By default Chrome is opaque to the UI Automation API, but there is a way of turn on the support, and thus being able to navigate through the control hierarchy.

If you navigate to chrome://accessibility/, then you can turn accessibility on globally or in a given page.

Starting the application with the --force-renderer-accessibility option will start the application in the correct mode.

An example of starting chrome with the correct settings is shown below. Note that is Chrome is already running, then the argument will have no effect.

    UIAutomation automation = UIAutomation.getInstance();

    Application chrome =
        new Application(
            new ElementBuilder()
                .automation(automation)
                .applicationPath("C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe")
                .applicationArguments("--force-renderer-accessibility"));


    try {
        chrome.launchOrAttach();
    } catch (Throwable ex) {
        logger.warn("Failed to find application", ex);
    }