Re: making accessible to my gtk application in different platforms designed in c language

[Jason White <jason jasonjgw net>]

My understanding is that GTK is not accessible with screen readers under 
Microsoft Windows, but it can be under Linux. Support for non-Linux 
environments is on the development agenda for GTK 4.

On 5/6/21 6:05 am, chandan dora via gnome-accessibility-list wrote:
> hello friends, I need to learn the concept, of how the gtk gui
> applications designed in c language can be accessible in different
> platforms, especially in microsoft windows and linux. to make a clear
> understand of this concept, I implemented a very simple gtk gui
> applications in c as follows:
>
>
> #include <gtk/gtk.h>
>
> int main (int argc, char *argv [] )
> {
> GtkWidget *window;
> GtkWidget *button;
>
> gtk_init (&argc, &argv);
>
> window = gtk_window_new (GTK_WINDOW_TOPLEVEL);
> gtk_window_set_title (GTK_WINDOW (window), "Accessible program");
> gtk_window_set_default_size (GTK_WINDOW (window), 200, 150);
> gtk_window_set_position (GTK_WINDOW (window), GTK_WIN_POS_CENTER);
>
>
>
> /* I am going to creat a button element and add it to display it on
> the toplevel window */
> button = gtk_button_new_with_label ("OK");
> gtk_widget_set_halign (button, GTK_ALIGN_START+20);
> gtk_widget_set_valign (button, GTK_ALIGN_START+20);
> /* also I am going to display a tooltip on this buttonr, when I drag a
> mouse pointer on it. */
> gtk_widget_set_tooltip_text (button, "this is a small descriptive text
> related to this button element");
>
> gtk_container_add (GTK_CONTAINER (window), button);
>
> gtk_widget_show_all (window);
>
> g_signal_connect (G_OBJECT (window), "destroy", G_CALLBACK
> (gtk_main_quit), NULL);
>
> gtk_main ();
>
> return 0;
> }
>
>
> after implementing this program, I compiled it on linux (kali linux
> distro) as follows:
> gcc main.c -o main.out `pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0`
>
> and run it as follows:
> ./main.out
>
> before running the main.out program, I had enabled the orca screen
> reader to test whether the program is accessible by screen reader or
> not. and then run the main.out program.
> after running this program, I noted that, a new window was opened
> which displayed a button element with a tooltip on the screen.
> simultaneously, I heard that of orca is announcing, "accessible
> program frame. OK push button. this is a small descriptive text
> related to this button element". it means that, a new window created
> in a frame, whose title is "accessible program". "ok push button"
> means, currently the focus is on the OK button element of the window.
> "this is a small descriptive text related to this button" means, the
> orca announces this message because I added a tooltip to this button
> while implementing this program, and since the main focus is on this
> button, right now, hence the orca announces this tooltip.
> everything was fine till now in the linux environment. one moment!
> let's move a bit for a while to the microsoft windows desktop
> environment.
> I compiled this source code in the microsoft windows desktop
> environment version 10, using gcc compiler as follows:
> on the windows command prompt, I executed the following commands to
> compile the source code:
> echo gcc main.c -o main.exe > run.bat
> pkg-config --cflags --libs gtk+-3.0 >> run.bat
> then, on the command prompt:
> run
>
> I got no error and my program was compiled successfully. then I simply
> type main on the command prompt and press enter.
> note: before I run the main.exe file on my windows 10 environment, I
> had installed JAWS (job access with speech) screen reader, which is
> the most popular screen reader for windows operating system. however,
> I also used the narator screen reader to test the accessibility of my
> program using screen reader.
> actually, the problem is there, after running the main.exe program on
> this platform. it runs successfully, and a new window is open. it
> displays all the elements of the window. but no screen reader neither
> JAWS nor narator can properly interact with this application. while
> opening a new window, the screen readers are announcing just the title
> of the window, "accessible program" in my case. but nothing else.
> the screen readers are neither announcing the button element, nor
> announcing the tooltip of the button. this is the problem. if I will
> take orca into my consideration, it was fine with this main.out
> program.
> to understand this problem more clearly, on the command prompt, I run
> another program called notepad.exe. to run the notepad, on the command
> prompt, I type "notepad" without quotation mark, and press enter.
> but its so amazing !! the screen readers are announcing everything
> after opening notepad. some questions stuck  in my mind:
>   1.    why can the screen readers not access my program correctly in
> windows platform?
> 2. the orca screen reader in linux can properly interact with my
> program. but in windows, the JAWS and narator aren't. why?
> 3. the other programs like ms word, notepad, etc are accessible by
> screen readers in windows platform. but it cannot access my program
> properly. what should I do to my program, to make it properly
> accessible by screen readers in windows platform?
>
> having these questions in my mind, I investigated somewhere, and find
> that ATK library and microsoft active accessibility (MSAA). I know
> about the purpose of these interfaces. but still it confused me.
> further it add some new questions in my mind:
>
> 1.      I have not used ATK library in my program. still, the orca screen
> reader in linux can access my program properly. how?
> 2. the same program in windows platform runs properly. but could not
> be accessible by screen readers such as JAWS and narator. but the
> screen readers can peoperly access other programs like notepad ms
> word, etc. how?
> when the second question comes into my mind, I think about MSAA
> (microsoft active accessibility). but I don't know how can I use MSAA
> in my program. so the third probable question comes into my mind:
> 3.      can i use ATK (accessibility toolkit) with gtk to build an
> accessible program in windows platform?
>
> I hope, someone can help me. as soon as I will be a best programmer, I
> will contribute much to the open source community.
>
>
> regards
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