The Firefox web browser provides an incredibly convenient platform for web interface research. Writing a plugin/extension for Firefox is as simple as cobbling together some xml and javascript - a task that requires one to wade the treacherous waters of COM and the BrowserHelperObject to replicate with Internet Explorer. From an accessibility perspective, Firefox extensions are relatively straightforward to make accessible to screen readers that support Firefox.
The XML that defines your interface is your XUL files and the Mozilla Developer's site provides a great document for making XUL accessible. You'll notice many of the issues are the same as they are with HTML: provide alternative text for images, associate labels with the form elements that they describe, assign a reasonable tab-order, etc.
Making Firefox extensions is a powerful way to quickly try out new research ideas and because of the efforts of the folks at Mozilla the environment is appropriate for accessibility research. Most importantly, developing an extension for Firefox, as opposed to a custom solution, means that it can get out to the users to whom it is targeted with little overhead.
The XML that defines your interface is your XUL files and the Mozilla Developer's site provides a great document for making XUL accessible. You'll notice many of the issues are the same as they are with HTML: provide alternative text for images, associate labels with the form elements that they describe, assign a reasonable tab-order, etc.
Making Firefox extensions is a powerful way to quickly try out new research ideas and because of the efforts of the folks at Mozilla the environment is appropriate for accessibility research. Most importantly, developing an extension for Firefox, as opposed to a custom solution, means that it can get out to the users to whom it is targeted with little overhead.
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