How your Mac describes a button
A button has more than a position on your screen. An app can describe what it is, what it says, and what you can do with it.
Interactive lesson · 4 min · Reviewed 2026-10-02Meet the accessibility tree
AX is shorthand for accessibility. The accessibility tree is an app’s description of its interface: windows contain controls, and controls expose information such as their role and label. Assistive technology uses this information to help people navigate. Automation tools can use the same interface.
Try it: select a control
Select the text field or either button in the example. The inspector shows the information an automation tool might receive. These are made-up example values, not a scan of your Mac. Select “Press Save” to see the difference between reading a control and asking it to perform an action.
Keep that thought.
Selecting a control inspects it in this example.
App / Window / Save
- Role
AXButton- Label
- Save
- Value
- No value
- Action
AXPress
The app exposes a press action for this example button. Asking for that action is different from guessing where to click.
Example only. This page cannot inspect or control your Mac.
Why a visible button can still be hard to automate
An app chooses what it exposes. Custom controls can be missing a useful label or action. An accessibility hierarchy can also simplify the visual layout. Granting permission does not add information that the app has never provided.
Put the idea to work
When an automation cannot find a control, check its permission and the information the target app exposes before adding more clicks. For organizing your working environment, Lattices connects window navigation with project workspaces and terminal sessions. Its app guide explains the permissions behind those features.
Watch the animated explanation
Go to the source
Documentation reviewed 2026-10-02. Examples are illustrative; this is not a hands-on product benchmark.