Announcing Control Changes for Screen Readers in My WPF Project?

Question

Hello everyone,

In my WPF project, I want to implement screen reader support, particularly in registration forms, for visually impaired users. My goal is to ensure that changes in controls (e.g., textboxes, comboboxes, checkboxes, etc.) and error messages are announced correctly by screen readers.

What adjustments can I make on the UI side to ensure that when any change occurs in the controls, it gets announced by the screen readers? Could you share any WPF features or methods that would help in achieving this functionality?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Hi, @fatih uyanık. Welcome to Microsoft Q&A. 

You could set AutomationProperties.Name in controls (such as TextBox, RadioButton, CheckBox) to specify the words to be spoken. Refer to the following example:

1.Editing Code

    <Grid x:Name="MyGrid" Width="200" Height="180" >
        <Grid.RowDefinitions>
            <RowDefinition/>
            <RowDefinition/>
            <RowDefinition/>
        </Grid.RowDefinitions>
        <Border BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="2" Padding="5" >
            <TextBox AutomationProperties.Name="{Binding Text, RelativeSource={RelativeSource Mode=Self}}" ></TextBox>
        </Border>
        <Border BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="2" Padding="5" Grid.Row="1">
            <StackPanel>
                <RadioButton GroupName="Sex" Content="A"  AutomationProperties.Name="You clicked radio button A"></RadioButton>
                <RadioButton GroupName="Sex" Content="B"  AutomationProperties.Name="You clicked radio button B"></RadioButton>
            </StackPanel>
        </Border>
        <Border BorderBrush="Black" BorderThickness="2" Padding="5" Grid.Row="2">
            <StackPanel>
                <CheckBox Content="C" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1"  AutomationProperties.Name="You clicked CheckBox C"></CheckBox>
                <CheckBox Content="D" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1"  AutomationProperties.Name="You clicked CheckBox D"></CheckBox>
                <CheckBox Content="E" Grid.Row="2" Grid.Column="1"  AutomationProperties.Name="You clicked CheckBox E"></CheckBox>
            </StackPanel>
        </Border>
    </Grid>

2.Open Narrator on Windows: Ctrl+Win+Enter

At this time, when you modify the content of the control, the corresponding words will be spoken.

To read the error message, you coud refer to the following method:

1.Editing Code

<TextBlock x:Name="errorMessageTextBlock"  Width="0" Height="0"
   AutomationProperties.LiveSetting="Polite" 
   Visibility="Collapsed"/>

    public void ShowErrorMessage()
    {
        string message = "This is a Test";

        errorMessageTextBlock.Text = message;
        errorMessageTextBlock.Visibility = Visibility.Visible;

        // Create an automation peer for the TextBlock
        var peer = UIElementAutomationPeer.CreatePeerForElement(errorMessageTextBlock);
        if (peer != null)
        {
            // Raise the LiveRegionChanged event
            peer.RaiseAutomationEvent(AutomationEvents.LiveRegionChanged);
        }
    }

2.Open Narrator on Windows: Ctrl+Win+Enter

Now when you run ShowErrorMessage(), you will hear the error message.

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