(Floe) Benchmarking browser interface options

Contains a comparison of key features and a series of screen shots of menus

Comparison of key features

Options

Firefox

Safari

Chrome

Opera

Default or "Standard" font

Times 16

Times 16

(unsaid Times 16)

Times 16

Default text colour

black

(unsaid black)

(unsaid black)

(unsaid black)

Default background colour

white

white, permanent

white, permanent

white

Default unvisited link colour

blue

blue

blue

blue

Default visited link colour

purple

purple

purple

purple

Multiple menus (e.g. simple vs advanced)

yes

yes

yes

yes

Option to use system colours

default is inactive

NA

via add-on

can select native MacOS skin

Underline links option

default is active

NA

via add-on

default is active

Allow pages to choose their own colours to override the default settings

default is active

NA

NA

NA

Fonts for different languages

yes

yes

yes

uncertain

Serif font

Times 16

Times 16

Times 16

Times 16

Sans-serif font

Helvetica 16

NA

Helvetica 16

NA

Monospace font

Courier 13

Courier 13

Courier 13

Monaco 16

Minimum font size range

9 to 24

9 to 24 (need to activate min. font size function)

via add-on

NA

General font size range

9 to 72

9 to 288

9 to 288

8 to 72

Font thickness

no options

no options

regular, bold

light, normal, bold

Font styling (italics etc.)

no options

no options

various

various

Preview pane

none

yes

yes

yes

Font colour options

yes

yes

yes

yes

Reset to default option

none

none

yes

none

Tab highlight options

none

yes

yes

none

Custom style sheet support

no

yes

via add-on

yes

Show or hide images option

"load images automatically" on/off option

no options

yes

yes

Enable/disable animated images option

no options

no options

might be included in show/hide images

yes

Enable/disable sound in webpages option

no options

no options

no options

yes

Translation options

via add-ons

via extensions

yes

none

Themes/skins for browsers

yes

via extensions

yes

yes

Icon size adjustment

only possible to scale down

no options

no options

yes

Page zoom in options menu

no

no

no

yes

Readability functions

via add-on

built into Safari 5, auto detects compatible articles

via add-on

uncertain (extension under development)

IE6

http://www.grandandtoy.com/sites/GT/FindUs/locations.aspx?code=bc_on#to

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/ie6/default.aspx

IE7

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/ie7/default.aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/ie7/

IE8

http://www.microsoft.com/enable/training/ie8/default.aspx

Screen shots of menus

Firefox

For Mac, UI Options are located under Firefox > Preferences > Content tab > Fonts & Colours section:

Advanced pane:

Colours pane:

Safari

For Mac, UI Options are located in a couple of places:

Safari > Preferences > Appearance tab:

Standard font options pane with existing default settings shown:

Fixed width font options pane with existing default settings shown:

Note: font size slider bar increases as you slide it up, while font size numbers in the scrollable menu beside it increase as you scroll down.

Safari > Preferences > Advanced:

Chrome

For Mac, UI Options are located in a few places:

Under Chrome > Preferences > Personal Stuff tab > Themes section, users can change themes for the browser (contrast of browser pane etc.):

Under Chrome > Preferences > Under the Hood tab > Privacy section > Content settings > Images, users can choose to show or hide images for webpages:

Under Chrome > Preferences > Under the Hood tab > Web content section, users can access a content translation option, highlighted links on Tab press option, and font settings:

Under font settings, defaults are shown with a preview:

For each font setting, clicking "change" will pull up this menu that shows the default settings for each:

similar for sans-serif and fixed-width:


On the main browser window, there is a tools icon on the top, right corner that offers zoom options:

Opera

For Mac, UI Options are located in a few places:

Tools > Appearance:

Skins and colour schemes can be customized:

Opera > Preferences > Webpages:

Webpage content display can be customized:

Font panels:

Colours panel:

Opera > Preferences > Advanced > Content:

Animated images, sound, interactive features can be customized:

note: "style options" offers ways to customize the browser itself and also load custom style sheets.