TextAloud Extension for Firefox 57 (Quantum)

[Jim Bretti]

TextAloud version 3.0.111 contains a new version of the extension for Firefox, and is compatible with Firefox 57 (Quantum). The entire framework for writing Firefox extensions changed so we had to develop an entirely new version of the extension. Note that if you are running a version of TextAloud older than 3.0.111, you need to upgrade TextAloud to get a version of the Firefox extension that works with Quantum. If you need to upgrade you can download an installer from http://nextup.com/files/ta3.exe.

One thing you will notice with the new extension is that it is no longer a full toolbar. The extension is now a button on your Firefox toolbar, to the right of the address bar. If you have the Chrome browser installed and use the TextAloud extension for Chrome, you'll notice the two browser extension popups are identical.

TextAloud Speak actions are also now available in the Firefox context menu. So you can select text in the browser window, right click, and select one of the TextAloud speak actions.

Browsers seem to have moved away from supporting actual toolbars. We have seen this now in Chrome, Firefox and Microsoft Edge. The tools for developing extensions are oriented to writing "browser actions" and "page actions". The new extension is implemented as a browser action. We'll investigate converting back to a traditional toolbar if future versions of the extension development framework allow it. We are also planning to add support for creating keyboard shortcuts in Firefox for TextAloud speak actions.

Extension does not work in Firefox Reading View

For web pages where the Firefox Reading view is supported, the TextAloud extension currently does not work for pages displayed in the reading view. The problem is basically a permissions issue related to the way Firefox displays these pages. We're hoping Mozilla provides a way to grant necessary permissions to the reading view for add-ons that require it, but no timetable now on if and when this will be resolved.

Problems activating the extension

if you install TextAloud version 3.0.111 or later and the Firefox extension is not available here is something to try. If you have the main menu configured to display in Firefox, click Tools -> Addons. Otherwise, type "about:addons" (without the quotes) in the address bar. Click "Extensions" in the left pane of the add-ons page. Then check the following:

1. if the add-on "TextAloud for Firefox" does not appear, exit Firefox and try reinstalling TextAloud using a current installer. You can always download a current TextAloud installer from http://nextup.com/files/ta3.exe.

2. if TextAloud for Firefox appears in the list and is disabled, just click the "Enable" button. The extension button should appear immediately in your Firefox toolbar. If you don't see the button exit and restart Firefox.

3. If TextAloud for Firefox appears in the add-on list and is already enabled, click the "Disable" button, then click "Enable". We've seen a few cases where this was necessary to get the TextAloud button to appear, it may have something to do with the previous version of the extension being disabled.

If these steps don't help send us an email at support@nextup.com or post in this user forum