Introducing AT Driver

a Draft Community Group Report for

automating assistive technologies

@bocoup

What is AT Driver?

https://w3c.github.io/at-driver/

Motivation: It is too difficult for web developers to know whether a particular design pattern or web platform feature is supported by all of the accessibility stack (browser, operating system, screen reader) without manually testing.

​

Scope: a protocol for introspection and remote control of assistive technology software using a bidirectional communication channel

2

@bocoup

Who’s behind AT Driver?

The ARIA-AT Community Group

​

​

​

Your presenters: Lola Odelola & Mike Pennisi

Representing Bocoup LLC working in collaboration with Meta Platforms Inc.

3

“WAI-ARIA is as important to assistive technology presentation as CSS is to visual presentation. Join us to help make WAI-ARIA as reliable as CSS.”

@bocoup

Goals for today’s discussion

Gather perspectives that inform improvements to the proposal's design

Learn what the Working Group would like to see in order to consider taking on the proposal as a W3C Editor's Draft

4

@bocoup

Current status

Specified

• press keys
• observe spoken text
• observe settings
• modify settings

�Implementations

• Proof-of-concept implemented for NVDA by Prime Access Consulting
• Interest from NVAccess leadership
• Vispero has not shared a timeline for implementation but considers this proposal to be the most compelling aspect of ARIA-AT

​

​

Unspecified

• start/stop AT
• observe state
• modify state
• commands tailored to non-screen-reader ATs (e.g. braille displays)

5

@bocoup

If you were starting WebDriver BiDi from scratch, would you do anything differently?

Question 1/2

6

@bocoup

What would it look like to promote this proposal to an Editor's Draft in BTT's charter?

Question 2/2

7

@bocoup