11 releases (5 breaking)

new 0.6.0	Apr 6, 2026
0.5.3	Apr 3, 2026
0.4.0	Mar 29, 2026
0.3.0	Mar 28, 2026
0.1.1	Mar 22, 2026

#15 in Accessibility

MIT license

185KB
4K SLoC

xa11y

Cross-platform accessibility library for reading and interacting with accessibility trees. One API for macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Use cases: UI testing, AI agent tooling, assistive technology, desktop automation.

Documentation | Rust API | Python API

Quick Example

use xa11y::*;

fn main() -> Result<()> {
    let safari = App::by_name("Safari")?;

    // Find elements with CSS-like selectors
    let buttons = safari.locator("button[name='Submit']").elements()?;
    println!("Found {} buttons", buttons.len());

    // Interact with elements via locator (re-resolves every call)
    safari.locator("button[name='Submit']").press()?;

    Ok(())
}

Installation

[dependencies]
xa11y = "0.4"

macOS: Grant your terminal two permissions in System Settings > Privacy & Security:

Accessibility — required for all accessibility API access.

Screen & System Audio Recording (macOS 26+) — required to read window content. Without this, only menu bars are visible.

Restart your terminal after changing permissions.

Linux: AT-SPI2 must be running (default on GNOME/most DEs). No special permissions needed.

Windows: No special permissions needed.

Selector Syntax

Query accessibility trees with CSS-like selectors:

Pattern	Meaning
`button`	Elements with role Button
`button[name='OK']`	Button named exactly "OK"
`textfield[name^='Search']`	Text field whose name starts with "Search"
`textfield[name*='email']`	Text field whose name contains "email"
`group > button`	Buttons that are direct children of a group
`window button`	Buttons anywhere inside a window
`button:nth(2)`	The 2nd button match

Supported Actions

Action	Description
`press`	Click / activate
`focus` / `blur`	Move or remove keyboard focus
`toggle`	Toggle a checkbox or switch
`expand` / `collapse`	Expand or collapse a disclosure
`select`	Select an item
`set_value`	Set a text field's value
`type_text`	Type text into an element
`increment` / `decrement`	Adjust a slider or stepper
`scroll`	Scroll in a direction
`show_menu`	Open a context menu

Platform Support

Platform	Backend
macOS	AXUIElement
Linux	AT-SPI2 (D-Bus)
Windows	UI Automation

Contributing

git clone https://github.com/xa11y/xa11y && cd xa11y
cargo build --workspace
cargo xtask check   # fmt, lint, test, python bindings

See the development docs for architecture and setup.

License

MIT. All dependencies are permissively licensed (MIT, Apache-2.0, BSD, or similar), enforced via cargo-deny.

Dependencies

~0.5–32MB
~443K SLoC