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Overview and Installation

About

The Mozilla/Firefox Accessibility Extension makes it easier for people with disabilities to view and navigate web content. Developers can use the extension to check their use of structural and styling markup that support functional web accessibility.

System Requirements

Feature Highlights

Install Accessibility Extension from Firefox Add-ons Site

  1. Go to the Firefox Add-ons site for Firefox Accessibility Extension
  2. Click the "Install now" button on the add-ons website

By downloading and installing the accessibility extension from the Firefox Add-ons site you have the option of having the extension automatically updated when new versions become available.

Install Accessibility Extension from this Website

This is the easiest method, but it is blocked by default by Firefox for security reasons. To use this method, one must allow this website to install extensions. A dialog box will still allow the user to cancel any installation. You will need to manually install updates when they become available. This latest version supports Firefox 3.0

Install from Extension Link

  1. Open a Mozilla/Firefox browser window
  2. Select the Firefox Accessibility Extension installation link
  3. A dialog will appear and, after a pause, you may select "Install Now" to install the Accessibility Extension
  4. Close all Firefox/Mozilla browser windows
  5. Restart Mozilla/Firefox; the accessibility extension should be available

Download, then Install by Opening or Drag-and-drop of a Local File

  1. Download the Firefox Accessibility Extension by right-clicking its URL (Firefox Accessibility Extension Version 1.5.1 beta) and selecting "Save Link As". Remember where you saved the file
  2. Open a Mozilla/Firefox browser window
  3. Drag the Accessibility Extension file into the open browser window
  4. A dialog will appear and, after a pause, you may select "Install Now" to install the Accessibility Extension
  5. Close all Firefox/Mozilla browser windows
  6. Restart Mozilla/Firefox; the accessibility extension should be available

Uninstall Instructions

  1. Open a Firefox browser window
  2. Navigate on the browser menu bar to "Tools" then "Extensions"
  3. Select "Accessibility Extension" with the mouse
  4. Select "Uninstall" and then "OK"
  5. Close all Firefox browser windows
  6. The Accessibility Extension will be gone when the browser is re-opened

Beta Version with ARIA Support

Firefox Accessibility Extension Version 1.5.1 beta supports:

Download Beta Version URL: downloads/accessext1.5.1.beta.xpi

Firefox Accessibility Extension 1.4.5.0 supports:

  1. Support for Firefox 3.0, but there are still some outstanding compatibility issues, some of the follwing features may not work correctly.
  2. Scripting: List of ARIA Roles and properties based on RDF and appears in a sidebar. The URL:http://www.w3.org/2005/01/wai-rdf/GUIRoleTaxonomy# is parsed and the details of each role are displayed in the sidebar.
  3. Scripting: List of ARIA Widgets has been modified to report widgets that contain invalid attributes or attribute values. States must be in the form "aria-", 'aaa:' is no longer supported.
  4. Scripting: Focus Inspector feature has been added. The focus inspector displays accessibility information about the element with keyboard focus.
  5. Style: Color Contrast analysis based on the WCACG 2.0 color contrast requirements as implemented in the Juicy Studio: Colour Contrast Analyzer Firefox Extension, has been added. The color contrast analyzer only examines the difference between foreground and background colors for text content, so won't detect scenarios where text is written over the top of a background image or images that include text.
  6. Style: Text Flow has been added, it will report when text will flow poorly on screen resolutions below to equal to 1024 x 768.
  7. Validators: W3C Specifications has been added, it will report W3C specifications, such as missing DOCTYPE, and missing character encoding.
  8. New pages are opened in a new window or tab according to the browsers preferences.
  9. Reports: Accessibility problems and issues report has been added, it will report accessibility failures, warning and suggestions based on the iCITA HTML Best practices. Clicking on an issue will open up the corresponding dialog.

W3C ARIA Specifications

Related ARIA Resources

License

The Mozilla/Firefox Accessibility Extension is made available under the terms of the GNU General Public License.

Disclaimer

The Extension software is provided "as is," and you use the software at your own risk. We make no warranties as to performance, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. No oral or written communication from or information provided by UIUC shall create a warranty. Under no circumstances shall UIUC be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use, misuse, or inability to use this software, even if UIUC has been advised of the possibility of such damages. These exclusions and limitations may not apply in all jurisdictions.

Extension Documentation