Website Accessibility

PDF Documents | Document Accessibility | General Accessbility and Section 508

PDF Documents:

Most of the documents on our web server are in HTML format. We also have a number of documents as Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) files. PDF files on our website will be marked as such.

The PDF file format allows us to save official documents, announcements, maps and brochures into one common format that is downloadable by anyone. This format can be viewed within your browser, or for best results, printed out on your home printer. Any printout that you make using our PDF files will look exactly like our originals! It's like we mailed you the documents directly, except that you didn't have to wait for our delays and the mail! You can save the PDF file to your computer for later viewing, and you can print as many copies as you want.

PDF does have one requirement: viewer/plug-in software. This software allows your browser to be able to "understand" PDF; without it your browser wouldn't know PDF from Smokey the Bear!

The viewer/plug-in software is FREE, and may even be on your computer already! Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 will run on even older Windows machines, while the most recent versions offer full flexibility and power on modern computers along with enhanced accessibility to assistive technology. Download the Acrobat Reader software now .

Document Accessibility:

Most of the documents on our web server are in HTML format. This format is generally accessible to persons using assistive technology devices, such as screen reading software. We also have a number of documents as Adobe Acrobat PDF (Portable Document Format) files. Persons using screen reading devices generally cannot directly read documents in PDF format that were prepared in pre- Acrobat 5.0 software.

Adobe Systems, Inc. provides an online conversion service through their Access web page which will translate PDF files to web pages (HTML documents) or ASCII text.You may download software, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader and the Make Accessible plug-in, from the Adobe web site.

General Accessibility and Section 508:

USDA Forest Service is committed to making its web sites accessible to all USDA customers and employees. All of the agency web sites are undergoing review and redesign as necessary to ensure that they meet or exceed the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Many of our web sites currently meet the Section 508 accessibility standards. Furthermore, USDA Forest Service continues to work on making all web sites accessible. Thank you very much for your patience through this redesign process. If you have any comments or suggestions for improvement, please contact the manager of this page.

All people are welcome to use the National Forests.