents data in a two-dimensional table format.TheAccessibleExtendedText
interface contains additional methods not provided by theAccessibleText
interface.Encapsulation of a link, or set of links (e.g. client side imagemap) in a Hypertext documentTheAccessibleHypertext
class is the base class for all classes that present hypertext information on the display.TheAccessibleIcon
interface should be supported by any object that has an associated icon (e.g., buttons).TheAccessibleKeyBinding
interface should be supported by any object that has a keyboard bindings such as a keyboard mnemonic and/or keyboard shortcut which can be used to select the object.ClassAccessibleRelation
describes a relation between the object that implements theAccessibleRelation
and one or more other objects.ClassAccessibleRelationSet
determines a component's relation set.Deprecated.This class is deprecated as of version 1.3 of the Java PlatformClassAccessibleRole
determines the role of a component.ThisAccessibleSelection
interface provides the standard mechanism for an assistive technology to determine what the current selected children are, as well as modify the selection set.ClassAccessibleState
describes a component's particular state.ClassAccessibleStateSet
determines a component's state set.TheAccessibleStreamable
interface should be implemented by theAccessibleContext
of any component that presents the raw stream behind a component on the display screen.ClassAccessibleTable
describes a user-interface component that presents data in a two-dimensional table format.TheAccessibleTableModelChange
interface describes a change to the table model.TheAccessibleText
interface should be implemented by all classes that present textual information on the display.This class collects together key details of a span of text.TheAccessibleValue
interface should be supported by any object that supports a numerical value (e.g., a scroll bar).