Website Accessibility

TOPICS:
Section 508 | LMS Course Access/Browser Compatibility | Viewing | Cookies | Java | Frames | Printing | Pop-Ups | CSS | SSI | Links | Sound

IMPORTANT TO KNOW — ALL USERS
Most internet web browsers are pre-configured in such a way, as to provide all the necessary components and configurations/settings to make your experience on this website, and with our course-ware simple and easy, without any need for modification. However, each individual user has direct control over the security settings and installed browser plugins and components, and for various other settings, over which we have no control.

This website has been designed and thoroughly tested to conform with industry standard browser configurations. If there are any features or functions of the website or of course-ware content, which cause errors or simply do not function, it is up to the user to check the following information, and to insure that their browser is properly configured, and up-to-date with the required components and settings. Meditec does not provide technical support for Microsoft Windows, nor for any of the various web browsers currently available for the Windows platform, nor for any other software, such as firewalls or other security devices, pop-up blockers, antivirus programs, etc., which may be installed on the user’s computer and/or which may effect the user’s ability to properly access all of the features of this website.

The purpose of this web page, is to provide visitors with an overview of the general accessibility issues and features of this website. If you are having problems accessing content on this website, please review ALL of the information on this page before filing a report with the webmaster. If you need assistance configuring your computer system or any of the web browser or other security settings, you will need to contact your local ISP (Internet Service Provider) and or your local computer support group or service agent. 99% of all website accessibility issues can be traced to the LOCAL PC, and must be addressed by the end user

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508 – Section 508 Accessibility
Although this website is not required by law to comply with Federal (Section 508) accessibility guidelines, Meditec has made significant efforts to insure that this website meets nominal 508 accessibility standards. For example, although this site uses CSS, it has been implemented such that the user retains the ability to OVERRIDE it. Every effort has been made to ALLOW users to configure their own browser to suit individual preferences, while at the same time allowing the website to function nominally for most features. Users need to be aware however, that the overriding of certain default website settings with LOCAL browser settings, may impact your ability to access some of the material.

This website does not provide TEXT ONLY versions of the HTML pages, nor text versions of the AUDIO content, but nominal testing with TEXT ONLY browsers and screen readers has been done, to insure to the greatest extent possible, that all text can be interpreted from the HTML code. The use of static images has been strictly limited, and those images which are relevant to the understanding of the content have been appropriately tagged with either ALT or TITLE attributes, and/or appropriately captioned.

If you are visually disabled or hearing impaired, and you need further assistance with any information on this website, please contact our toll-free number during normal business hours, and one of our staff will be more than happy to assist you. Call: 866-991-3921 — NOTE: Our office does not have a TTY device, so all telephone conversations must be by standard voice/audio device.

NOTE:Transcription (and by reference, our Transcription Training Courses) is an audio-dependent skill. One must be able to hear recorded audio content in order to transcribe the spoken words into text. Other skills training, such as Medical Coding and Medical Billing are not audio-dependent.

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LMS Course Access/Browser Compatibility

While the meditec.com website has been designed to be compatible with most browsers, some of the interactive aspects of the site, such as the online courses may still require specific manufacturer’s products and/or specific browser versions in order to function as intended.

Meditec has been tested on a wide range of browsers and operating systems and the main website works best with Internet Explorer 7 browser or newer versions. There is no support for Internet Explorer 6 or lower. For other operating systems or browsers, we recommend Firefox browser as an alternate. The Apple Safari browser, whether used with the Apple Mac/OS or with MS-Windows versions, is not supported. For Apple/Safari users, we recommend Firefox.

If you are not using the recommended browsers, you may still be able to access the site and it’s pages, but they may not display as designed or certain applications or features may not function as intended or expected.

As newer versions of browsers tend to provide better security and features, we recommend that you upgrade your browser(s) as far as your personal computer or network administrator allows.

Here are a few browser upgrade sites:

Firefox browser
Internet Explorer Browser

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Viewing Instructions:
The Meditec website is best viewed at a screen resolution of 800 x 600 pixels or higher. At a lower resolution (such as 640×480 pixels) you will not be able to view the full width of the page without using the scroll bar (left to right). To insure that you are able to view this site as it is designed, you should set your display to a minimum resolution (800 x 600). In Windows95 (or higher) use the following procedure:

• Click on the Start Button and select the Settings option, then click on Control Panel.
• Open Display by double clicking on the icon.
• Click on the Settings tab near the top of the window.
• Move the slider in the Desktop Area to 800 x 600. For most systems, your configuration options will list ALL of the available resolutions that your monitor/video card are able to support.

