[macvoiceover] Re: FW: [Webwatch] Interesting Blog Post on Macintosh Web Browsing Accessibility

Accept, the problem with firefox accessibility is:
they're using 100 percent custom screen attributes. That is precisely why it doesn't work with voiceover. They complain, because apple won't support them (or answer their requests they claim). Honestly, if I had spent hundreds of hours providing a framework, and someone contacted me, and said I can't get something working that uses your operating system, and I need help, because I can't figure out how to do it myself, and oh, by the way, we're ignoring all the hard work you put into making the os accessible, and doing things our own way, I'd not be very likely to answer their requests either. Admittedly, apple could respond, and tell them to use the provided apis (perhaps they have and firefox just isn't saying so) but firefox should step up to the plate, and add provided accessible options where possible to make things usable. Making custom screens accessible is possible, but it's a whole lot more work than just using the apple provided items in the first place, especially if the custom ones perform the same function as the apple provided ones to start with. Why build your own button where you have to add custom accessibility features (and likely miss something) when you can use the apple provided button that acts exactly the same, and already has the accessibility features built-in. I see no reason why firefox *needs* to use 100 percent custom screen elements. Sure, in some cases, it may be necessary to get the results they want, but that can't possibly be true for the entire interface. Firefox needs to meet apple halfway here, and from what I'm seeing, that isn't happening. But, then again, I'm not privy to *all* the communications that have gone on between firefox and apple, so it's possible there's a lot more going on here than anyone could possibly be aware of, but regardless, firefox needs to make some efforts to use apple provided screen interface elements where possible, and only use the custom items when the apple ones just can't be made to do what's required. Until that happens, I'd not look for any accessibility improvements in firefox, and that's really a shame, as from what I hear, firefox is an excellent browser. 



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