Tabbing, not tabbed browsing, in Firefox

November 25, 2007 8:51 PM

How can I tab through fields only (rather than fields and links both) in Firefox on XP SP2 like I do in Firefox on OS X?

(This is a question about using the tab key on the keyboard to navigate within a webpage, not tabbed browsing.)

I use Firefox on OS X primarily, and on there, I can hit tab to quickly move through fields on a page, without hitting any links along the way. For instance, on a Google search page, the only things I'll hit on the page if I select the URL field and then hit tab are the search box at the top of the page, the search box at the bottom of the page, and then the URL field at the top again.

This is very convenient if I want to, say, do a quick Google search via search bookmark by typing google searchitem into the URL field, then, when Google loads, tabbing down to the first search field to see what the search result was, then hitting tab twice more to get back to the URL field to visit a different site. All keyboard navigation, which is much better for my wrists.

Unfortunately, when I go to do this in Firefox on XP, it doesn't work—when I hit tab, it takes me to whatever's next, be it a link or a field. So I have to use the mouse to manually select the next field, rather than tabbing through what may be dozens of tiny links. It sucks.

It seems to me there was once a way to fix this in the Options under the Advanced tab, General subtab, Accessibility category. On OS X, if you go to that tab and deselect both checkboxes in the Accessibility category, hitting tab will only select fields. But unfortunately, that quick fix doesn't make it happen in XP.

Any ideas? Any extensions I can install that will make Firefox in XP not select links when I hit tab? Thanks!

posted by limeonaire to computers & internet (5 comments total)

Change accessability.tabfocus in about:config.
posted by kcm at 8:54 PM on November 25, 2007

Since kcm gave you an answer (in 4! minutes), maybe a stupid ancillary comment: you know about Ctrl-L and Ctrl-K? (Option- on Mac). They are shortcuts to the location bar and google search bar, respectively (and at least on my firefox, after I search via a keyword search from the location bar, my most recent search persists in the search bar, so Ctrl-K would be all you needed to modify your last search)
doesn't solve your question, but addresses the scenario you gave. apologies if this doesn't help
posted by misterbrandt at 9:26 PM on November 25, 2007

Thanks for both the answers! misterbrandt, I didn't know about those shortcuts—although I don't use the Google search bar, Option-L sounds promising!
posted by limeonaire at 7:26 AM on November 26, 2007

For the record, it's Command-k and Command-l on the Mac (not Option-). At least it is on mine...
posted by bricoleur at 8:20 AM on November 26, 2007

oops yeah. command. thanks bricoleur
posted by misterbrandt at 9:19 PM on November 26, 2007