Firefox installation and configuration

Being one of the most sympathetic browsers available, Firefox (FF) is widely used and loved by people with special needs, especially technology-adept ones. One of FF's main characteristics is its high conformance regarding web standards, including those related to accessibility.

Installation

The Quantum release of FF is not compatible with screen readers yet: Can I use my screen reader with the new Firefox? (Mozilla.org).

For the time being, you should download the Extended Support Release (ESR) of Firefox and install it.

Note: there's also a portable version of FF that does not require admin rights.

Configuration

Displaying all toolbars

Make sure that in the menu, under View > Toolbars, all items are selected.

If you do not see the menu, press the Alt key once.

Restoring tabs after restart

You may open and close browsers repeatedly during accessibility testing. To learn how to configure FF to restore tabs upon restart, see Restore previous session – Configure when Firefox shows your most recent tabs and windows (mozilla.org).

Add-ons

We recommend adding selected browser extensions and bookmarklets to your browser.