For those with 14-15″ monitors, we recommend 800×600. If you have a monitor larger than 15″ you may want to go even higher — to whatever resolution is most comfortable. Generally speaking, the higher the resolution, the more you will be able to see on the screen at one time.

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Digital Sound Playback:
Digital Recordings – Your ability to transcribe digitally recorded dictations, is dependent upon a couple of factors, but chief among these, is whether or not your computer has a digital sound card device (aka. a “SoundBlaster Compatible” sound card) installed. If your computer was purchased within the past 10 years, it is likely that you DO have this feature, but for more specific information on this topic, please refer to our Digital Transcription Help Page…

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Internet Cookies:
The Meditec website makes use of a number of JavaScript routines, and requires the use of both Session and Persistent Cookies. Users to this website are advised to “ENABLE JAVASCRIPT” and to “ACCEPT COOKIES”. NOTE: With respect to cookies, users may choose to accept ONLY those cookies coming from the current (THIS) web site, and to reject or block cookies from third party sites.

What are Cookies?
It is important to understand what Cookies are, and what they are not. First, cookies are not programs, and they cannot run like programs on your computer. Therefore, they cannot gather any information on their own. Nor can they collect any personal information about you from your machine. A cookies is a piece of text that a Web server can store on a user’s hard disk, or in temporary memory. There are two types (Persistent and Session) and both types of cookies have expiration dates. Persistent cookies are stored on your hard drive for future reference and typically have expiration dates well in the future, whereas Session cookies are typically stored in temporary memory and expire when the user closes his/her browser and/or leaves the website which set the original session cookies.

What cookies do, is to allow a web site to store information on a user’s machine and later retrieve it. The pieces of information are stored as name-value pairs, and the information stored is typically in the form of a unique ID number or some other similar value which allows the website to recoginze the user’s computer. NOTE: this does NOT mean that it recognize the INDIVIDUAL USER, or that it would store personal information — it simply means that it generally assigns a random number to be used by only one computer and can therefore recognize that computer. A persistent cookie could be used to store a username or login ID and to then associate that with a unique ID number, such that the “registered” user could only access the specific material from a given system, but typically, the information stored is not personally identifiable.

EXAMPLES: Meditec uses Persistent cookies within the online training courses, to keep track of which Section/Chapter the student is in, so that when the user leaves and returns, the web server can restart the lessons where the student last left off. Without this persistent cookie, the user would be forced to start at the beginning of the course each time, and manually navigate to (and remember) where they were before.

Meditec also uses Session cookies (those which expire after the current session), for pages such as the online order forms, so that the progress of the order can be monitored, and which allows the user to go in and out of the shopping cart without loosing the information he/she has already entered. | MORE… |

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JAVA — What is Java?
Java is a programming language originally developed by Sun Microsystems. Java allows programmers to create two types of executable programs which your web browser and computer will “run”. The two types are JavaScript and JavaApplet. From the users standpoint, the difference between the Script and Applet is below the surface (i.e., the user cannot tell the difference when the program is running).

What Java does, is to allow more feature-rich content and function within a web site. Web pages (which are typically written in plain text HTML) are not able to provide a great deal of function, so Java is typically used to supplement the HTML capabilities.

EXAMPLES: Meditec uses Java to provide menu functions throughout the website. Typically, the Meditec website will function (i.e., the web pages will load) if the user blocks Java, but the user may loose features, like the ability to access the drop-down menus. For this reason, we suggest that users always enable Java.

If your browser or firewall configurations allow, you may be able to selectively enable (accept) Java for specific websites, while blocking or rejecting others, and/or you can have your browser notify you before accepting. | MORE… |

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FRAMES – What are Frames?
Frames refers to “HTML Frames” in this instance. Although somewhat similar to Java in that they allow some additional functionality, it is important to understand that HTML FRAMES are not “programs”. HTML FRAMES can provide more efficient navigational benefits to be added to some HTML pages, by breaking up redundant and non-redundant content into multiple parts (multiple pages). As with Java, the user is typically unaware that frames are being used, unless the user has disabled them and/or has setup a notification in his/her browser. Web pages using FRAMES typically “look and feel” like any other web page, but in fact, what may appear to be one seamless page, will be “composed” of several different individual pages. FRAME-BASED pages are also somewhat slower to load, because the browser must download/import multiple documents before rendering the overall “view”. For this reason, Meditec only uses FRAMES where their function is absolutely necessary, and there are other instances where SSI has been used instead of FRAMES to achieve similar efficiency.

