Alternative Formats and Plug-ins

Information throughout the Public Works and Government Services (PWGSC) Web site is provided in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) as the primary format. In some cases, other software formats are provided as alternatives. To open these alternate formats, you may need to download and install one or more of the following on your computer:

Portable Document Format (PDF) Format

Some of the pages available on our Web site are electronic versions of documents that were originally designed for printing. These documents may also be available for download in PDF format so that you can view and print them with virtually the same graphics, typography and layout as the original version.

Before you can open any of the PDF documents on our Web site, you will first need to install one of the free PDF reader software programs from the list below.

• Adobe Reader
• Foxit Reader
• xPDF Reader
• xPERT PDF Reader

If you choose not to use a reader, you can have the PDF file converted to HTML or American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) text by using an online conversion service such as one offered by Adobe online conversion or Google’s view as HTML feature.

Word Processing Software

• DOC – Some files are available in Microsoft Word or Rich Text formats. To view these files you will need Microsoft Word Reader.
• XLS – To read a spreadsheet in Microsoft Excel format, you will need the Microsoft Excel Viewer.
• PPT – Presentations are available in Microsoft PowerPoint format. To view these files you will need PowerPoint Presentation Viewer.
• RTF – Rich Text format. To access these files use the document conversion features available in most word processing software, or use a file viewer capable of reading RTF.

Media Players (for viewing interactive content)

• Flash
• Quicktime
• Windows Media Player

Zip files

• Why Zip files? - Zip files compress data and therefore save time and space, and make downloading software faster.
• How do I open a Zip file? - After you have installed Zip software, you can open a Zip file by double clicking it in your browser and choosing "Unzip or install from an existing Zip file" in the WinZip Wizard. If you do not have Zip software on your computer, you can download many free versions.

These Web sites are outside of the control of PWGSC and are listed solely for the convenience of our users. PWGSC does not endorse any of the software found on these sites and is unable to provide technical assistance to users who install this software on their computers.