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Leopard Reference Library: Cocoa
Support for external assistive applications is built into Mac OS X. An assistive application interacts with an application to allow persons with disabilities to use it. For example, it can enable the visually impaired to perform actions through verbal commands corresponding to menu items and button labels. By using Cocoa programming interfaces and following simple guidelines, developers can make the user interface of their applications available to these external assistive applications.
A guided introduction for developers who want to make their applications accessible to all users.  
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Universal Access: Computers That Everyone Can Use (HTML)
Learn how to make your applications usable by everyone, including those with disabilities.
 Articles 2004-08-02
Mac OS X Technology Overview (HTML) (PDF)
Introduces Mac OS X and its technologies.
 Guides 2008-10-15
Apple Human Interface Guidelines (HTML) (PDF)
Introduces the Mac OS X user experience and explains how to design an application for Aqua.
 Guides 2008-06-09
Accessibility Overview (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use the accessibility features built into Mac OS X.
 Guides 2008-03-11
Accessibility Programming Guidelines for Cocoa (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how Cocoa applications make their user interface available to external assistive applications.
 Guides 2007-02-08
Speech (HTML) (PDF)
Explains Cocoa's interfaces to the speech synthesis and speech recognition technologies.
 Guides 2003-08-08
NSSpeechSynthesizer Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Cocoa parser that converts text to speech.
 Reference 2009-01-06
NSAccessibility Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for receiving accessibility-related messages.
 Reference 2007-12-11
NSSpeechRecognizer Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Cocoa command-and-control voice recognition system.
 Reference 2007-04-03
TrackBall (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates how to build a custom control based on the NSControl class.
 Sample Code 2007-06-07
UIElementInspector (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates using the Accessibility API introduced in Mac OS X 10.2, which allows manipulation of an application's UI.
 Sample Code 2007-02-19
SetMouseAcclSample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Find HID System Manager and get/set cursor acceleration
 Sample Code 2006-11-28
Dicey (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Dicey is a dice game project that demonstrates various techniques for making a Cocoa application accessible.
 Sample Code 2006-08-01
ImageMapExample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Implements a custom NSView, an image map, and accessorizes it (i.e. makes it work with accessibility).
 Sample Code 2005-06-01