Re: Major browser differences

Robert Baer <[email protected]> wrote:

> Paul wrote:
>
>> https://www.humana.com/legal/site-system-requirements
>> 
>>       Mozilla Firefox (latest)
>
> link given from latest Mozilla Firefox gave download, "Firefox 
> Installer.exe" was same 18.5.0.0 as i have installed.
>    So Moz has not caught up with what Humana actually did.

Presumably you had a typo in the version, like 18.5.0.0 was supposed to
be 85.0.0.  Version 18 was released back in Jan 2013.

You said you were using Firefox 80.0.1.  The latest version is 85.0.2.
Between those 2 versions, the changes were (and omitting changes for
Android since you mention using Windows 7):

FF v80:
- Setting for the default system PDF viewer.
- New add-ons blocklist enabled to improve performance and scalability.
- Support for RTX and Transport-cc for improved call quality in poor 
  network conditions and better bandwidth estimation and better 
  compatibility with many websites using WebRTC (desktop).

Since you aren't downloading to view a .pdf file, that change is
irrelevant.  

Changes for VOIP calls doesn't apply; however, if you disabled WebRTC,
some sites won't work.  For example, Google Voice just sits on the next
page after logon with an ever-spinning cursor, but the page doesn't get
loaded.  

Firefox has had its own internal blacklist (content blocking) since
version 70, now called Enhanced Tracking Protection, which can interfere
with some sites.  After all, blacklists block some content which can
break web pages.  They use the Disconnect.me blacklist which is small,
and has little impact on preventing tracking or unwanted content, but
can impact a site that the built-in blacklist happens to target.  As I
recall, an icon appears in the addressbar indicating some content got
blocked.  Click on the shield icon at the left of the addressbar to see
what content, if any, got blocked.  Of course, if you installed an
adblocker add-on, and since its blacklist(s) are far more extensive,
those could be blocking content at the web site.

FF v81:
- Ability to pause or play audio or video right from the keyboard or 
  headset.
- Introduction of the Alpenglow theme.
- Ability to save, manage, and auto-fill credit card information for 
  U.S. and Canada users.
- Support of Acroform, which allows users to fill in, print, and save 
  supported PDF forms.
- Automatic revelation of the Bookmarks toolbar.
- Axpansion of .xml, .svg, and .webp; and fixes for browser native HTML5 
  audio/video controls.

I don't see any of those affecting your Humana login.

FF v82:
- Several improvements that make watching videos more delightful.
- Improved performance on both page loads and start up time.
- Aaving a webpage to Pocket from the Firefox toolbar
- Automatically purge cookies from sites not visited in 30 days.

You didn't mention if you are allowing cookies to get saved across web
browser sessions.  Firefox has settings to purge all locally cached data
on its exit.  Chrome does not, so you need to add an add-on (e.g., Click
& Clean) to purge locally cached data (which is actually queued for when
Chrome next loads, not when Chrome exits).  I configure Firefox to purge
everything on its exit.  I had to use Click&Clean with Chrome to effect
the same cleanup after a web session.  Since Chromium Edge (C-Edge) uses
the Chromium rendering engine and Google's V8 Javascript engine, and
because C-Edge can be configured to be more secure than Chrome, I moved
to C-Edge.  Edge has settings to purge local data on its exit, something
that is missing in Chrome.

FF v83:
- Updates to SpiderMonkey and JavaScript engine and replacement of the 
  part of the JavaScript engine that helps to compile and display 
  websites for the user.
- Introduction of the HTTPS-Only Mode.
- Support of pinch zooming for users with Windows touchscreen devices 
  and touchpads on Mac devices.
- Support of keyboard shortcuts for fast forwarding and rewinding videos 
  in Picture-in-Picture.
- Improved user interface.
- Improved functionality and design for a number of Firefox search 
  features.
- Support of Acroform.

HTTPS-only mode is just blocking of connects to HTTP content to make
sure all content is secure or, at least, that the cert validates from
where the content came from.  Changes to chrome (small "c") won't affect
how web documents get rendered.  Zooming isn't your problem.  You aren't
doing searching within the web document, and forms isn't your problem.

Changing the Javascript engine could effect the execution of scripts in
web pages delivered by the server.  

FF v84:
- Native support for macOS devices built with Apple Silicon CPUs.
- Rollout of WebRender to MacOS Big Sur, Windows devices with Intel Gen 
  6 GPUs, and Intel laptops running Windows 7 and 8, and an accelerated 
  rendering pipeline for Linux/GNOME/X11 users for the first time.
- Use of more modern techniques for allocating shared memory on Linux, 
  improving performance and increasing compatibility with Docker
- Option to view open tabs side by side in a grid view.
- Ability to delete downloaded files within the app.
- Rollout of WebRender to more users on the Mali-G GPU series.

