Firefox Autofocus
I do not remember the versions, but months ago while using Firefox I noticed the cursor would automatically focus onto the first open text box. This behavior annoyed me. When the cursor is automatically focused in that manner, using the Page Down key no longer works to scroll the page. I had to manually grab the mouse and click outside the text box to restore the keyboard.
I had not read anything about this new behavior.
Some trial and error experimenting eventually led me to a single preference setting:
user_pref("browser.autofocus", true);
In my user.js I changed that to false:
user_pref("browser.autofocus", false);
Improving the user experience or breakage? In my use case the latter. Another example of geek developers using an either-or approach rather than provide users true choice. Using the about:config feature is not a usability choice. Only geeks and the tech savvy venture into about:config territory. There should be a GUI control for this preference.
There should be GUI controls for many of the Firefox preferences.
Posted: Category: Usability Tagged: Firefox, General
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