(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.