FAQ

From WebVisum

• Q: I only use Internet Explorer. When will you have an IE version?
• A: We will probably never have an Internet Explorer version. The reasons are simple:
  • 1. Internet Explorer is much more difficult to develop for than Firefox and thus it will cost us a lot of time and money to provide you with a high quality product that you would enjoy using. We prefer to spend that time and money developing what we already have even further!
  • 2. Firefox is currently the most accessible browser on the planet. Version 3.0 which was recently released ranks as probably THE best browser out there overall in accessibility, performance and memory consumption. It is also very frequently updated, especially with important fixes. You simply can't go wrong with Firefox. It is the future browser of the Internet. Now is the best time to start using it.

• Q: My screen reader doesn't work well with Firefox, because it's an older version (JAWS 7 or less, Window-Eyes 6.1 or less, or another proprietary screen reader). What should I do?
• A: Most JAWS users should just upgrade to version 8 or later. JAWS 10, currently in beta, has significantly improved Firefox support. Most Window-Eyes users should try Window-Eyes beta 7 or upgrade to 7 or later when that becomes available. If your screen reader just doesn't support Firefox, or you are tech-savvy and don't mind trying a free, cool screen reader, try NVDA version 0.6p1 or later. It works well with Firefox 3. There is no need to uninstall your other screen reader first, and you can always just return back to your previous screen reader if you are not satisfied.

• Q: I have concerns about Firefox 3.0 accessibility with screen readers. Where can I get some answers?
• A: We highly recommend that you review the official Firefox 3 screen reader FAQ.

• Q: Is Firefox also accessible on the Mac?
• A: Unfortunately not completely just yet. If our project is a success we hope to be able to fund a developer who will work on making Firefox on the Mac fully accessible with VoiceOver, the built in Mac screen reader. We did however hear that the FireVox screen reader extension for Firefox can help on the Mac. Get FireVox here and let us know how it went!

• Q: Can I use Firefox 2 instead of Firefox 3?
• A: While most functions should work for you, we cannot guarantee that. Do not send us any bug reports as we do not officially support Firefox 2. We consider Firefox 3 far superior and will not support Firefox 2 at all.

• Q: And what about my privacy?
• A: We value your privacy as much as we value our own. We will not share, disclose or tell anyone, about you, your data or your surfing habits (even if you are a 45 year old lawyer working for a respected firm who has a fetish for barbie dolls) unless required to by a court of law. For more details please review our privacy policy.

• Q: What gets sent to your servers?
• A: Our extension sends to the server the following information:
  • The page URLs you visit, so that we can provide you with page enhancement and tagging information if is is available.
  • The tag text that you have chosen for broken page elements.
  • The CAPTCHA images that you wish to solve.
  • The images that you wish to OCR.

• Q: How do I control which information is sent to you?
• A: CAPTCHA images, images for OCR and page tagging and enhancement details are not sent to us unless you perform the action using features we provide. You can tell the extension not to query about any domains or sites through the blacklist that we let you edit in Preferences. Furthermore, if you log out or disable the extension, no browsing information is sent to us at all.

• Q: Are updates to your Firefox extension automatic?
• A: From time to time, Firefox will ask our server if there is an update. Once an update is available, Firefox will alert you and ask if you wish to install it. We of course recommend accepting the updates as they will contain fixes, improvements and added functionality.

• Q: I installed WebVisum but some or all of the hotkeys don't work!
• A: If you are using a Non-English keyboard, or a laptop keyboard, you may need to assign your own key sequences to WebVisum's functions. Go to the Firefox Tools menu, then to WebVisum and then to Preferences, now select Key Bindings and set your own keys for each and every function.

• Q: I am trying the OCR function to solve a CAPTCHA, it doesn't work!
• A: The OCR function is currently only for OCRing navigational menu images. It will not work for many other image types at all. Also It will only work for English texts. We are aware that this function is currently far from perfect and we are working on expensive solutions that are orders of magnitude better.

