FAQ

Browsers
Screen Resolution
Firewalls
interact, Practicing Planner, and PAS Memo
Accessibility Statement

Browsers

To get the most out of the site, you need either Microsoft Internet Explorer version 6.0 or higher, or Netscape Navigator version 6.1 or higher. You may download these browsers from their websites: www.microsoft.com or www.netscape.com. Our website requires a Java or JavaScript/JScript-capable browser with Java and JavaScript/JScript support turned on.

Screen Resolution

Our site is best viewed with a color VGA monitor at a screen resolution of 800x600 or higher.

Firewalls

If you are connecting to the Internet through a corporate/agency network that employs a Proxy Firewall, you may not be able to view some of the active Java elements on our site.

interact, Practicing Planner , and PAS Memo

interact, Practicing Planner, and PAS Memo announcements are created in HTML and text versions. Depending on the preference settings of your e-mail reader, the appropriate version should be delivered. For example, if your e-mail is set for plain text, then you will view the plain text version.

Lotus Notes Users
Lotus Notes doesn't handle HTML well. It tends to substitute its own characters into a document when it can't interpret the HTML code. The real issue is how the Lotus Notes server is configured.

To view the HTML version, the following settings should be used: Enable the Optional International MIME Settings and set up a server document. Under the "mail" tab in Lotus notes, the user needs to select no preference. Then all incoming mail is stored in the format in which it was sent. interact is sent as a multipart mime and in Lotus Notes it is stored as MIME with all font typefaces and sizes preserved as long as the font typeface and sizes are available on the PC used to view the message.

Mac Users
Using Netscape 6.1, make sure under Preferences/Advanced that all settings are checked to enable Java script. Under Preferences — mail and newsgroups — scroll down to "Message Display." Uncheck the box under Languages that reads "Apply default to all messages (ignore character coding specified by MIME header)."

Due to Netscape programming, if you try to forward interact or reply to it, the format changes completely to text format.

There may be problems using Netscape 6.2.

Because AOL owns Netscape, you will view the HTML version of the regardless of which settings you choose.

Outlook 97
Reads plain text only.

Plain Text Version
The links are not live. Cut and paste in browser.

TELNET
APA was able to receive the e-mail with text version. If a TELNET user cannot receive the e-mail in text, it is probable that the system was not setup with the correct MIME TYPES. Example of MIME TYPES: text/html, plain text/html, etc.

Outlook or Outlook Express
Is able to receive HTML-formatted e-mail. Ask the mail administrator on your end to set up e-mail client to accept HTML format. Set up Outlook by doing the following:

1. Select Tools
2. Select Options
3. Check Plain Text in box where you send out e-mail
   1. Select Format
   2. Check HTML, to let you view HTML e-mail

Eudora
Eudora is a free e-mail client and does not offer as many features as Outlook or Netscape. Eudora 4.0 does not show images on e-mail messages, but reads partial HTML — something like AOL 5.0 to 5.5. Users should consult Eudora's Help and indicate the information that they wish to show. The date display can be set up under Options and set to specific preferences.

Either update to Eudora 5.1, check for a Eudora patch, or update to Netscape 7.0, which fixes bugs that 6.1 did not.

Accessibility Statement

In addition to making technical changes to our website to provide greater accessibility, we test our pages with a variety of web browsers and operating systems. Although we continue to test and modify our website for accessibility, there may be some legacy pages and pages developed by third parties that are not fully compliant. If you would like further information about our accessibility standards or have problems accessing this website, please contact websitefeedback@planning.org.

If your browser or browsing device does not support style sheets at all, the content of each page is still readable. We also have provided a printer-friendly option that allows pages to be removed from the shell for easier viewing.

If you cannot fully access the information on a particular page, please e-mail websitefeedback@planning.org for help. We may able to provide the information to you in an alternate format.

All pages provide the following:

1. A link to the site's sitemap listing the main section pages on the site in relation to other pages and sections.
2. A link to this accessibility statement on our FAQ page.
3. A link back to the website's home page (the APA logo).
4. Content is available as text rather than a graphic in almost all cases.
5. Text appearing on the site has been written for the web.
6. Long pages containing a lot of information are converted into multiple, shorter pages, when possible.
7. All colors used on the site are readable to a person with color blindness.

Most pages have a signpost trail at the top (some call this bread crumb). The trail helps visitors understand where they are in relation to the home page. This is particularly useful for visitors who enter the site through a search engine or a link from another site, as it quickly provides a context for the page.

1. All pages are laid out using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS).
2. If the style sheets are not used or your browser does not support style sheets, the content of each page is still readable.
3. None of the content is dependent on color alone.
4. We are beginning to include an ALT attribute to provide image descriptions that can be read by website reading software.
5. While JavaScript may be used on this web site by modern browsers, the site is still readable if JavaScript is disabled except in the case of e-commerce functions.

Improvements still to be made

The site does not currently use relative font sizes that can be changed to suit your preference using the “text size” option of your browser. In the meantime you may remove the style sheet by accessing Internet Options >General >Accessibility >Formatting and checking the boxes relating to font sizes.

We are currently in the process of migrating older pages from HTML to XHTML. Our goal is to have all pages on this site validate as XHTML 1.0 Strict.

Accesskeys

Accesskeys are meant to provide a quick and efficient means of navigating a site using the keyboard. Most applications on your computer will typically support accesskeys, including most modern web browsers. As part of our next web upgrade in FY2005 we hope to have accesskeys.

Navigational Aids

All pages will have a relational link for home, search, and the site map for this web site to aid navigation in text-only browsers. Pages within the site will also typically provide relational links to the previous, next, and main section pages. Users of modern web browsers such as Mozilla and Opera may also take advantage of these links.

Images

All content images used in this site will include descriptive ALT attributes. Purely decorative graphics include null ALT attributes.

508

When our new design is implemented all pages on this site will be Section 508 approved, complying with all U.S. Government Section 508 Guidelines.

Questions? Problems? Comments?

Please contact us at websitefeedback@planning.org