Wherever possible, Noridian will post information on this site in open-standard, accessible formats (e.g., HTML). However, there are some areas of the website where specialized media must be used and plug-ins or special viewers may be needed to access the content. Below is a list of file types that are used on the website as well as further information on getting the plug-ins.

Note on viewing and downloading files: Depending on the configuration of your computer, files of the types listed below may:

• Open inside of your web browser,
• Open in a new program window, or
• Ask you where to save the file. If you would like to download a copy of the file to your computer, right-click (on Windows) or command-click (on Macintosh) and choose "Save Target As…" (IE) or "Save Link As…" (Firefox / Mozilla). This will allow you to save a copy of the file to your computer rather than having the file open inside your web browser.

Note: All links on this page link to external websites.

CSV (Comma Separated Values)

CSV is a data format in which each piece of data is separated by a comma. This is a popular format for transferring data from one application to another, because most database and spreadsheet systems are able to import and export comma-delimited data. CSV files can be opened by the majority of spreadsheet and database programs available.

Flash

Flash is an application that offers animation, video, and high quality graphics in a small file size. It is available from Adobe for most common web browsers.

• Adobe Flash  | Support 

Microsoft Excel

Excel is a popular spreadsheet application. Occasionally, tabular data sets will be made available in Excel format. Additionally, most other office suites (e.g., StarOffice, Lotus, WordPerfect) can read Excel files.

• Microsoft Excel Viewer 
• OpenOffice.org  | Support 

Microsoft Word

Word is a popular word processing application. The viewer is available for Windows and MacOS platforms. Additionally, most other office suites (e.g., StarOffice, Lotus, WordPerfect) can read Word files.

• Microsoft Word Viewer
• OpenOffice.org  | Support 

PDF (Portable Document Format) [PDF]

PDF files are used to retain the formatting of printed documents and for interactive forms. To view PDF files, you will need Adobe Reader.

• Adobe Reader | Support 

ZIP / Self-Extracting ZIP

ZIP files are used to simplify the download process by wrapping a number of separate files into a single "wrapper" and compressing the original files by a significant amount. ZIP and UNZIP software is available from a variety of vendors. Freeware packages available include StuffIt Expander from Allume Systems and Unzip. Linux and other UNIX systems include ZIP and UNZIP software in the base installation.

• Stuffit Expander