NOTE: Meditec does not use “IFRAMES”. Similar to HTML FRAMES in that multiple web pages are used (combined) to “build” a single page view, IFRAMES utilize JavaScripts or other application scripts to build these page segments. Again, Meditec does NOT use IFRAMES, so if you are blocking the use of IFRAMES, this should not cause a problem, unless your IFRAMES restrictions are applied generically to ALL FRAMES — i.e., blocking both HTML based and IFRAMES. In the latter case, please make an exception in your rules for the Meditec website.

EXAMPLES: Meditec uses HTML Frames within the Free Trial Transcription Tests and within the online training courses, to control the menu/navigational functions. In order to use these sections of the website, you must have a web browser which supports HTML Frames and/or you must enable this feature within your browser.

NOTE: Please also refer to: SSI – Server Side Includes

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Printing Instructions:
As indicated earlier, the Meditec website is designed for optimal viewing at 800×600 resolution. While this resolution provides optimal viewing, it does not necessarily lend itself well for printing on standard 8.5×11″ paper. Typically, if the user chooses to print pages from this website, the right-hand margin will be cropped by anywhere from 5-10 characters. This is not a fault of the website, nor of the user’s printer or system per se, it is simply due to the fact that the web pages are wider than a standard sheet of paper.

If you have purchased/enrolled in an ONLINE ONLY version of a course (e.g., you have not purchased the printed volumes of the course materials), please be aware that Meditec does not guarantee the ability to print reference materials from the web-based course content. If you need off-line access to the materials and/or would like to retain a printed copy of the course materials for future reference, please contact your enrollment coordinator or go to the online order forms for details on purchasing the printed volumes separately.

If you choose to print pages from this website, some cropping of the right-margin will occur, but there are some modifications that can be made to local page layout and printer settings, which may reduce the amount of cropping that occurs. The information below will help you configure your system to minimize the cropping of the right margin.

To setup your printing preferences (margins):

NOTE: Depending upon which printer/s you own (or which is set as your default printer), your browser may reset these values to a higher number automatically. In other words, it may not allow you to set the margins as low as 0.25″. If this happens, it simply means that your printer is not capable of using the minimum value you set. For example, some older laser printers cannot print to a “gutter width” of less than 0.28. In this event, you will simply need to accept the lowest possible setting the browser will allow, but be aware that if the value is higher than 0.25″, some clipping of the right margin may occur. There is nothing we can do (beyond the above recommendations) to address this issue.

NOTE: In addition to the web browser’s page settings, it may also be possible (depending upon your printer) to change or modify the printer settings. Some printers will allow you to “scale” pages or may allow you to reduce the left-right margins below the amount that was possible within the browser. Each printer/configuration is unique to the individual’s own computer/printer, so we cannot provide specific instructions here. You will simply need to discover and modify those settings which are applicable to your local system, but again, be aware that some level of cropping on the right margin is probably unavoidable.

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Pop-Ups
Although considered by many to be one of THE most annoying elements on the Internet today, Pop-Up windows are not all bad. Originally designed to enhance information presentation within a website, they quickly became an advertiser’s dream, and a user’s nightmare. Please be aware however, that Meditec does not approve of the use of Pop-Ups for advertising third-party products, and does not use Pop-Ups for that purpose on this website.

Meditec utilizes Pop-Ups for a number of content enhancing functions, and therefore, visitors to this website are advised to ENABLE Pop-Ups for this website. Pop-Up blockers are very common today, but they can generally be configured to Accept/Exclude content by individual site, so if you generally block all Pop-Ups, we advise you to make an exception for Meditec

EXAMPLES: Meditec uses Pop-Up windows to provide supplemental information and reference details on specific topics, and also to provide warnings and/or notices to the user. Meditec also uses Pop-Up windows to feature discounts or special offers that may be available for certain products, such as “Holiday Specials,” and to provide secondary details on topics within the site. In all instances, Meditec provides Pop-Up windows that offer FULL NAVIGATION capability and/or which provide the user with a CLOSE button, and these windows will NEVER be used to “spawn” additional advertising windows. | MORE… |

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CSS – Cascading Style Sheet
The Meditec website utilizes both in-line and external CSS to provide consistency throughout all web pages for fonts, backgrounds, hyperlinks, and the associated attributes related to these elements.

