mm far as I know Aria is really a dieing standard because of html5 isn't it? Ken -----Original Message----- From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jamal Mazrui Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2011 7:26 PM To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Firefox 4 preview and ARIA report from CSUN Also, another conference take-away for me was that Orca support for the WAI-ARIA standard is a long way off, unfortunately. Jamal On 3/19/2011 7:23 PM, Jamal Mazrui wrote: > I am forwarding an article I got from the blind-mozilla list about > Firefox 4. It does not address accessibility specifically, but offers > some interesting comparative information about competing browsers today. > > This topic also made me think about the ARIA-related sessions I attended > last week at CSUN, and I thought that some of you who were not able to > attend, yourselves, may be interested in a report. For whatever it's > worth, there seemed to be a consensus among experts in WAI-ARIA (the > ARIA accessibility standard of the W3C, which is currently a candidate > recommendation) that the latest JAWS and NVDA provide the best screen > reader support for ARIA apps at this time. Companies doing a lot in this > space with attention to accessibility include IBM and Adobe. WebAIM > includes much nonprofit expertise in this area. > > Jamal > > -------- Forwarded Message -------- > Subject: [blind-mozilla] Firefox 4 to debut on March 22nd and looks > mighty impressive! > Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 11:35:01 +0000 > From: chris hallsworth <christopherh40@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > Reply-To: blind-mozilla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > To: blind-mozilla@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > > > > *10 Things to Drool Over in Firefox 4 > PC World > > ? Thu Mar 17, 5:54 pm ET > > Mozilla's Firefox 4 is now officially expected to debut on Tuesday March > 22, following hard on the heels of Google's Chrome 10 and Microsoft's > Internet Explorer 9. > > With so many new browser releases coming out in such rapid succession, > it stands to reason that at least some users are going to need some help > figuring out which now works best for them. > > Toward that end, I had a chat earlier today with Johnathan Nightingale, > Mozilla's director of Firefox development, to get a sense of what the > final release of Firefox 4 will bring. Here are some of the highlights > of what we can expect. > > 1. More Speed > > With its new JägerMonkey JavaScript engine, Firefox 4 delivers huge > performance enhancements, Nightingale told me, including faster startup > times, graphics rendering and page loads. In fact, in performance tests > on the Kraken, SunSpider and V8 benchmarks, for example, Firefox 4 blew > away previous versions of the browser, with performance results between > three and six times better. > > Firefox 4 also outdid Chrome 10, Opera 11.1 and Internet Explorer 9 in > the Kraken benchmark, as GigaOM recently noted. Bottom line: It's > blazingly fast. > > 2. Less Clutter > > Tabs are now given top visual priority in Firefox 4 so as to enable more > efficient and intuitive browsing. In addition to its new "tabs on top" > layout, however, the software now also offers a number of other features > to make it simpler and more streamlined. > > A Switch to Tab feature, for instance, helps reduce tab clutter by > automatically calling up an already-tabbed URL rather than duplicating > it all over again. "It took my tab list from 80 to 90 down to 50 or 60," > Nightingale said. > > "The slowest part of browsing is often the user," he explained. "If you > have 200 tabs open and you can't find the right one, that's the slow part." > > Then, too, there are App Tabs, which allow the user to take sites they > always have open--such as Gmail or Twitter--off the tab bar and give > them a permanent home in the browser. Then, no matter where the user > visits, those tabs are always visible on the browser's left-hand edge. > Not only that, but each App Tab's icon glows to indicate when there's > been activity on that site, such as new mail coming in. > > When Firefox gets reloaded, it boosts loading speed by focusing first on > the active page and App Tabs, and then loading other tabs in gradual > succession after that, Nightingale explained. > > Further reducing clutter is Firefox 4's Firefox Button, meanwhile, which > displays all menu items in a single button for easy access. > > 3. Panorama > > Though it began as an add-on, Firefox 4's new Panorama feature is > another one designed to battle tab clutter. Using it, Web surfers can > drag and drop their tabs into manageable groups that can be organized, > named and arranged intuitively and visually. > > In previous versions of the browser, users with 20 tabs, for example, > didn't have an easy way to separate out the ones that were related. > "Some people would put tabs in different windows, but that just