This class is the primary class for accessibility support via the Accessibility ToolKit (Atk). Objects which are instances of k.Object (or instances of Atk.Object-derived types) are queried for properties which relate basic (and generic) properties of a UI component such as name and description. Instances of Atk.Object may also be queried as to whether they implement other Atk interfaces (e.g. Atk.Action, Atk.Component, etc.), as appropriate to the role which a given UI component plays in a user interface.

All UI components in an application which provide useful information or services to the user must provide corresponding Atk.Object instances on request (in Gtk, for instance, usually on a call to Gtk.Widget.GetAccessible()), either via Atk support built into the toolkit for the widget class or ancestor class, or in the case of custom widgets, if the inherited Atk.Object implementation is insufficient, via instances of a new Atk.Object subclass.