Mozilla Firefox is Accessible

Until now, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer has been the browser of choice for people with visual disabilities and Mozilla Firefox was not an option for surfing the Web. Now, JAWS 7.0 and Window-Eyes 5.5 provide support for Firefox and Mozilla, and have made improvements to the software that makes it accessible for people with visual disabilities.

There remain several important differences between Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Advantages of Firefox

The most prominent feature of Firefox is its ability to block pop-up windows and advertising. The browser loads Web pages much faster than Internet Explorer. Unlike Internet Explorer, Firefox provides options like whether to load Web site images or to allow pop-ups on certain sites. Firefox also enables tab browsing.

Accessibility

Firefox can now be easily downloaded from the Web for free, thanks to close cooperation between its developers and screen reader manufacturers. The following Web sites are accessible for downloading Firefox (http://www.getfirefox.com or http://www.mozilla.org). Firefox is easy to install and will automatically import favorites and other settings from Internet Explorer.

Some differences from Internet Explorer

VNB tested Firefox with JAWS 7.0, and found no major differences in JAWS interaction between Firefox and Internet Explorer. Users can also set the various JAWS verbosity options to work in Firefox. Many of Firefox’s shortcut keys are the same as those in Internet Explorer.

However, there are a few important differences. Firefox does not use the term “favorites” for bookmarked Web sites; instead they are “bookmarks.” This means that instead of using the keystroke Alt-A, to access the Favorites menu, Alt-B should be used for Bookmarks. Control-D is the shortcut key for adding a new bookmark. To open a Web page, one must use the Open Location command, or the keystroke Control-L.

The Tabbed Browsing feature is a way of loading and switching between multiple Web pages without having to open new browser window. All of the pages are opened in the same window, and sighted users move between them by clicking tabs at the top of the window. For people with visual disability, a new tab can be opened by pressing Control-T. Users can move between the tabs by using the Control-Tab command. Firefox also allows users to save a page with tabs for several Web sites as homepage or as bookmarks. Firefox can also be set to open new Web pages as new tabs instead of new windows.

Conclusion

Problems in image loading were experienced while visiting sites like Amazon.com, but it is not sure if the problems were caused by Firefox or JAWS. The choice of switching the browser to Mozilla Firefox depends on the person and his/her Web usage. Firefox is a viable option as the price is right and it is user-friendly.

Source: NFB