Projects

hawkingtoolbar

Overview: The Hawking Toolbar is a plug-in for the Firefox web browser that frees individuals with severely limited motor abilities to explore the internet, without limits. Unlike expensive commercial products, it is free and customizable. Published under the open-source GPL license, it can be ... [More] enhanced or customized by anyone with the appropriate technical skills. By using a Firefox plug-in we can deliver a robust product:     * extensibility: it can be enhanced or customized by others     * non-obsolescence: this standard Firefox plug-in will work with any new version of Firefox. The user is not dependent upon developers to upgrade the plug-in for each new web technology or new version of the browser     * standard view: the user sees the same web page as others. This plug-in enhances a popular browser instead of requiring a specialized one! For too many centuries, people with physical disabilities have been treated as inferior by society. Considering that one of the greatest geniuses of our time, physicist Stephen Hawking, lives with a debilitating form of Lou Gehrig's disease and yet continues to live a rich life and makes giant contributions to our understanding of the universe, it is obvious that this unfair treatment hurts all of us. Technology makes it possible for Dr. Hawking to communicate his ideas to us; he shows us that there is no definite correlation between physical ability and the greatness of the human spirit. This toolbar is a small tribute to him and all individuals who face the biggest challenge of all: our own prejudices. [Less]