Mozilla Firefox is already our decide for the best browser resulting from its wonderful privateness choices and cross-platform synchronization, however with a brand new replace, the Firefox experience is about to enhance in a serious approach.
Forward of Global Accessibility Day (opens in new tab) on Could 18, Mozilla announced that its most recent update (opens in new tab), Firefox 113, would give Firefox a major enchancment over its accessibility engine. The overhauled accessibility code enhanced display readers and different assistive applied sciences and, much more spectacular, runs 20 instances sooner on massive, complicated pages and two to 3 instances sooner on on a regular basis duties, corresponding to opening emails and switching tabs.
Firefox 113, which began as a challenge known as Cache the World (opens in new tab) again in 2020, was an entire rewrite of its outdated structure. Android already obtained this replace in 2022 with Firefox 102, and Home windows and Linux within the Firefox 112 launch. With 113, macOS lastly obtained the identical modifications to its Firefox browser.
Why was this alteration for Firefox needed?
When web browsers first took place, they had been a lot easier and solely required a single working system course of, even with a number of tabs or paperwork. Some assistive applied sciences and working system frameworks, which frequently needed to run on extra complicated processes, used a course of known as in-process code that allowed for big batches of queries wanted to carry out a process to be executed rapidly.
Nevertheless, over time, browsers turned extra complicated and the specter of safety exploits turned a lot greater. Browsers like Web Explorer 8 used totally different processes for various tabs, whereas Google Chrome used a stricter course of that delegated duties into tightly managed communication channels, that means that assistive applied sciences couldn’t entry the net content material course of containing the accessibility tree, nor inject code into that course of. Firefox adopted this identical methodology, leading to accessibility having comparable points on each browsers.
As a result of Firefox was created lengthy earlier than Chrome and earlier than the complicated web panorama, it confronted extra challenges in updating its structure to deal with each accessibility and safety points. A significant replace to its then-existing structure lasted for a couple of years however issues started to stack and Mozilla needed to revamp its entire structure from scratch. Enter challenge Cache the World (opens in new tab).
What was Cache the World’s affect?
The principle goal behind Cache the World was to re-architect Firefox’s accessibility engine.
Firefox asynchronously pushes the accessibility bushes from every net content material course of to the principle UI course of. When assistive applied sciences question the accessibility tree, all queries are answered from the cache with none calls between Firefox processes, and when a web page updates, the content material course of asynchronously pushes a cache replace to the principle course of.
This new change ends in a large enhance in velocity for these utilizing accessibility instruments like display readers, in addition to loads of wiggle room for updating and bettering the brand new structure. In whole, about 20,000 traces of code had been eliminated by the completion of this challenge, the vast majority of which was working system associated.
Contemplating how typically accessibility options and instruments are missed, both on their very own or how they’re negatively impacted by software program and {hardware} updates for different tech, it’s refreshing to see how deeply and genuinely Mozilla cares about it.
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