City of Gainesville Website Frequently Asked Questions

Construction & Compatibility

What is the City of Gainesville doing to ensure that access to this site is equal and not discriminatory in any way?
The City's website is constructed in such a manner as to employ the latest web development techniques to provide the most secure, reliable, and backwards-compatible resources possible. Although we cannot ensure that the site will function as intended on an infinite number of PC hardware/software/operating system/browser configurations, we have utilized web standards and specifications approved by governing bodies and embraced by most browser vendors. Additionally, we have tested the site thoroughly on a wide range of possible configurations and believe that we have achieved a truly platform-independent resource for all citizens.
The City of Gainesville is committed to providing the very best user experience possible. If you have suggestions on how we might better achieve our goals, please let us know by providing feedback.

What are the standards used to construct this site, and how will this information affect me?
This information is of relevance to anyone wishing to access this site because there may be information presented in a format that is unfamiliar or incompatible with your computer's web browser software or operating system. Without an understanding of what you're attempting to see, we can't diagnose a potential problem or offer useful solutions.
The vast majority of our visitors will not experience any difficulty accessing any parts of this site. The site framework is primarily XHTML 1.0 and/or HTML 4.01 documents, with some graphical elements (GIF, JPEG), script-based technologies (JavaScript, DHTML), level two cascading stylesheets (CSS-2), Macromedia Flash (SWF) content, and Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. Each type of data requires certain software in order to interpret and display it correctly. More information on the various types of required software follows.
To ensure the best possible cross-browser and cross-platform reliability, all pages on the City of Gainesville's site are validated according to World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) specifications for the XHTML 1.0, HTML 4.01, and CSS-2 languages. For more information, visit these links:

What computer hardware or equipment do I need to successfully view content on this site?
The sophistication of the computer that you are using to view the City's website is less important than the software (see below for web browser details) itself. Therefore, if you are able to run a browser of modern design, your computer's hardware should not matter in the least. Every effort has been made to ensure that the City's website is functional across different platforms, operating systems, hardware, software, and speeds.

What software do I need to successfully view content on this site?
The most essential element is a program that interprets and displays web pages, called a web browser. Examples of web browers include Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Opera, Konqueror, and Mosaic. For maximum compatibility with this site we recommend that you acquire and use the most current version of your Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. Web browser software is available free from the Internet, and is generally available for most operating systems and computer hardware configurations. Please contact browser vendors for more information on individual system requirements.
Other essential web tools include the latest versions of the Macromedia Shockwave/Flash Player and Adobe Acrobat Reader. These adjunct programs allow you to correctly interpret Flash content and Portable Document Format (PDF) files, respectively.

What are the current versions of these programs?
Most web software evolves on a continuing basis. At the present, the most current versions are the following: Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Macromedia Flash Player, and Adobe Acrobat Reader. Versions may vary across platforms (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, O/S2, Palm, etc.) and across different languages. Contact the software vendors for more information.

Why does this site make use of Flash-based content?
Macromedia Flash is a de-facto standard for presentation of many rich media types found on the web. Our selection of Flash as a presentation tool offers significant advantages to our web audience, including lower file sizes vs. rasterized graphics, faster download times (especially for dialup Internet users), stability of design across different browsers and platforms, full scalability, and full support for WYSIWYG printing.

Why does this site make extensive use of JavaScript, DHTML, and other novel script-based technologies?
Each of these elements has a place in a well-designed site, and each element performs specific tasks that enhance the flexibility and usability of our site. Without these tools, it would be virtually impossible to present the same content and structure without sacrificing compatibility for our audience. We recommend that you acquire and use a current web browser with support for each of these technologies, and that you keep these features enabled for maximum usability.

Why does this site make extensive use of cascading stylesheets (CSS)?
Like Flash, CSS is a web standard that allows developers to build more efficient, more compatible, and more enjoyable sites. We recommend that you acquire and use a current web browser with support for CSS, and that you keep CSS support enabled for maximum usability.