Advanced users have the ability to create their own LOCAL CSS files to establish their own individual preferences for font sizes and colors, etc. and/or may have used the standard browser VIEW settings to increase or decrease font sizes. These externally controlled elements can impact your ability to view this website as it was designed and intended, so we recommend that users ACCEPT the CSS settings of the website, as opposed to overriding the default CSS with a LOCAL setting, and/or that the user’s browser “VIEW | Text Size” be set to “MEDIUM”.

EXAMPLE: Meditec uses CSS (in part) to control the drop-down menus at the top of most pages, as well as to set the overall font face, color, and mouse-over features within the main navigation pane, and to set the standard fonts, colors, and hypertext link attributes within the body of all pages.

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SSI – Server Side Includes
Similar to the way FRAMES are being used — with respect to helping us reduce redundancy in certain content — SSI is a technology which relies on the Web Server, rather than on the user’s local PC to ‘”build the page view”. With FRAMES, the user’s browser must download and interpret multiple HTML pages in order to build a view, where as with SSI, the browser only requests a single HTML file, and the server “inserts” those “pieces” of information that are redundant, from separate TEXT files. The primary benefit to SSI over FRAMES in this scenario, is that the pages typically load much faster, because there is far less overhead in the text file (SSI include) than there is in the HTML pages used to build the FRAMES, and there is far less maintenance involved with SSI as compared with FRAMES for the overall website.

Meditec utilizes SSI for a number of repeating or redundant content elements within the website. Typically, most users do not need to worry about special rules or restrictions for SSI-based content, but the information about its use is being provided here, so that in the event there are any questions, users are aware that SSI is being used.

EXAMPLES: Meditec uses SSI to build the main navigation menu which you see on the left-hand side of this page, and to build the text portion of the drop-down menu that you see at the top of this page. SSI is also used to insert the “Today’s Date” and “Page Last Revised Date” that you see immediately below, and to insert both the main banner graphic and the lower navigation footer.

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External Links to Browser Components & Other Basic Requirements:
To get the most from this website and to insure that all features within the course-ware are available, you must have your browser up-to-date, and you should have the latest versions of the Adobe Flash and Shockwave Players, as well as Sun’s Java. The following websites provide the latest updates for these required browser components.

Necessary Browser “Plugin” Components:

It is also vital that your browser be properly configured:

We hope that this information has been helpful in addressing any accessibility issues you may have with regard to this website. Thank you again for taking the time to review this information and for visiting this website. We look forward to serving you.

• On the browser menu, click File, then Page Setup.
• Change the settings for left and right margins to something between 0″ and 0.25″.

  www.meditec.com
  www.proedge2000.com

  1. COOKIES: You should accept “First Party & Session Cookies“. If necessary, you may need to create “exceptions” within your browser security configuration for each of the following domains, so that you may continue to block cookies on other websites, but still allow them for our main site and course-ware servers:
  2. Pop-Up Windows: You must allow Pop-ups (pop-up windows) in order for certain features within our on-line courses to operate properly. As with Cookies, you may need to create “exceptions” within your browser or pop-up blocking software to allow pop-ups for our main site and course-ware servers. Just use the same {above} list of domains for these exceptions.
  3. Windows Updates/Patches: WE CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH the importance of keeping your Microsoft Windows Operating System and your IE Web Browser up-to-date with ALL security patches and service packs. If you cannot remember the last time you ran a Windows update, or it has been more than 30 days since you last ran an update, it has been too long! To insure that your operating system and your IE web browser are in tip-top shape and running with the latest updates — go here: https://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
  • Select OK.
  • Exit Page Setup and print from the browser print icon or from the File menu.
  • Change the settings and/or properties on your printer device.
  • For Adobe FlashPlayer & Shockwave — go here:
    
    https://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/alternates/
  • For Sun Java — go here:
    https://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp