About Us
The Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA) brings companies together to collaborate on the design and delivery of solutions to long-standing Accessible Technology/Information Technology (AT/IT) interoperability challenges. The AIA may also pursue formal standardization of the resulting technologies and/or specifications, recognizing the value of adoption by standards bodies (such as ANSI and ISO) in driving mainstream use.
Early in the evolution of graphical user interfaces, a set of APIs called Microsoft Active Accessibility (MSAA) was released to support the creation of assistive tools and accessible applications. Since MSAA's advent, many additional Web and desktop user interfaces have evolved, and diverging specifications have also been developed to support accessibility of these new technologies, such as UI Automation, Linux ATK, Java accessibility API, WAI-ARIA Roadmap and IAccessible2. However, at present, no single set of specifications comprehensively supports all the new technologies, and the specifications themselves are not completely compatible.
The AIA exists to improve the lives of those people who can benefit from accessibility technologies. The AIA accomplishes this by encouraging the enhancement of current technologies, the creation of new technology, and promoting the implementation of these APIs and specifications cross-platform and across the industry.
AIA members will work collectively to create an environment where a full
set of standard APIs and other technologies enables the development of
accessible computing systems, mobile phones and other platforms.
