Initialize COM for application-owned Wine accessibility objects

tests/README.md

@@ -16,6 +16,12 @@ items; escaped ampersands; duplicate menu selections and reopening; restored
 button focus; and exiting with both reader capabilities disabled. Additional
 `WM_MENUSELECT` messages exercise duplicate notifications deterministically.
 
+The menu fixture also returns an application-owned MSAA object through
+`WM_GETOBJECT`/`LresultFromObject`. The separate helper must retrieve its
+`client` role through COM; native text fallback cannot satisfy the check.
+This catches missing COM initialization that ordinary Wine control proxies
+and the native menu hook did not expose.
+
 The fixture window takes focus and closes automatically. Cleanup stops only
 the Wine server for the temporary prefix. The recorded events never reach the
 running reader's speech or braille service.
@@ -32,6 +38,35 @@ live listening or physical braille acceptance.
 32-bit hook support, entirely custom menus without `WM_MENUSELECT`, and full
 object review are outside the current implementation.
 
+## BARD Express managed menus
+
+The October 10 investigation found two independent blockers. The helper's
+message-loop thread did not initialize COM, so application-owned MSAA queries
+failed with `CO_E_NOTINITIALIZED` and used native window text such as `MenuBar`.
+The helper now initializes a single-threaded COM apartment before registering
+callbacks and uninitializes it after removing them. The new marshaled-provider
+check passes with the fix and fails with the previous helper.
+
+BARD's prefix also registered `IAccessible` against UIA type library
+`{930299CE-9965-4DEC-B0F4-A54848D4B667}`, version `1.0`, while its installed
+`uiautomationcore.dll` lacked the registered resource `3`.
+An initialized read-only query failed with `TYPE_E_CANTLOADLIBRARY`.
+After backing up the prefix registry, the 32-bit and 64-bit
+`HKLM\Software\Classes\Interface\{618736E0-3C3D-11CF-810C-00AA00389B71}\TypeLib`
+registrations were pointed to the loadable standard accessibility type library
+`{1EA4DBF0-3C3B-11CF-810C-00AA00389B71}`, version `1.1`.
+Read-only inspection then retrieved Account/View/Help and their command labels,
+shortcuts and unavailable states from the open application. This repair is
+specific to a verified prefix mismatch; the helper does not change registries.
+
+After installing the helper, restart Cthulhu to load it. In BARD, press Alt,
+move Left/Right among Account, View and Help, then Down/Up among commands.
+Check unavailable items while working offline and Escape back to the main
+screen. Recheck Tab/Shift+Tab through buttons, preferences and login fields,
+including password exclusion, and ordinary Wine Notepad menus/editing.
+Verify audible speech and physical braille separately; querying menu labels
+alone does not establish either output gate.
+
 ## Editor and actual Notepad checks
 
 The CMake build also includes a small MSAA state decoder check. Run it with