Microsoft announced plans Thursday to contribute its UI Automation specification royalty-free to the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA), an engineering working group looking to make it easier for developers to make computer products accessible to people with disabilities. The specification describes the company's latest accessibility framework technology and will help developers include advanced acces Microsoft announced plans Thursday to contribute its UI Automation specification royalty-free to the Accessibility Interoperability Alliance (AIA), an engineering working group looking to make it easier for developers to make computer products accessible to people with disabilities.The specification describes the company’s latest accessibility framework technology and will help developers include advanced accessibility into implementations designed to be used with any operating system, Microsoft said. Featured is a programming model for developers to make software compatible with assistive technology products such as screen readers for persons who are blind. AIA, Microsoft said, was formed by a coalition of information and assistive technology companies intending to collaborate on reducing barriers that people with disabilities can encounter when trying to access information and technologies, including Web sites. Developers currently must work across multiple platforms, application models and types of hardware to create accessible technology. AIA is addressing interoperability by working to harmonize current technologies so they interoperate more easily and by working to build a unified accessibility model. UI Automation is available now for Windows platforms. Microsoft has agreed to grant a royalty-free license for Microsoft patents necessary to implement portions of the specification. Technology Industry