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Will we ever get a high-DPI toggle?

  • 3 replies
  • 18 have this problem
  • 3 views
  • Last reply by cor-el

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So, to my knowledge, this still isn't fixed?

I'll preface this by saying that I'm not just someone looking to cause trouble. I've been using Firefox since it was called Mozilla, I remember the mess the browser originally was when it fled from the Netscape name and how feature-bare it was, and how bloated it became until eventually smaller products were split off from it. One of them being Phoenix, which I used since version 0.1.

I've been a Firefox fan for a long time. I've made plugins, I've used them, I've talked about Firefox to my friends and convinced many of them to switch over. I have a Firefox plush. I even spent some time doing Linux compiles when I was using Linux. I'm very loyal.

Yet, now, Mozilla is telling me that I can no longer use the browser because I'm disabled. I've tried filing bugs, I've tried everything. Why is this acceptable?

All I need is a high-DPI toggle. That's all. I want the engine to return to how it worked in 21.0.

I'm glad I backed up my profile, because when I upgraded to 22, Mozilla saw fit to maliciously wipe the accessibility settings I need to use the Internet. Why is that right? My minimum zoom level? Gone. My ability to instate a new minimum zoom level without ridiculous amounts of complexity which remains buggy to this day? Gone. I can no longer have a proper minimum zoom, this is hell for me, pure hell.

And then, then I notice that all of my page zoom level settings have been wiped. Why is this acceptable? If Firefox ever wants to even begin to purport itself as an accessibility app, you cannot do this. You can't. It's just not on. Not only that, but it ruined the CSS tweaks I'd been using successfully since 0.1, with only minor alterations. All of them were now worthless because I can't get the browser to use the exact per-pixel system it used before. I'd have to redevelop them all from the ground up. Why is that acceptable? Why is it acceptable to do this to a person with accessibility needs?

I absolutely, quite literally, cannot use any version above 21 because it wipes accessibility settings that I need to use the Internet. In your rush to become like Apple and support higher resolutions, you've forgotten your support of people, like myself, who have accessibility needs.

I was a loyal fan.

Now I'm warning every person with accessibility needs I can away from Firefox. I'm telling them not to use it. I'm advising them to use Chrome instead. Every person who's partially sighted, whose sight problems can't be fixed with glasses, is going to be alienated by this change. A change that was almost made to spite them. Honestly, how hard is it to include a toggle? Why can't we just click a checkbox and turn Hi-DPI off? It's weird, but after years and years of having felt supported as a person with accessibility needs by the Mozilla foundation, in the desire to be hip and to chase high resolutions, I now feel hated. Like I'm dead weight. A burden. In the desire to be hip, like Apple, you've forgotten what was most important.

Your users.

Yeah. Apple does this sort of thing, they callously change things without asking whether their users want those changes or not. Google doesn't. That's the difference between them. I always opted for Firefox because it wasn't a piece of software which would do that. It wouldn't just pull the rug out from me and take away my ability to do that. I'd expect that from Apple, but not from Mozilla.

At this point, I just feel betrayed. I've been stuck at version 21 forever, now. Without proper minimum zoom levels, without the ability to properly copy over my zoom levels, and without the ability to turn off Hi-DPI, I cannot use newer versions of Firefox.

Well, I hope being hip feels good. Because you've stomped all over your reputation as an application that puts accessibility first.

And if anyone can express these concerns to the higher-ups at Mozilla. Please, please do.

