Automation and Customization of Rendered Web Pages

Overview

On the desktop, an application can expect to control its user interface down to the last pixel, but on the World Wide Web, a content provider has no control over how the client will view the page, once delivered to the browser. This creates an opportunity for end-users who want to automate and customize their web experiences, but the growing complexity of web pages and standards prevents most users from realizing this opportunity. This paper describes Chickenfoot, a programming system embedded in the Firefox web browser, which enables end-users to automate, customize, and integrate web applications without examining their source code.