Can we prevent Narrator from speaking UI control's name?

Shyam Butani 355 Reputation points
2025-05-11T18:41:47.14+00:00

Hello,

I'm working on WinUI2 app with XAML island in purely C++ (no XAML code). I want to support Narrator screen reader for my app. I tried to set accessibility props (name and helpertext) for UI controls. While this props are being read by Narrator, it is also speaking UI controls' technical names (e.g., Button, ComboBox).

I want to know if we can control it to not speak technical names of UI controls. Because I think technical names are not relevant to the user.

    ComboBox myComboBox;
    myComboBox.PlaceholderText(L"Choose an option");

    // Add items
    myComboBox.Items().Append(winrt::box_value(L"Option 1"));
    myComboBox.Items().Append(winrt::box_value(L"Option 2"));

    // Accessibility
    winrt::Windows::UI::Xaml::Automation::AutomationProperties::SetName(myComboBox, L"Options Dropdown");
    winrt::Windows::UI::Xaml::Automation::AutomationProperties::SetHelpText(myComboBox, L"Select one of the available options from the dropdown.");
    winrt::Windows::UI::Xaml::Automation::AutomationProperties::SetIsRequiredForForm(myComboBox, true);

In this code snippet, as shown, trying to set accessibility props for a ComboBox. Narrator is telling user that "it is a ComboBox" (in a way). I want to prevent Narrator speaking the word "ComboBox". I want Narrator to speak "Options Dropdown" when this is in focus.

Any suggestions/help is appreciated.

Universal Windows Platform (UWP)
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