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Help

• Browser Requirements
• Display Resolution
• PDF Documents
• Scalable Vector Graphics
• Audio and Video
• Flash
• PowerPoint Presentations
• Printing

Browser Requirements

This web site is compatible with Netscape Navigator (version 7 or higher) or Microsoft Internet Explorer (version 6 or higher), although it is best viewed with Internet Explorer. Earlier versions will work for most of the site but may cause occasional problems with their appearance. To download the latest version of Internet Explorer, visit the Microsoft web site.

In addition, the following plug-ins may be required for viewing certain multimedia or document files on the site:

• Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 4 or higher)
• Adobe SVG Viewer (version 3 or higher)
• Apple QuickTime (version 3 or higher)
• Windows Media Player

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Display Resolution

The vast majority of the pages on this site are designed to be viewable without horizontal scrolling when using a 640 x 480 screen resolution. Occasionally, you may come across a data table or some other content where this has been impossible to assure. When this occurs, you can eliminate the need for horizontal scrolling by changing your screen resolution to 800 x 600.

PDF Documents

Many NAEP reports and documents are made available on this web site in Portable Document Format (PDF). PDF is used because this format maintains the original look and feel of large documents, and allows us to place more publications on the web in a quick and efficient manner. Further, PDF products are independent of platforms, applications, and distribution media.

Viewing PDF files requires Acrobat Reader, either as standalone software or as a browser plug-in. Free versions of Acrobat Reader exist for all major computer platforms, including Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT, Macintosh, Sun, UNIX and several other operating systems. Please follow the instructions on the Adobe Acrobat download page to install Acrobat Reader.

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Scalable Vector Graphics

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is a W3C recommendation (web standard) for a graphics file format and web development language based on XML. Through the use of SVG, NAEP is able to offer dynamically generated, high-quality, scalable, interactive graphics from real-time data. Although many SVG viewers are available, NAEP recommends the Adobe SVG Viewer 3.0 (or above) as a stable, well-supported viewer. Visit Adobe's SVG Zone for more information and to download a free viewer.

You can easily cut and paste any of the SVG images into software packages such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Excel. To do this, right click on the SVG image and select "Copy SVG." Then go to your desired application and select "Edit/Paste Special" and select "Bitmap" or "Device Independent Bitmap."

The NAEP Data Tool tutorial includes information on how to best use SVG graphics in your day-to-day work.

For more information on the SVG standard, or to get a list of available viewers, visit the W3C's official overview of the Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format. To edit SVG images (for instance, to change the size or get better resolution), you can use a program that recognizes the SVG format. For a listing of SVG-compatible software, see http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/SVG-Implementations.

Webmaster's note: As of September 29, 2004, Adobe has identified several known problems with Netscape browsers which may prevent the SVG viewer from properly rendering the image. There are no known work-arounds at this time. Therefore, if you would like to view SVG graphics, we recommend the latest version of Internet Explorer (see above).

Audio and Video

Many pages on this web site feature audio and video. While video requires the use of QuickTime Player version 3 or later, audio can be played using both the QuickTime Player or Windows Media Player.

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Flash

NAEP also presents certain material in the form of Flash animations. In order to view these animations, you will need to install the Macromedia Flash Player, version 5 or higher. Refer to Macromedia's Flash support center for assistance in working with the Flash Player.

PowerPoint Presentations

Finally, some material may be presented in PowerPoint format. Visit the Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer site to download and install the PowerPoint Viewer 97 for Windows 95, 98, and 2000.

Printing

If you're trying to print a page with color or shading behind the text, and the colors aren't showing on the printed page, check your browser settings to ensure that background colors are enabled during printing.

• Internet Explorer:
• 1. From the "Tools" menu, select "Internet Options".
• 2. On the "Advanced" tab, under "Printing", make sure you check "Print background colors and images".
• Netscape 7:
• 1. From the "Edit" menu, select "Preferences".
• 2. Expand "Appearance" and select "Colors".
• 3. Make sure "Always use the colors and background specified by the web page" is selected.

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Last updated 29 September 2004 (CC)