How in the Tech

Using Firefox Without a Mouse

By Adam Myers ⋅ June 16, 2009 ⋅ Tags: Firefox

No one would argue the huge importance around the introduction of the mouse and what it meant to interfaces of then and now. The mouse made the computer more approachable and less intimating to unfamiliar users. While I wouldn’t trade away a good set of keyboard shortcuts, I see the value the mouse offers to everyone. Obvious understatement there, I know. The fact of the matter, even though I prefer using the keyboard shortcuts, there are many applications that just aren’t feasible to be used without a mouse.

Firefox is one such application that is really cumbersome to use with just a keyboard. You might be wondering why anyone would be without a mouse? It’s a fair question at this point and here is a real life situation. One of my laptop trackpads is horrendously unresponsive and going on borderline unusable most of the time. Typically the troubled laptop sits on my desk with a USB mouse attached but there are times I find myself on the road with it, and unfortunately I don’t always remember to bring along a mouse. The trackpad is frustrating to use, and some may say that even a fully working trackpad is a pain, but it’s the only thing I have at that point.

Mouseless Browsing is a Firefox add-on that provides an excellent interface for keyboard-based browsing and navigation. It’s so complete and thorough that the entire experience can be controlled exclusively from the keyboard with little to no compromise. The add-on accomplishes this by adding small numeric id boxes to the right of every link or form element. Typing in the numeric id actives whatever it’s associated with it.

Mouseless Browsing is pretty effective at what it sets out to address. The only annoyance I’ve come across is that sometimes the numbering of web links or form fields can shift the rendering or display layout of the website which can cause things to look a bit wonky. It’s a minor thing when you are in dire need of a fix, but it is enough for me to not have this enabled for every day use. It is possible to stylize the numeric id display as well as defining rule sets for particular websites however.