The Suffolk Coastal website offers you the facility to view
or download a wide range of documents including information
leaflets, presentations, plans and policies. In most cases these
documents are offered in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). In
some instances they are available in Microsoft Word format.
Software requirements
You need the Adobe Reader software to open PDF files. If you do
not have the software installed on your computer, you can
download Adobe Reader free of charge (new
window) from the Adobe website .
If you want to view Microsoft Word files you need
to have a compatible word processer installed on your computer
otherwise you will not be able to open the file. You can
download a free Word viewer (new
window) that will enable you to open and print
Word documents if you do not have Word installed on your
computer.
Opening and saving documents
If you want to view a document straight away just select the
link to the document you want to view and it will open in a
new browser window. We tell you the document file format
(PDF, Word, etc) and file size in the link text.
Once a document is open you will have to save it (in
the usual way you save files) to your computer if you want
to look at it again when you are not connected to the
Internet. Close the browser window when you have finished and the
webpage you last looked at will still be displayed.
If you do not want to open a document
immediately but would rather download it straight to
your computer then the follow the instructions below.
This method is also recommended for viewing larger
files.
Internet Explorer: Right-click with your
mouse on the link to the document you want to download and
choose 'Save Target As...' from the on-screen menu, then save the
file to a folder on your computer where you will be
able to find it again later.
Netscape: Right-click with your mouse on the
link to the document you want to download and choose 'Save
Link As...' from the on-screen menu, then save the file to a
folder on your computer where you will be able
to find it again later.
Firefox: Right-click with your mouse on the
link to the document you want to download and choose 'Save
Link As...' from the on-screen menu, then save the file to a
folder on your computer where you will be able
to find it again later.
Opera: Right-click with your mouse on the link
to the document you want to download and choose
'Save Target As...' from the on-screen menu, then save the
file to a folder on your computer where you will be
able to find it again later.
Mac users: Follow the instructions given above
but use Control-click in place of the right mouse click.
Searching and navigating PDF files
The Adobe Reader software has a built in search facility which
will help you find what you are looking for in the text of a PDF
document. This is particularly useful for searching the text of
large documents. To use the search, press Control + f, or simply
enter your search term in the search box on the top menu bar of the
Adobe Reader window.
You may come across PDF files that have been created with
bookmarks. These are navigation links added to large PDF documents
that enable you to jump straight to a section that interests you.
If present, bookmarks appear in a panel on the left hand side of
the Acrobat window.
PDF files and accessibility
We create PDF files to make documents, spreadsheets,
presentations, etc, available via the web in a format that produces
small file sizes and is accessible to a wide range of people using
the free Adobe Reader software. We also publish a number of PDF
documents produced by other organisations. Consequently, we have a
large number of PDF documents on our website.
We believe PDF is a very valuable tool for making all kinds of
documents available via the web but we are aware of the
accessibility issues to do with PDF documents. As part of our
editorial process we review all documents that are to be published
on the website and decide on the best way of presenting the
information. In some cases we will create web pages as well as
publishing a PDF file to make sure the information contained in the
document is as accessible as possible.
In other cases we might produce a summary of the content of a
PDF document on a webpage or, at the very least, we will try and
indicate the content or purpose of a PDF document in a line or two
of explanation with the link text. When we create PDF documents
ourselves we always try to create 'tagged' files, which work better
with assistive technology.
The latest version of Adobe Reader contains many features
specifically designed to make it easier for people with
disabilities to read PDF files, regardless of whether the files
have been optimised for accessibility. Follow this link to find out
more about
Adobe Reader and accessibility (new window) and
accessing PDF documents with assistive
technology.