moves > the clutter," Nightingale explained. > > Panorama, on the other hand, now provides a visual canvas on which tabs > can be logically organized into groups representing work, home, hobbies > or research, for example. > > 4. Sync > > Another new feature that started life as an add-on is Sync, which > synchronizes an individual's multiple copies of Firefox across various > platforms. So, a user might look up directions to a restaurant from > their work computer, for example, and then be able to easily find and > pull down those same directions from their Android phone on the road, > Nightingale explained. > > "Wherever you are, Firefox knows you," he added. "It gives you so much > freedom." > > For privacy, all such information is bundled on the user's local machine > and encrypted before it goes onto the network, he added. > > 5. Do Not Track > > With a single check box, Firefox 4 users can ensure that any time the > browser requests a Web page, it will send along a header specifying that > the user does not want their browsing behavior to be tracked. > > In theory, advertisers and Web sites could disregard such requests, > Nightingale noted--as they could equivalent mechanisms in other browsers > as well. On the other hand, enforcing them is not a technical problem, > he noted. "It's a matter of trust--enforcing on the technical side > doesn't help." > > What Nightingale hopes is that advertisers and Web sites will use the > new capability as an opportunity to show respect for consumers' wishes > and to demonstrate leadership when it comes to privacy. In beta versions > of the software, he noted, most wanted to learn more about how to comply > and get involved. > > "I'm keen to see how ad networks and content sites respond," Nightingale > concluded. With the new technology enabled, "everyone you're interacting > with knows your intent." > > 6. Under the Hood > > A number of other features--some visible to users, others not--will also > appear in Firefox 4, including support for the WebM format for > HD-quality video; 3D graphics via WebGL; elegant animations through the > use of CSS3; and multitouch support. > > Then, too, there's super-fast graphics acceleration with Direct2D and > Direct3D on Windows, XRender on Linux, and OpenGL on Mac enabled by > default on supported hardware. > > 7. Improved Security > > With HTTP Strict Transport Security, or HSTS, sites can now make sure > information is always encrypted, thereby preventing attackers from > intercepting sensitive data. Previously, a hacker sitting in a Starbucks > store, for example, could potentially watch Web surfers enter a bank's > home page, which is not encrypted, and hijack them from there, > Nightingale noted. > > With Content Security Policy, or CSP, meanwhile, Firefox 4 ensures that > cross-site scripting attacks can't infect a site such as through its > comments section, he added. > > I should also note that because Firefox's code is open, it's not subject > to any vendor's preset patch schedule. Rather, its security is > constantly being reviewed and improved. > > 8. HTML5 > > Firefox 4's new HTML5 parser and full support for Web video, audio, drag > & drop, and file handling mean that it's capable of supporting the > latest Web environments. > > 9. Multiplatform Support > > Whereas Microsoft's IE9 can be used only on Windows--and only Vista and > Windows 7 at that--Firefox, as always, is multiplatform. So, whether > you're on Windows, Linux or a Mac, you can enjoy its powerful new features. > > 10. The Community Touch > > Last but not least, whereas proprietary browsers such as IE9 are > developed by Microsoft's team of paid developers to reflect their own > vision of what users want, Firefox has been shaped significantly by the > people who use it. In fact, between 30 percent and 40 percent of its > code was developed by the community, Nightingale told me. It's hard to > imagine a better way to make sure a product delivers what users want. > > With so many exciting new capabilities, Firefox users have a lot to look > forward to in this new release. So, for that matter, do the legions of > Internet Explorer users who will sooner or later make the switch. > > Follow Katherine Noyes on Twitter: @Noyesk. > > * > > *-- > Please be advised that the information contained in this e-mail message, > including all attached documents or files, is privileged and > confidential and is > intended only for the use of the individual(s) addressed or their > agents. Any > other use, dissemination, or copying of this communication is strictly > prohibited. > > If you are not the intended recipient, delete this message and notify > the sender > of incorrect delivery by immediate reply, and destroy any copies, > electronic, > paper or otherwise, which you may have of this communication. E-mail > transmission cannot be guaranteed to be error-free and information could be > intercepted, corrupted, lost or contain viruses. 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