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Web Standards & Web Browsers
WikipediaA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content. Hyperlinks present in resources enable users to easily navigate their browsers to related resources.
Adlington Hall have redesigned their web site. In an effort to provide a better experience for our web visitors and make our content more accessible to visitors using assistive technology, we have upgraded our site to meet W3C web standards.
What are web standards?
Web standards are set by the World Wide Web Consortium. Using these standards avoids proprietary code that may only be supported in a particular browser making the web more accessible to everyone regardless of the device they are using.
What do I need to do?
The developers of the browsers listed have committed to supporting web standards. If you are using an old, or non-compliant browser, consider upgrading to a standards-compliant browser. If you're using a standard-compliant browser already, you also may consider upgrading to the latest version. Upgrading your browser is free. Doing so will improve your web experience and make great strides in enhancing your computers' security.
Do I have to upgrade?
No, that's one advantage of using web standards. A web site built using web standards may not look as the web designer intended in older browsers that do not support these standards, but it should still be usable.
What if I use AOL?
If you experience problems using the AOL browser, just minimize your AOL window and use one of the browsers listed.
PDF Documents
WikipediaPortable Document Format (PDF) is a file format created by Adobe Systems in 1993 for document exchange. PDF is used for representing two-dimensional documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system.
The majority of computers have an application already installed that is capable of opening & displaying pdf (
) documents. However, if you do not have such a program, one can be downloaded for free from either:
Atom (RSS) feeds
WikipediaRSS (most commonly translated as "Really Simple Syndication" but sometimes "Rich Site Summary") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works - such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video - in a standardized format. An RSS document (which is called a "feed", "web feed", or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader", or "aggregator", which can be web-based, desktop-based, or mobile-device-based. A standardized XML file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs. The user subscribes to a feed by entering into the reader the feed's URI - often referred to informally as a "URL" (uniform resource locator), although technically the two terms are not exactly synonymous - or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds.
Why RSS? Benefits and Reasons for using RSS
RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site's email newsletter.
How do I start using feeds?
In general, the first thing you need is something called a news reader. This is a piece of software that checks the feeds and lets you read any new articles that have been added. There are many different versions, some of which are accessed using a browser, and some of which are downloadable applications.
Browser-based news readers let you catch up with your RSS feed subscriptions from any computer, whereas downloadable applications let you store them on your main computer, in the same way that you either download your e-mail using Outlook, or keep it on a web-based service like Google.
If you click on the RSS button you can subscribe to the feed in various ways, including by dragging the URL of the feed into your news reader or by cutting and pasting the same URL into a new feed in your news reader. Most sites that offer feeds use a similar orange button, but some may just have a normal web link.
Some browsers, including Firefox, Opera and Safari, automatically check for feeds for you when you visit a website, and display an icon when they find one. This can make subscribing to feeds much easier. For more details on these, please check their websites.
How do I get a news reader?
There is a range of different news readers available and new versions are appearing all the time. Different news readers work on different operating systems, so you will need to choose one that will work with your computer. Try searching google for Feed reader, news reader or feed aggregator, for example. Or visit the home pages of the browsers listed above & consider changing or upgrading your preferred browser.
