Disability Action Centre
File Format Guide
A bulk of the information on this site is available for download so that you can take it away from your computer and read it in your own time. It can be printed out or stored on a floppy disk for future reference. We have made the files available in three different formats:
Microsoft Word
This is one of the most commonly shared file types in the world. In order to view this type of file you must have Microsoft Word or Microsoft Word Viewer installed on your machine. These are saved as Word 95 documents. This is available for PC and Macintosh. For more information follow this link: http://www.microsoft.com/office/word/.
You can download a free version of Word Viewer from Microsoft by clicking here.
Look out for the icon below if you require information in this format.
Adobe PDF
Adobe's Portable Document Format is becoming the standard format for sharing files over the web. PDFs can be opened across a broad range of hardware and software, and will look exactly the same as the author intended with layout, fonts, links, and images intact. You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files which is available for free download from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html. Acrobat Reader now supports enhanced keyboard shortcuts, high contrast viewing and assistive technology. The Make Accessible plug-in for Acrobat 5 is an optional extra and can be downloaded from Adobe: http://access.adobe.com/downloads.html.
Users of older screen reader software can download tools available on the Adobe Access site that will enable them to access the content of PDF files. Please use the following link for the Adobe Access site: http://access.adobe.com
Look out for the icon below if you require information in this format.
Plain Text
This is as simple a format that text can come in. There is no formatting or graphics and almost any text reading programme (Notepad, Simple Text) should be able to open this type of file.
Look out for the icon below if you require information in this format.
Microsoft Powerpoint
Microsoft Powerpoint has become a standard for sharing presentations across the world. Powerpoint is available for PC and Macintosh. For more information follow this link: http://www.microsoft.com/office/powerpoint/.
You can download a free version of Powerpoint Viewer from Microsoft by clicking here.
Any Powerpoint files on this site have also been 'Zipped' - see below for details of how to download Winzip.
Winzip
Winzip allows files to be compressed so that they can be transferred across the WWW in smaller file sizes than their native format allows. Winzip is free to download and more information can be found by http://www.winzip.com
Look out for the icon below if you require information in this format.
If you are unable to find the information you need or in the format you require, please contact the DAC -
Email - DAC@royalmail.com
