By Suzann Dodd, ContributorYOU SPEND an hour perfecting a document and then decide to email it. The recipient contacts you saying she can't read it. This might go back and forth a bit and ends up with you having to print it on paper and mail it.
This is because you have used some specific bad minded application which presumptuously demands the rest of the world comply or die.
Not everyone uses Word or Word Perfect. If you don't know what the other is using simply save the document you wish to send as plain text; that is with a .txt extension.
Everyone can read plain text because it's simple ASCII. This is one of the first Universal languages. You can read ASCII whether you're using DOS, Windows or Linux. You don't have to change the word processing program you're using, you just 'save as' (name).txt.
If you're doing graphics and wish to send them anywhere convert them to html and anyone can view by using any web browser (save the text only ones).
There are many applications which can convert text, often rich text format, .rtf to .html.
Yes, if you're not using canon html but the frivolous browser specific options they won't work save under the same browser, i.e. the marquee type which Windows is so proud of, which does not appear when using other browsers, but stuff written in the Universal language of html will show up.
Too often persons who want to make web pages use a peculiar application which does not teach anything. For example, colours are produced by a specific code. If you do not know the code but use an application, what may look red on your computer might look orange on mine. This is because you selected a colour from the 'palette' which on your computer looks red, but isn't. For example, when I read the code I found that the 'red' you used was ff6666. This is not red. The code for red is ff0000.
I can tell when someone has used a 'palette' (the little squares of colour you are prompted to select for your web page) contra entering code, especially on television where the colours are 'off' just that bit to make you consider adjusting the tint. Colours are crucial especially in advertising where a logo is a specific colour, not near, not about, but must be the exact shade.
You can only get this when you know the code. Not that you are expected to memorise this, there are sites which let you check colours, I am just alerting you to the fact that html code exists, that you should become familiar with it and avoid slavish reliance on web page composers.
Suzann Dodd is an attorney and a writer.