So, to my knowledge, this still isn't fixed? I'll preface this by saying that I'm not just someone looking to cause trouble. I've been using Firefox since it was called Mozilla, I remember the mess the browser originally was when it fled from the Netscape name and how feature-bare it was, and how bloated it became until eventually smaller products were split off from it. One of them being Phoenix, which I used since version 0.1. I've been a Firefox fan for a long time. I've made plugins, I've used them, I've talked about Firefox to my friends and convinced many of them to switch over. I have a Firefox plush. I even spent some time doing Linux compiles when I was using Linux. I'm very loyal. Yet, now, Mozilla is telling me that I can no longer use the browser because I'm disabled. I've tried filing bugs, I've tried everything. Why is this acceptable? All I need is a high-DPI toggle. That's all. I want the engine to return to how it worked in 21.0. I'm glad I backed up my profile, because when I upgraded to 22, Mozilla saw fit to maliciously wipe the accessibility settings I need to use the Internet. Why is that right? My minimum zoom level? Gone. My ability to instate a new minimum zoom level without ridiculous amounts of complexity which remains buggy to this day? Gone. I can no longer have a proper minimum zoom, this is hell for me, pure hell. And then, then I notice that all of my page zoom level settings have been wiped. Why is this acceptable? If Firefox ever wants to even begin to purport itself as an accessibility app, you cannot do this. You can't. It's just not on. Not only that, but it ruined the CSS tweaks I'd been using successfully since 0.1, with only minor alterations. All of them were now worthless because I can't get the browser to use the exact per-pixel system it used before. I'd have to redevelop them all from the ground up. Why is that acceptable? Why is it acceptable to do this to a person with accessibility needs? I absolutely, quite literally, cannot use any version above 21 because it wipes accessibility settings that I need to use the Internet. In your rush to become like Apple and support higher resolutions, you've forgotten your support of people, like myself, who have accessibility needs. I was a loyal fan. Now I'm warning every person with accessibility needs I can away from Firefox. I'm telling them not to use it. I'm advising them to use Chrome instead. Every person who's partially sighted, whose sight problems can't be fixed with glasses, is going to be alienated by this change. A change that was almost made to spite them. Honestly, how hard is it to include a toggle? Why can't we just click a checkbox and turn Hi-DPI off? It's weird, but after years and years of having felt supported as a person with accessibility needs by the Mozilla foundation, in the desire to be hip and to chase high resolutions, I now feel hated. Like I'm dead weight. A burden. In the desire to be hip, like Apple, you've forgotten what was most important. Your users. Yeah. Apple does this sort of thing, they callously change things without asking whether their users want those changes or not. Google doesn't. That's the difference between them. I always opted for Firefox because it wasn't a piece of software which would do that. It wouldn't just pull the rug out from me and take away my ability to do that. I'd expect that from Apple, but not from Mozilla. At this point, I just feel betrayed. I've been stuck at version 21 forever, now. Without proper minimum zoom levels, without the ability to properly copy over my zoom levels, and without the ability to turn off Hi-DPI, I cannot use newer versions of Firefox. Well, I hope being hip feels good. Because you've stomped all over your reputation as an application that puts accessibility first. And if anyone can express these concerns to the higher-ups at Mozilla. Please, please do.

All Replies (3)

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One thing I must add.

I'm giving switching to Google Chrome/Chromium a [b]lot/b of serious thought, now. It might actually be the better open source browser. Why?

I've discovered that if I go into chrome://flags, I can search for 'HiDPI support' and ... [b]toggle it to disabled/b. Making Google Chrome behave as it did before High-DPI support was a thing. What a magical feature!

Apparently this feature is [i]not/i impossible to implement because Google managed it. Why can't Firefox have an about:config option that [i]completely disables High-DPI/i??

Seeing that Google has done this makes me feel all the more hated by Mozilla. And it creates links between Mozilla and the likes of Apple in my mind.

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Oops. The tags are different here. You don't use BBcode, I wasn't expecting that.

Point stands, though. If Chrome has a chrome://flags switch, why does Firefox not have an about:config switch? Has Mozilla really just become a bunch of hipsters?

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Note that this forum uses HTML tags instead of BBCode.


You can set the layout.css.devPixelsPerPx pref on the about:config page to 1.0 or on Windows 8 to 1.25 and if necessary adjust layout.css.devPixelsPerPx starting from 1.0 in 0.1 or 0.05 steps (1.1 or 0.9) to make icons show correctly.

Use an extension to adjust the text size in the user interface and the page zoom in the browser window.

You can look at this extension to adjust the font size for the user interface.

You can look at the Default FullZoom Level or NoScript extension if web pages need to be adjusted after changing layout.css.devPixelsPerPx.