Firefox 2.0 is going to be released to the public in the next few weeks. One of the changes in this new version break some of the accessibility features of “KiwiSaver”:http://www.kiwisaver.govt.nz and many other NZ Government websites.
h3. Accessibility Requirements
The accessibility requirements of New Zealand Government websites are defined by the e-government initiative of the State Services Commission. Their “Web Guidelines document requires govt websites use the access keys feature”:http://www.e.govt.nz/standards/web-guidelines/web-guidelines-v-2-1/chapter6.html#Heading761 of web browsers to enhance usability for those people who have difficulty using a mouse.
The access keys are as follows:
bq. 0 list of access keys
1 home
2 site map
3 search
4 to 8 agency defined
9 contact us
[ beginning of main content
/ go to govt.nz
h3. Firefox 2.0 changes
Historically, access keys have been activated by the user holding down the ALT key (on Windows browsers) or the APPLE key (on Mac browsers), and then pressing the desired key. From the example above, I would press ALT-1 to visit the homepage.
Firefox 2.0 has changed the activation keys, and now requires users to press SHIFT and ALT together (on the Mac, it is SHIFT and APPLE).
But, when visiting the new KiwiSaver website, and other New Zealand Government websites – none of the mandated access keys seem to work. Yet, on some of my other web applications I have developed for Inland Revenue – they work fine.
h3. Bug or feature?
What the mandated access keys have in common is that none of them are alphabetic. They are all numerals or slashes, etc.
It appears that Firefox 2.0 is treating them as their SHIFTed equivalents. You can trial this with some simple HTML code:
On Firefox 1.5 and earlier, you’ll visit the Google homepage when pressing ALT-1. On Firefox 2.0pr3, you’ll visit the KiwiSaver website when pressing ALT-SHIFT-1.
I would suggest that this is a bug. I have created a “bug report”:https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=357317 at the Mozilla website. If you are able, please “vote to have this bug fixed”:https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/votes.cgi?action=show_user&bug_id=357317#vote_357317.