Maybe it’s just me. I’m not talking to everyone out there, but just the Mac users who are using Firefox. Firefox in my opinion is the best web browser out there (pushing innovation in web browsing to a new level and the add-on features make certain sites and certain tasks come to life). However, Firefox has done this buggy thing for me ever since I moved to the Mac. When filling out an online form (usually entering my address) I begin typing in the first field and when done typing the information I “tab” to the next field. No need to mouse over and click when I can type, tab, type, tab, type. However, whenever I would get to a pull-down tab, like the state, the tab button just skipped over this field. Frustrating. Several months ago I heard in passing that there was a fix for this and yesterday I finally was frustrated enough to fix it myself. I spent a few minutes looking for the fix and had things working a few minutes later.
Essentially you go to system preferences and to keyboard and mouse. Once they’re click on the top tab “Keyboard Shortcuts.”At the very bottom of the window you will see “Full keyboard access:” The default selection seems to be “Text boxes and lists only.” Instead, select “All controls.”
That’s it. Now you can tab to every filed. When I tab to the state pull-down I just hit the “t” key twice to pull up Texas (I’m jealous that those of you from Tennessee only have to hit “t” once, but I figure it’s becasue Texas is twice as awesome).
The site where I found this fix is here. Hope this helps you if you’ve been frustrated with this Firefox bug.
U R MY HERO!
You are my firefox hero. I have cursed this for months now, and thought myself the only one that noticed.
Kenny!!! This is AWESOME!! I was so frustrated about this same thing. I knew there was a reason I subscribed to your blog, and now I have found it! (jk- the stuff you write about kidmin is awesome too!)
You are a leader! Keep up the great work!
-Teri, from Infuse
Ha! I just took that as one of the quirks I had to deal with in a Mac… typical Mac behaviour 🙂 Now, I don’t have to curse under my breath everytime I have to touch my mouse when filling out forms!
.-= Henry Zonio´s last blog ..Why I Am In Children’s Ministry and NOT Student Ministry =-.
I thought, “Who would spend time on an entire post for such an insignificant tweak?”
Then I changed it in my settings too. And was happy.
Yeah! It’s tiny and something kind of silly to whine about. How hard is it to click on a button. However, it will still drive you nuts, especially if it works on any other browser. Now that I have it, it makes me very, very happy.