Site Search & Navigation
A quick look at Hints on Using this Site may resolve any issues you're having with viewing or navigating this site.
Changing Text Size & Colours | Use a Recent Web Browser | About PDF Documents
Search this Site
- Search this site by selecting the "Search this site" button.
- A search will take you off this site. You may wish to bookmark this site before starting your search.
Search Restrictions
- Not all content is listed by search engines. Temporary or new content is less likely to be included.
- You might want to have a look at the site map if you are unable to locate content.
Hints on Using this Site
The Menu System
Where you see the right angle quote (») there is an extended menu available. Simply click on the link to the right to reveal this menu.
Resize Text
- You can resize the text and navigation menus on this site.
- Alternative text is provided when images aren't displayed.
JavaScript Used
JavaScript is used to enhance this site. If disabled, your experience of this site may degrade and e-mail addresses may not be displayed.
External Links Open New Windows
Links pointing to an address external to this site will open a separate window or tab using JavaScript. These are not pop-up windows. Simply close the new window to return to this site.
If Javascript is not enabled in your browser, external links will function the same as links pointing to resources within this site.
Different Browsers — Different Experiences
Unlike printed documents, each browser can display pages differently even within the same operating system.
This site has been designed to work best when using a recent browser that conforms to current web standards, but your experience should degrade gracefully when using older browsers.
In the last few years display technology has moved from 4:3 ratio square monitors to 16:9 ratio monitors (like big screen TVs) and to portable devices like smart phones and tablets. This site should display correctly on all these platforms.
Valid Site Coding
All pages have been checked and found to be valid XHTML 1.1 and valid CSS 2.1 using W3C's validator services:
While these standards are not infallible, they help ensure that changes in technology do not degrade your experience on this site and avoid restricting the viewer to a single browser because of proprietary markup.
Firefox Recommended
Firefox most closely follows these standards at the time of the site design. Internet Explorer 6 does not follow a number of these recommendations, although these standards are more closely followed by Internet Explorer 7. Internet Explorer 8 and 9 are even more compliant and is strongly recommended. Other browsers also vary in their conformation to standards.
Update to Internet Explorer 8 or 9 Recommended
It is strongly recommended that Windows users update their Internet Explorer to version 8 or 9 using Windows Update or Microsoft Update if is available to your version of Windows even when using Firefox or another browser:
- Internet Explorer 9 is available for Windows Vista or later.
- Internet Explorer 8 is available for Windows XP or later.
- If you are using an older version of Windows you are at significant risk when using the Internet because security vulnerabilities are no longer being addressed by Microsoft.
While these standards are not infallible, they help in ensuring that changes in technology do not degrade your experience on this site and avoid restricting the viewer to one browser because of proprietary markup tags.
Changing Fonts Sizes & Colours
This site design is created with modern displays in mind and care has been taken in the choice of colours. Font sizes are specified in ems to give the view the greatest flexibility (rather than fixed in points, a static print medium that is converted into pixels differently by different browsers).
Current browsers (Firefox, Opera, Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer) offer a great deal of flexibility in changing these settings to suit your needs and preferences. I suggest altering text size or colour settings to enhance your experience on this (and other) sites if you have special requirements.
Text May Be Enlarged/Reduced
Text sizes may be increased/decreased in modern browsers if you have difficulty viewing the default sizes or if the default sizing doesn't work for you. This function varies by browser and version, but try holding down the Ctrl button and pressing:
+(plus) to increase the text size;-(minus) to decrease the text size; and0(zero) will reset the page to 100% (the default) — not supported in IE.
The Zoom function is usually located in the View menu when menus are displayed. Most modern browsers have hidden these settings to preserve the space at the top of the page because newer monitors are wider but not as tall. Look for the Zoom settings in the Options or Toolbar icons.
Extreme Increase May Create Problems
Note: extreme increases in size may create problems with the page layout. Images enlarged in this manner can appear fuzzy and they may not resize at all in older browsers.
Other Options
If you continually have difficulty viewing text and images on your computer, you can either purchase a larger monitor (they are much more affordable now) or a program like ZoomText.
Customizing Colour Settings
Issues With Contrast
Some viewers may find that there is insufficient contrast for comfortable viewing. This can be altered within your browser.
Changing Browser Settings
Issues With Contrast
Some viewers may find that there is insufficient contrast for comfortable viewing. This can be altered within your browser.
Changing Browser Settings
If you are having difficulty viewing this site, please change the sizing of the fonts (see resizing text above) or change your browser's default settings to view the page with fonts and colours that work for you.
Check your browser's help menu or documentations, but these appear most often under your browser's Options menu, often labelled with terms like Fonts & Colors, Appearance or Internet Options.
Settings may be found under Advanced, Accessibility or elsewhere, depending upon the browser you are using.
Older Browsers May Not Display Correctly
Cascading Style Sheets May be Misinterpreted
This site uses external Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) for both layout and esthetics rather than embedding the layout within the page content like older sites. The power of this approach is demonstrated on the CSS Zen Garden site where the same text content can be altered only by the CSS (see the "select a design" menu).
Unfortunately, some content on this site may not display properly in older browsers that do not recognize or correctly interpret style sheets. Since CSS determines both layout and site enhancements, this will necessarily degrade your user experience when viewing this site with an older browser. This problem should affect less than 5 percent of the browsers currently in use.
Content should be visible, but may be portrayed in your browser's default fonts and may be placed incorrectly. There may also be unintended side effects like visible borders around linked images (a result of changing Web standards). This affects primarily Netscape 4 and Internet Explorer 4 and their earlier versions.
To view this site properly, you may wish to upgrade to a newer browser. Current versions of Firefox, Opera, Safari, Chrome or Internet Explorer will work best.
PDF Documents
Adobe Reader Needed
Documents in Adobe® PDF format allows you to view and print these documents without the programs used to create them.
The number in brackets — e.g. (PDF–250 KB) — indicates the size of the document in Kilobytes (KB) or Megabytes (MB).
In most cases, these documents will open inside your browser. Simply use the back arrow to return to the page where the document was linked.
You will need the free Adobe® Reader® to view and print these documents. This program is available for most operating systems (platforms).
While it is very common for Adobe Reader to be installed on computers, you may wish to update the version you are running or simply appreciate the convenience of having a link to the download site for future reference.
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Updated: June 5, 2012