Opera is one of the most popular browsers on the market and with its latest release (Opera 9) being offered for free you can learn more about the features it has and how they aim to improve usability and accessibility on the web.
Below are some of the great usability features offered in Opera:
Tabbed Browsing
Tabbed Browsing is a feature that users have responded well to, as indicated by IE7 latest adoption of this. It improves the ability to surf the web by allowing multiple pages to be opened in one window. This reduces the amount of space taken up on the task bar and allows even more pages to be opened in one session.
Keyboard Shortcuts
With Opera it is possible to control nearly every aspect of the browser through the use of the keyboard; these shortcuts are also customizable in an effort to make surfing more efficient and faster for the user. Opera is also one of the pioneers of “mouse gestures” where mouse movements and clicks are used to trigger specific browser actions, such as back or refresh.
Page Zooming
This allows pages content, such as text, images and other applications, such as Flash or Java, to increase or decrease to improve the readability of a site.
Voice Control
This feature allows the browser to be controlled through the user’s voice and extends even further to documents being read out loud, if required. This reduces the reliance on keyboard and mouse controls and improves usability for those that prefer this method of interaction with an interface.
Fast Forward
This allows users to let the browser select the most likely next page, such as the second page in a list of search results or next page in a multi-page article. This intuitive function improves internet surfing by adding another dimension to website navigation.
Integrated Search Similar to Firefox and IE7, the search bar is integrated in the address bar to allow users to search the web from any page they visit.
Overall, Opera has some great features that make surfing the web more efficient and simple to do and in next week’s article we will focus more on the accessibility and security features that it also has to offer.