Firefox includes many features to make the browser and web content accessible to all users, including those who have low vision, no vision or limited ability to use a keyboard or mouse.

Using a Keyboard

A list of common keyboard shortcuts is available in Keyboard shortcuts - Perform common Firefox tasks quickly.

Using a keyboard to navigate within webpages

To enable navigation and text selection within web content and PDF documents using your keyboard in Firefox, as if you were navigating in a read-only text editor, follow the steps below:

1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select Settings.
2. In the General panel, Browsing section, check the box next to Always use the cursor keys to navigate within pages.

Once this feature is activated, Firefox will introduce a movable cursor on web pages and within PDF documents opened in the browser. This functionality, known as Caret Browsing, significantly improves precision and accessibility for text selection and copying, providing a versatile tool for interacting with digital content. You can press F7 at any time to turn this feature on or off. When you press F7, Firefox will ask if you really want to turn on this feature. You can disable this prompt by selecting Do not show this dialog again.

Search for text when you start to type

To quickly navigate to text or hyperlinks in a web page, follow these steps:

1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select Settings.
2. In the General panel, Browsing section, check the box next to Search for text when you start typing.

This feature has two modes. Press / and start typing to search all text on the current page, or press ' before your string to search hyperlinks only. Firefox will highlight matching text or hyperlinks as you type.

The following keyboard shortcuts control this feature:

• Type more characters to narrow your search. Firefox will highlight the next matching hyperlink or text or alert you that nothing matched.
• Press CtrlCommand+G or F3 to find the next occurrence of your current search string.
• Press CtrlCommand+Shift+G or Shift + F3 to find the previous occurrence of your current search string.
• Press Backspace to undo the last character you typed. Firefox will back up to the previously highlighted text.
• Press Esc to cancel a search. You can also cancel a search by changing focus, or simply waiting for the timeout.

If this setting is checked, you can start typing at any time to auto-start a search on the current page. By default, auto-started searches look for all text on the page. You can still explicitly press ' or / to start finding in one mode or the other.

You can use this feature to get to buttons, text boxes and other form controls. Search for the text immediately before the form control you want and press Tab. Pressing Tab automatically exits the search and sets focus to the next form field or button after the highlighted text.

HTML Access Keys

On some web pages, keyboard shortcuts are assigned to different elements on the page. To move the cursor directly to one of these elements, press Shift+AltCtrl + option+AccessKey.

Mouse Shortcuts

A list of common mouse shortcuts is available in Use mouse shortcuts to perform common tasks in Firefox.

Zoom, Fonts and Colors

Page Zoom

You can zoom in and out of web pages including images with the following keyboard shortcuts:

• Press CtrlCommand++ to display the web page one size larger.
• Press CtrlCommand+− to display the web page one size smaller.
• Press CtrlCommand+0 (zero) to display the web page at its normal size.

For other ways to zoom in and out a web page, see Font size and zoom - increase the size of web pages.

Text Zoom

You can choose to change the text size only using the Text Zoom feature:

1. Press the Alt key to temporarily bring up the traditional Firefox menus. At the top of the Firefox windowOn the menu bar, click the View menu.
2. Go down to Zoom.
3. Select Zoom Text Only, which will make the controls only apply to text, not images.

The following keyboard shortcuts control text size when Text Zoom is selected:

• Press CtrlCommand++ to increase the text size.
• Press CtrlCommand+− to decrease the text size.
• Press CtrlCommand+0 (zero) to reset the text size to the web page's default size.

Note that some web pages may display incorrectly if you increase or decrease the text size.

For other ways to zoom in and out the text of a web page, see Font size and zoom - increase the size of web pages.

Setting Fonts and Colors

See Change the fonts and colors websites use for detailed instructions on choosing your preferred font styles and colors.

Setting a Minimum Font Size

Some websites may display text which is too small to read comfortably. To make such pages easier to read, you can set a minimum font size. On web pages that try to display text smaller than this size, Firefox will enlarge the text to your chosen size.

To set a minimum font size:

1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select Settings.
2. In the General panel, scroll down to Language and Appearance.
3. In the Fonts section, click the Advanced… button.
4. Specify a minimum font size from the dropdown menu.

Note that some web pages may display incorrectly depending on your choice of minimum font size.

Overriding Page Fonts

Some websites may display text in fonts that are difficult to read, and other sites may rely on the browser's default fonts. To set your default fonts:

1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select Settings.
2. In the General panel, scroll down to Language and Appearance.
3. In the Fonts section, choose a default font and size.

You can specify default fonts for different styles, including serif, sans-serif and monospace by clicking the Advanced… button. However, many web pages specify their own fonts, so your choices will have no effect on such pages. To override the fonts defined by such pages, uncheck the Allow pages to choose their own fonts, instead of your selections above option.

Note that some web pages may display incorrectly depending on your choice of a default font.

Overriding Page Colors

Some websites may display text and background colors that are difficult to read, and other sites may rely on the browser's default colors. To set your default colors:

1. In the Menu bar at the top of the screen, click Firefox and then select Preferences or Settings, depending on your macOS version.Click the menu button and select Settings.
2. In the General panel, scroll down to Language and Appearance.
3. In the Colors section, click the Manage Colors… button.

You can set default text and background colors, as well as default colors for visited and unvisited hyperlinks.

However, many web pages set their own colors, so your choices will have no effect. To override the colors defined by web pages, use the drop-down menu to set Override the colors specified by the page with your selections above to Always.

Using a High Contrast Theme

Firefox automatically detects if you are using a High Contrast theme on Windows and displays everything in your high contrast color scheme. This overrides all other browser or web page settings, and it affects the Firefox interface itself (all menus, windows and dialog boxes) and the content of any web page you visit.

Controlling Web Content

Blocking Pop-up Windows

See Pop-up blocker settings, exceptions and troubleshooting for information on blocking pop-up windows.

Restricting JavaScript Behavior

JavaScript can be used to do things that some people don't like. For better control, you can install privacy extensions. For more info, see JavaScript settings and preferences for interactive web pages.

Compatibility With Assistive Technologies

Screen Reader

A screen reader is a software application that attempts to identify and interpret what is being displayed on the screen (or, more accurately, sent to standard output, whether a video monitor is present or not). This interpretation is then re-presented to the user with text-to-speech, sound icons or a Braille output device. Screen readers are a form of assistive technology (AT) potentially useful to people who are blind, visually impaired, illiterate or learning disabled, often in combination with other AT, such as screen magnifiers. The above was adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons – Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.

Here are a list of screen reader software and links to common ones:

Related accessibility links

• Mozilla Accessibility on MDN Web Docs
• Mozilla Accessibility Blog

Accessibility Conformance Report (ACR)

We strive to be both compliant with accessibility standards and to create delightful experiences for our users. This recent report describes how the Firefox browser currently works for people with disabilities. It is based on the ITI Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT® 2.5) and covers compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) and with the Revised Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act: Firefox for desktop (Windows OS, April 2024).