Re: Another appeal for an IDispatch interface for Firefox

Hi, Jamal.

What kind of interfaces are looking for? You can use IAccessible interface
for Firefox UI and web pages content from scripts (for example, from JAWS
scripts). If you need more power then we could try to make that for
IAccessible2. I'd certanly wouldn't do that for ISimpleDOM interfaces, what
is an equivalent of IE interfaces at some precision, due to number of
reasons.

But technically if you talk about accessibility extensions for Firefox why
does Firefox addons approach not work for you? Here you can use Gecko
nsIAccessible interfaces (and much more) from JS and have no restrictions.

Thank you.
Alexander.


On Sat, Feb 12, 2011 at 1:20 AM, Jamal Mazrui <[email protected]> wrote:

> This is to reiterate a suggestion I made a couple years ago.  On
> Windows, it certainly aids accessibility for assistive technology
> developers to be able to obtain information about Firefox user interface
> controls and web content via a COM interface.  Unfortunately, however,
> an early-bound, low-level COM interface that is tailored to C++
> programmers does not help scripters of assistive technology.  JAWS,
> Window-Eyes, and Hal, for example, include full-fledged scripting
> languages that are designed for advanced users with skill in a high
> level programming language.  Such individuals often know from personal
> experience what kinds of enhancements to their browsing experiences
> would be most helpful.  The 3rd party market of accessibility extensions
> to Firefox would be significantly larger, in my opinion, if scripters
> could build extensions on top of their assistive technologies.
>
> For this to happen, the COM object models of Firefox (and other Mozilla
> applications such as Thunderbird) need to be additionally exposed via a
> late-bound IDispatch interface with a ProgID that supports automation
> clients.  For example, the syntax to obtain an initial COM object might
> be something like
>
> OFirefox = CreateObject("Firefox.Application")
>
> I know that adding an IDispatch interface is not a trivial programming
> project.  Nevertheless, it is a common practice among software
> developers for Windows applications, and I think the benefits would be
> significant on that platform.  Internet Explorer offers such an
> interface, and as a result, I know of JAWS and Window-Eyes scripters
> (including myself) who have put it to good use, e.g., enabling access to
> the DOM of the current web page in ways not facilitated by default
> screen reader functionality.
>
> Regards,
> Jamal
>
> Jamal Mazrui
> Deputy Director, Accessibility and Innovation Initiative
> Federal Communications Commission
> 202.418.0069
>
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