You probably already have had WebRender enabled for quite a while.
Changes for Macs and Linux are irrelevant to your use on Windows.
Changes to the chrome (tabbing) have no effect on how the web document
looks.

FF v85:
- Protection from supercookies, a type of tracker that can stay hidden 
  in the browser and track users online, even after they have cleared 
  cookies.
- Ability to save and access bookmarks more easily.
- Ability of the password manager to have users remove all their saved 
  logins with one click, as opposed to having to delete each login 
  individually.
- Removal of Adobe Flash support.
- Added support for the :focus-visible pseudo class.

The adding tracking protection is already offered if you configure
Firefox to purge EVERYTHING on its exit.  Humana should not be using
Adobe Flash.  Reusing saving logins means you might be automatically
logging it when you visit a site although usually you just get to select
which login to use.  Only by looking at the web document delivered to
Firefox by the server and the web document delivered by the server when
you use Chrome to connect to it would allow inspection of the code to
see if the Humana site decided to use the :focus-visible class.

I don't know what you were using for a version of Firefox where the
Humana page apparently was the same as what you saw in Chrome, so no
point to analyze what changes were made to Firefox between what you used
when it was okay to version 80 that you have now.  Doesn't seem any
reason for you to not update to FF v85 to check if the problem
disappears.  Since there were changes to the Javascript engine in
Firefox, could be Humana was using script that Chrome understands better
than the older v80 of Firefox does.

As for the difference in icons presented in the web pages, the server
decides which to include in a web document.  Could be Humana uses a
different icon based on the web client that connects to their server.
Could be you aren't getting the same font set from the server,
especially since settings in Firefox can block web fonts because those
can let Google track you: a site delivers fonts from Google, and Google
delivers those fonts to your client, so Google (or any web font foundary
used by a site, like Monofont) can track your client getting their
fonts.  Disabling web fonts in the client can make the web page
difficult to use, like not knowing some gibberish means means to move
forward or backward or means to hit Enter.  Too many web designers want
to revert to hieroglyphics (icons) instead of using text.

You didn't mention the list of add-ons you have installed in Firefox,
and those installed in Chrome.  If any are adblockers, and if you use
the same one in each web browser, they may be configured differently
between the web browsers, like using different blacklists.

Humama.com using Firefox:
__ Login
 \__ See a navbar named "myhmana" (no mention if you use it).
   \__ See a menu (a navbar, frame, popup, what?) with:
         Home (house icon)
         Messages (bell icon)
         I want to ... (spyglass icon presumably for drop-down list)
         Another menu or submenu (down-arrow icon)
          
 Humana.com using Chrome:
 __ Login
  \__ See a navbar named "myhmana" (no mention if you us it).
    \__ See a menu (navbar, frame, popup, what?) with:
          ? (house icon)
          Coverage (down-arrow)
          Claims (down-arrow)
          MyHealth (down-arrow)
          Billing (bell icon?)
          Account (person icon)
 
Since those web pages are scripted, my guess is different web clients
are offered different scripts.  Complain to Humana for delivering
different content based on which web client connects to them.  I don't
have a Humana account to do the login to see the code for the ensuing
web page after login to compare between what Firefox received and what
Chrome received.  For the home page that I see before login, they look
the same in Firefox and C-Edge (which I used instead of Chrome since
C-Edge uses the Chromium rendering engine and V8 Javascript engine),
even when I squeeze the window width to its minimum for each web
browser.  I do notice when shrinking the width is the top navbar keeps
the Humana menu button, but the Shop For Plans and Member Resources
links disappear because there isn't enough room to display them.
Instead of trying to wrap them around (and have menus oblitering other
menus), they get dropped from the navbar.  That's why I asked if the
fonts and web document width is the same for both web browsers.

Are the font sizes the same within the document window for both web
browsers?  Larger fonts in one means everything gets wider, and you'll
need a wider window to show the same content.  If the fonts are the same
size, are the windows for Firefox and Chrome the same size?  If not, the
smaller one will either have to horizontall scroll the content, wrap it,
or provide a means of accessing the content that is outside the window.

In Firefox, if you click on "I want to ...", do you see the other menu
choices you see in Chrome (Coverage, Claims, MyHealth, Billing, and
Account)?