controlling firefox with a joypad

recently stumbled across an interesting piece of software for windows: JoyToKey

essentially, this program allows you to map joystick inputs to keystrokes. aimed primarily at users of emulators, to make up for a lack of native joystick support, it can nonetheless be used to control all sorts of things...including, of course, web browsers such as mozilla firefox.

after installation, copy the simple configuration file provided in this experiment to the application's directory, to gain access to the following controls (based on my logitech dual action joypad - for other game input devices, you may have to tweak the set; also, ensure that use axes other than X and Y and user POV switches are enabled in the program's options, and set a reasonable threshold for the analog input to make it less jumpy):

• POV pad - cursor keys
• Left-hand stick left/right - back/next (alt + left / alt + right)
• Right-hand stick up/down - tab to next/previous link (tab / shift + tab)
• Button 2 - open link (enter)
• Button 1 - open link in new tab (control + enter)
• Button 3 - open link in new window (shift + enter)
• Button 4 - bookmarks menu (alt + B)
• Left shoulder button 5 - previous tab (control + shift + tab)
• Right shoulder button 6 - next tab (control + tab)
• Button 10 - close tab/window (control + W)
• Left shoulder button 7 - switch to previous application window (alt + shift + tab)
• Right shoulder button 8 - switch to next application window (alt + tab)

this, if you forgive the pun, makes browsing the web child's play, and could also be interesting from an accessibility testing / demonstration point of view.

completed:

08/10/2004

modified:

02/01/2006