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From: Birkir Rúnar Gunnarsson
Date: Wed, Jan 12 2011 8:12PM
Subject: Accessibility of Java applets in internet applications
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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

From: Michael.Moore
Date: Thu, Jan 13 2011 7:39AM
Subject: Re: Accessibility of Java applets in internet applications
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We have had the opportunity to test several applications that use java applets as part of all of a user interface. What we have found is a lot of variability in terms of success that seems to be related to the interplay of the various Java Runtime Environments (JRE) and versions of the Java Access Bridge. The JRE needs to be installed first and if you are updating the JRE both the old JRE and the access Bridge need to be uninstalled first. It is best to use the JRE that the applet was originally written for then identify a version of the access bridge that works well with that JRE and your target assistive technology. Screen readers seem to present the biggest issues but text to speech interfaces can be tricky as well. Real problems start to surface when you have a user who must interact with multiple applications that rely on java applets because it becomes very difficult to identify a single JRE and access bridge combination that will work on all of the applications.

Mike Moore
(512) 424-4159