Accessibility.blockautorefresh
Contents
Background
Web pages (and web servers) can ask a browser to automatically refresh a page after a given timeout by including the HTML element <meta http-equiv="refresh"> or by sending a Refresh: HTTP header. This can be helpful (as in the case of a webpage whose content is updated constantly) but it also can be irritating.
Automatic refreshes also have accessibility implications; sudden replacement of content can be disorienting. The UAAG recommends giving users the option to disable/ignore automatic page refreshes for this reason. This preference allows users to block automatic page refreshing, instead displaying a message allowing them to manually refresh the page.
Possible values and their effects
True
Instead of refreshing a page automatically when <meta http-equiv="refresh"> is present (or Refresh HTTP headers), display a browser message indicating the refresh and allow the user to follow it manually.
False
Allow automatic page refreshes
UI
Firefox 3.0
A checkbox labeled “Warn me when web sites try to redirect or reload the page” is located under “Tools -> Options -> Advanced -> General -> Accessibility”.
First checked in
2007-02-08 by Asaf Romano (patch by Mark Pilgrim)
Has an effect in
- Mozilla Firefox (trunk builds since 2007-02-08)
- SeaMonkey (trunk builds since 2010-04-20)
Related bugs
- Bug 83265 - UAAG: Add a way to disable HTTP-EQUIV=refresh (block automatic meta redirection, lock on current page)
- Bug 338181 - Do something wise with meta refresh blocking
- Bug 510186 - Change "Warn me when web sites try to redirect or reload the page" checkbox label for accessibility.blockautorefresh to non-misleading text: it does not apply to HTTP Location header (301, 302)
