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Accessibility of Java applets in internet applications

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From: Birkir Rúnar Gunnarsson
Date: Jan 12, 2011 8:12PM

Hey guys

I had a conversation with a software company today that are working on
a user interface for an online product.
They said to have a mix of html and Java applets on the client side.
I have written classes and server code in Java and I have written
html/css web pages, even JavaScript, but I am not entirely clear on
whether Java applents would be accessible.
If they are, wouldn't they have to be written using Swing classes and
accessed with the Java Access Bridge, or am I misunderstanding the
situation?
I will not advise this company on accessibility, so I am merely
theoretically curious.
But could a screen reader access a page that ran partly with Java
applets and partly with html (or with html inside a Java applet, I am
not 100% clear on the specifics, as you can see).
Any comments or pointers to technical resources on this would be much
appreciated.

Also, though this really does not have too much to do with accessibility.
Does anyone know of a good resource that explains the basic
differences between MSAA, UIA and IAccessible2?
I mean, in more genral terms, not actual tecch specs.
Thanks and be well.
-Birkir