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Technical help

Keyboard access

Why can't I use the keyboard to tab to all form controls (checkbox, radio buttons etc) on Mac OSX?

By default Mac OSX (before 10.3)has 'Turn on full Keyboard access' off by default in System Preferences.Turn this on and ensure 'For Windows and dialogs, highlight' is set to 'any control'. Access this via Apple - System Preferences - Hardware - Keyboard and Mouse - Keyboard Shortcuts.

If you are using Firefox: (in versions before Firefox 1.5) and find this still does not work type 'about:config' into the browser address bar and change the accessibility:tabfocus value from its default OSX setting of 1 - 'Text field form controls only' to 7 'All form controls and hyperlinks'

If you are using Safari: check the version. Safari 1.x does not fully support keyboard access. Safari 1.2 and above does.

Why can't I navigate by keyboard in Mac/Internet Explorer?

If you are using Mac/Internet Explorer and find the navigation does not expand or collapse with keyboard navigation you must either use a mouse to navigate or change browser.  Also use mouse clicks to close buttons etc where you cannot tab out.

Why can't I navigate by keyboard into Flash content with Firefox or Safari?

This is a generic Flash bug that has not been fixed for Firefox (PC or Mac) or Safari. To overcome this issue you can either use the text version or use Internet Explorer.

Please note that keyboard navigation of entire content (including navigation and Flash content) is most successfully accomplished using Internet Explorer on PC.

Why can't I navigate to the first link in a frame in Safari?

Safari implements their focus/tabbing in a different (and arguably wrong) way. The only way around this is to use [Shift] + [Tab] to go back one link from the second.

Computer crashes

Why does my Mac OS 8.6 or 9.2 computer sometimes freeze of crash when using this site?

Your computer may have insufficent RAM to run many applications at one time. Try shutting down other applications and only opening one at a time (for instance do not have Acrobat Reader and Flash open at the same time).

Documents

Why do I have problems opening Word(.doc) documents or PDF files?

Browser and computer settings may be set to download and not open these files.

If you are having problems opening the Word (.doc) or PDF files, right-click the mouse (press CTRL and click on a Macintosh) and select 'save target as...' or 'save link as...' then choose a location to save the file.

If you do not have these options and still have problems, you may need to update your browser settings

Changing your browser settings

The following instructions explain how to change the settings for Internet Explorer 5.2 on Mac OSX so that the browser will open a document (.doc) file in Microsoft Word.

  1. Select Preferences from the IE's Explorer menu
  2. Select File Helpers from the column on the left
  3. Click on the word 'Extension' at the top to sort the settings by extension
  4. Locate the '.doc' setting and double click it to open it
  5. From the 'How to handle' pop-up menu, select 'Post-Process with Application'
  6. Make sure that Microsoft Word is the selected application (if not, use the browse button located to the right to find and select it)
  7. Click OK to close the Edit File Helper window
  8. Click OK to close Internet Explorer's Preferences window

Flash

Why do I get a Macromedia Flash Player security warning?

Macromedia Flash Player 8 and later, Flash Player security for local content restricts network communication for certain kinds of content that is stored on your local computer, unless you give permission. This security measure protects you from potentially harmful content that could be used to send sensitive information stored on your computer or local network to locations on the Internet. To find out more about this please go to http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=4c093f20

Why won't a link to a document open when I click on it?

If you are using Windows XP with Service Pack 2 then you will need to control + click to open the document.

Video

On Mac OS/X why does the video player just show the loading animation and not load the video that is to be played?

This is a known issue that is related to the Mac OS/X platform. On Mac OS/X on Safari, Firefox and Internet Explorer browsers the first time the video player is used the video player will only show the loading animation. Clicking on the browser refresh button and the video will load. All subsequent videos played through the video player will now load correctly for this user session.

On Mac OS/X why does the video not playback smoothly or appear frozen and not load the video that is to be played?

This is a known issue that is related to the Mac OS/X platform. This is a limitation of the Mac hardware. Video playback is best experienced on a Mac with a CPU speed greater than 2GHz. On Mac OS/X on Safari 1.3 and Firefox browsers sometimes when the first time the video player is used the video player will only show the looping intro video that may also appear frozen. Click on the video date rollover or click on the pause/play button on the video console to play the selected video.

Printing

Why do I only get one page when printing in Firefox?

Firefox does not provide the ability to only print the content frame, it will instead try to print the whole frameset (meaning the banner and navigation too). Right-click on the page you wish to print and choose 'This Frame' - 'Open Frame in New Tab' then print from that. Your whole page will now print correctly.

Why is there content missing from my print-out?

Sometimes Flash content is not printed. If this happens you can right-click (or [Control] + click in Mac) on the Flash content and choose Print from the submenu.

PDF

Why does clicking links to PDF files in Internet Explorer cause Acrobat or Adobe Reader to start and then quit (7.0 on Windows)?

There is a bug in Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0. Update to the Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.05 update or later at www.adobe.com/support/downloads/ .

Downloading files

How do I download rather than open a file?

PC: Right click on the link and 'Save Target As' (Internet Explorer) or 'Save Link As' (Firefox), and from the dialogue box specify the location where the file is to be downloaded to.

Mac: [Option] + click on the link saves to the desktop.


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