• Q: I'm sure the page has a CAPTCHA but WebVisum won't find it. Why?
• A: We've developed methods to automatically find the correct image on the page in order to provide you with our magic "Solve CAPTCHA on this page" feature. It would have been less magical had you been forced to manually find the correct image every time and submit it to us. In rare cases our method will not find the image on the page and you will be alerted when this happens. If you do not hear anything or do not get an alert at all, the functionality was not invoked. This could be due to the shortcut key simply not working for various reasons, or a bug. Try to use the web context menu and then manually selecting the "Solve CAPTCHA" feature. If this fails, please contact us and state the page on which you are having a problem. If you get a message saying that the CAPTCHA was not found and you are certain the page contains one, contact us with the page name and we will review it.

• Q: Why do I need an account to use WebVisum?
• A: An account is required so that any link tagging or page corrections are not submitted anonymously and can be attributed to you, as a member of the community. It also helps us keep better control of what is happening and prevent abuse easily. For example we could allow solving CAPTCHAs without requiring a login to a valid account, but that would open us to massive abuse. On top of that, it allows us to build much more exciting features in the future.

• Q: I disabled WebVisum and now I can't enable it again. What do I do?
• A: Go to the Firefox Tools menu, then select WebVisum, then select Enable.

• Q: Some WebVisum keyboard shortcuts do not work for me, how I do fix it?
• A: Go to the Firefox Tools menu, then select WebVisum, then Preferences. Now go to Key Bindings. You can now set your own keyboard shortcut for every function!

• Q: How do you solve these wonderful artistic creations known as CAPTCHAs?
• A: It is, at least for now, a trade secret! But you'll find out that our monkeys are really good at it!

• Q: How will you prevent spammers from abusing your CAPTCHA solving techniques?
• A: We place a limit on the number of CAPTCHAs that can be solved per account per day and we employ more under the hood protections to recognize and disable accounts that do not belong to humans.

• Q: Why are you doing this project?
• A: First of all, we find it fun to work on this kind of stuff! We love it. We also like to help people. We're not blind or visually impaired but we make our living by developing web sites and Internet tools and we love doing it, especially when we have happy users who love our products, too. We were frequently approached by people who were asking us to make minor changes to our sites to make them more accessible to them. We decided to see what all the fuss is about and to our surprise, we found that accessibility is often a neglected aspect by many site operators, big or small. Not only because of lack of care or attention but also due to reasons such as lack of time or knowledge or sometimes lack of funding to make the right adjustments. In many cases we also think it is also the lack of feedback from the site users themselves! So this was an opportunity to put our programmer hats and see if we can find situations to your every day problems. As weeks and months went by we came up with a solid plan and implemented what you see right now. We believe in self empowerment, the basics of the Internet and good human nature. We believe that if we build the tools, you'll be able to use them to the best of your advantage! So there you have it, we built the tools, it's time to use them.

• Q: How did you fund this project?
• A: Up until now we have funded it from our own pockets: server costs, development of the server software and the Firefox extension, and more. It has been a significant investment of our time and money.

• Q: How do you plan to sustain this project going forward?
• A: We plan to charge a very low fee of most likely a few dollars per month for access to ADVANCED features. All of the current features will always remain totally free as a matter of principle - our project is here to help the users who need it most!

• Q: Will I ever need to pay for the basic features?
• A: We will not force anyone to pay, however, if you still decide to pay it would certainly help ensure the future of the project and the implementation of our vision for it!

• Q. Great! How do I get an invite? Is it complicated?
• A. Not at all. Please see our FAQ on the new invitation system that keeps our user base free of spammers. If you're a current member you can create an invite for your friends and acquaintances.

• Q: What does Web Visum mean and why did you name it that way?
• A: Web Visum, The Web part is clear, Visum is Vison in Latin. We like it.

• Q: Your product is not perfect yet! I have some good ideas for you.
• A: What are you waiting for? Let us hear what your ideas are!

• Q: Are you guys for real?
• A: You betcha, kiddo!