Web Accessibility Toolbar

The Web Accessibility Toolbar:

"has been developed to aid manual examination of web pages for a variety of aspects of accessibility. It consists of a range of functions that:

• identify components of a web page
• facilitate the use of 3rd party online applications
• simulate user experiences
• provide links to references and additional resources."

This is a must-have that lets you do more with a web page than what a dozen different bookmarklets could offer. IE only.

Of course if you want to look hip you have (to claim) to use Firefox on the Mac. Bonus points if you pontificate about the merits of tab browsing, regardless of whether it betrays you can’t afford a large screen and have ADHD, but I digress. Extra bonus points if you rave about how everyone that went to some boring blogging convention was using the same cutting-edge platform ("if you use a crappy browser and want to be ridiculed in public please raise your hand and express your self-criticism in front of the other Party members"). Wow, you got to go the Apple retail store and you could even download and install a third-party browser on your own, that’s elite man!
But if you don’t care about fashion trends you can do just like me and keep using IE on Windows XP. Sure, IE is a smoldering piece of crap at this point, but frankly who cares about your slightly better browser (nice logo) than now edges above 5% of market share? Wow, tectonic plates are in motion! Seriously, wake me up when something real happens, but the excitement these last few months goes to display how bandwagon-jumping is rampant in some parts of the blogosphere. If you crave for approval go ask your mother why she didn’t breastfeed you and give us a break, thanks. I’m all for third-party browsers, a diversified software ecosystem, perfect markets and whatnot, but the cirle jerking and reciprocal validation in some web networks is sadly not fading away.