Hi Andy,
I am going to run Inquisit on the web, and I want my consent statement to appear at the beginning of my experiment. However, since the text is long, I can use the htmlpage element to better control the display. This means that, if necessary, a scrollbar will appear for participants to track the text extending beyond the frame of the window.
Correct.
Also, I want participants to be able to download a .pdf file of the consent statement for their records (just in case they want it); I can accomplish this with the htmlpage by imbedding a link to the .pdf target, which I can upload to the folder along with my experiment script.
Yes. Or you might simply provide a link to the pdf consent form on the experiment's launch or finish page.
By using Inquisit 2.0 on the web, if Ps are opening the experiment with Mozilla Firefox, for example, will they still be able to open the .pdf link with Firefox?
As far as I understand, Inquisit will use the Internet Explorer engine to display <htmlpage> elements regardless of which browser was used to start the web experiment (e.g. Firefox). Also, whether participants will be able to display the pdf in their browser depends on their system's settings (is there a pdf reader installed, is there a pdf browser plugin installed, have they set their browser to open pdfs directly, etc.).
Also, once Ps are finished reading my consent statement on the htmlpage, do they simply hit <Return> or <Enter> as they would for any text page, as specified in the experiment script?
This can be configured via your script's <instruct> element.
Best wishes from a fellow Inquisit user,
~Dave