[This is preliminary documentation and subject to change.]
Like many elements in Windows applications, accessible objects can be selected and receive keyboard focus. These attributes enable users to interact with application elements, changing values or otherwise manipulating them.
Note Object selection and object focus are two entirely different ideas. The "focused" object is the one object in the entire system that receives keyboard input, while the "selected" object is marked to participate in some type of group operation. Additionally, focused items can be in or out of a selection of items. For example, you can select several items in a list view control in preparation for moving or deleting them all. However, the focus is given only to one object in the system at a time.
Menus do not incorporate item selection. When a user highlights menu items, the server must not generate EVENT_OBJECT_SELECTION events or any other selection-related event. Instead, the server should generate an EVENT_OBJECT_FOCUS event specific to the object that is highlighted.
This documentation includes information about accessing selected or focused objects. For more information, see Retrieving the Object with Keyboard Focus and Retrieving Selected Objects and Children.