Privacy and Security

Does this site use cookies or any other technology that might allow someone to track my usage or surfing habits?
Cookie Disclaimer
Some interactive or dynamic applications on the City Of Gainesville web site use session cookies (tokens that remain active only until a browser session is closed). These applications will not work as expected by the user without such cookies. No cookie information is collected nor stored by City Of Gainesville Government.
Traffic to this site is logged for statistical purposes so that we may better understand where visitors are going on our site and so that we might better predict trends in usage, but none of these measures puts your identity or surfing habits at risk. These analyses simply assist us in providing the best service possible.
Browsers can be set to reject cookies and still have access to all of the City Of Gainesville web pages, with the exception of those few interactive or dynamic applications that require cookies for proper operation. Refer to the Help information in your particular browser software for instructions on how to enable or disable cookies.

Are online transactions encrypted in order to protect my credit card number, social security number, or other sensitive personal data?
All transactions dealing with personal/private data is encrypted at the industry norm 128-bit SSL level. However, the City of Gainesville presently does not conduct e-commerce applications (or any other operations dealing with the transfer of funds) online.

Troubleshooting

This site doesn't function correctly in my browser. The primary symptom is...

...I'm using AOL, and your page doesn't look or act right. Why doesn't your site support AOL users?
This notice is excerpted from the AOL Webmaster Information site (http://webmaster.info.aol.com):

Beginning with Windows AOL 3.0 (32-bit), the AOL client does not have a browser embedded, but instead uses the Internet Explorer browser the user already has installed within their system. On the Mac and 16-bit Windows clients, the AOL client contains various versions of Internet Explorer embedded directly within the client, and independent of the version of Internet Explorer installed outside AOL in the system. Therefore, browser compatibility is mostly independent of any specific AOL version. There are various incompatibilities which may arise in the way the specific AOL clients interact with the Browser which can result in unexpected behaviors of the browser itself. This includes but is not limited to ... HTML and Javascript functions.

In short, even if you're an AOL user, you must still be cognizant of your web browser's properties. It may be necessary to perform a browser upgrade independent of your AOL installation.

...I keep getting a notice that looks like this:

webstandards.org

...your pages look jumbled and/or visually inconsistent.
Even if your browser supports CSS, some browsers on some platforms have known incompatabilities that translate to only partial support for CSS. Download the latest version of your preferred web browser software to ensure that you have adequate compatibility. For maximum compatibility with this site we recommend that you acquire and use the most current version of your Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. If problems persist, e-mail the Webmaster

...your pages and/or elements of those pages (graphics, etc.) take a long time to load.
All of the content on this site is optimized for quick and efficient transmission, even over a dialup connection. Further, if you've been to this site before, some of the content may be cached, or stored locally on your computer, which allows the reuse of previously viewed components. Despite our best efforts, no site design can overcome a serious hardware-based bottleneck. If your computer and/or your modem is more than a few years old, you will likely experience delays when browsing this (or any other) site. If you believe that you've encountered a related issue that needs investigation, you may e-mail the Webmaster

...I get a notice that asks me whether I want to install new software when I visit your site.
You do not have the Macromedia Flash Player installed on your PC. Installing the current version is simple, fast, and free. Visit Macromedia's site for details on how to get the latest version of Flash Player.

...I clicked on a link to open a PDF document, but all I get is a blank page or window.
You have an older version of the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Upgrading to the current version assures that documents presented on this site and elsewhere will function as intended. The upgrade is available free on the Internet. Visit Adobe website for details on how to upgrade to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader and to troubleshoot all PDF files.

...there are no graphics on the page(s) that I am viewing.
There are multiple possibilities for why this could occur, including: the transmission of data may have been interrupted before the graphics on the desired page(s) could fully load; your browser is a very early version that does not correctly support a necessary feature on the desired page(s); you have clicked on the Printer icon and are viewing the desired page(s) in the printer-friendly format, which displays without images for your convenience.
First, verify that you are not in printer-friendly mode; if you are, click the "Return to Document View". If this doesn't work, check your Internet connection and try to reload the page. If you are still unsuccessful, upgrade your browser to a current version, then re-attempt. If problems persist, e-mail the Webmaster

...I'm using WebTV and many of the site's elements look strange or don't appear at all.
Although WebTV has improved support for Flash and some other technologies, it is still lacking support for other key tools. In order to reach the greatest audience, this site is designed and built primarily for the computer user, but we endeavor to keep WebTV and wireless viewers in mind as well. Basic functionality should be available across a variety of formats.