Site Information
The Ocean Explorer Web site is designed to provide the public with information on NOAA's ocean exploration activities, especially those being undertaken as part of NOAA's new ocean exploration initiative. This initiative is a direct response to the Report of the President's Panel on Ocean Exploration (October 10, 2000). This page describes the general purposes of the site and its organization, summarizes editorial policies, and provides brief technical and navigational information.
Purpose and Principles
Accessibility
Editorial Policy
Technical Information
Downloadable Documents
The Ocean Explorer Web site is designed to be an engaging and educational Internet offering for all who wish to learn about, discover, and virtually explore the ocean realm. The site is primarily directed to the general public, educators, and students. Other important groups include the press, nongovernmental organizations, marine scientists and resource managers, marine protected area professionals, ocean exploration groups, and policymakers interested in the marine environment.
The site is organized into eight sections. The centerpiece is Explorations. Here, each expedition is documented through a series of background essays, news updates, and mission logs. NOAA is continually evolving new exploration tools. This activity will gain momentum under the ocean exploration initiative. Projects will describe specific activities directed toward technology development and field testing, as well as summaries of exploration activities. Complimenting these sections are Technology, with concise descriptions of many of the technologies used in the expeditions, and the Gallery, with collections of selected still images, audio, and video. The Library provides offerings on NOAA publications related to its ocean exploration work, specific activities of NOAA offices involved in ocean exploration, a custom catalog of NOAA's rare book collection related to ocean exploration, and a robust searchable index. NOAA's long history of ocean exploration stretching back to the early 19th century is captured in History. Rounding out the site is a detailed Calendar of events, and a brief explanation of themes and principles that will guide the site in the years ahead (About).
Every attempt has been made to make this site compliant with Section 508 of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Additionally, we have provided a link to a detailed Site Index at the bottom of every page. This index provides a direct link to every page in the site for simple text navigation.
We would appreciate knowing of any specific accessibility problems that we might have missed, or suggestions you might on how we could improve this site's access. Please email these comments and suggestions to the Ocean Explorer Webmaster.
This site is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. As a federal government site, all federal editorial policies apply, such as those on privacy, copyright, commercial promotion, etc.
Information presented on this World Wide Web site is considered public information and may be distributed freely. If you elect to use materials from this Web offering, please cite NOAA as the source, and include the appropriate URL of the page(s) from which the materials were taken. Note: Selected copyrighted images have been contributed to the site. These copyrights are mentioned in image captions. If you would like to reproduce these images, you must contact the contributing source for approval.
Materials posted on this site are reviewed by professional staff prior to publishing. Final decisions are made by the site manager and the site's editorial board.
Technical Information
Browsers
This site is designed to be completely compatible with Netscape Navigator (v4.0 and above, recommended) or Microsoft Internet Explorer (v4.0 and above, recommended); however, other browsers can also be used.
Access Time
Some pages on this site contain several images. The purposes of these images are to provide necessary visual supplements for the text (e.g., maps of exploration routes) and enhance the visual appeal of the page. All images have been provided with captions that allow those readers who do not load images immediately to select specific images for viewing. Pages have been developed to load text first. Some larger images are provided on the page in reduced form. The caption provides access to a larger image in a separate page.
Organization of Pages and Exhibits
Pages are organized in a simple linear manner for easy reading and printing. Supplemental material or exhibits (tables, figures, and supplementary text) are numbered throughout the page.
Links 
Some links are provided to other Web sites as reference or supplemental material. External sites accessed by such links will appear in a separate window.
Fonts and Type Sizes
Verdana is the default font for this site; 10 point is the default size. All browsers allow users to select specific fonts and type sizes for display. Some users select large type sizes for ease of reading, or specific fonts for personal tastes. The text and layout should not be adversely affected by a user's selection of alternative fonts and type sizes.
Printing Pages
This site has been designed to ensure simple printing. We recommend printing in portrait format at a scale of 85 to 100%.
Some documents are available on this site as downloadable files in Portable Document Format (pdf). These files can be viewed on microcomputers equipped with recent versions of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded for free.
There are some known issues with downloading PDF documents, particularly on Windows systems, due to conflicting changes in the way in which Acrobat Reader and various browsers talk to one another. But there is a simple work-around: if you right-click (Windows) or option-click (Macintosh) on the link, the entire file will be sent to your machine, and then you can open it off your own hard drive using Acrobat Reader.
Navigation
Navigation through the site is straightforward. There are three levels of hierarchy, most of which are always visible to the user. The first level is on the top of the page under the banner. The second level is on the right side. Third level navigation is presented on right and/or left sides. Additional navigation is presented as a single line near the top of the page. This line allows the user to ascend the hierarchy in a linear fashion.
Index and Search This Site
These two pages appear on every page and provide additional access assistance. The Index is a complete listing of every page on the site. Search This Site is a standard word/phrase search through all text and documents (pdf) on the site's pages.
Advanced Features (Audio, Video, and Animations)
The site includes many audio and video clips. These are provided as Quicktime, Windows Media, and/or Real Player. You may need to download: Quicktime | Windows Media | RealPlayer
For Further Technical Information
For questions or comments about the technical aspects of this site, please e-mail: oceanexweb@noaa.gov
