The Near East Foundation Website is best viewed - i.e., looks and works best, on a computer with the following specifications:

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher. Our pages are tested on MSIE 4.01, 5.0, 5.5 and 6 as well as on Netscape Navigator 4.7 and 6. They should work within acceptable limits with any of these.MSIE is preferred. (Need Internet Explorer? Download it here!)
  Netscape version 6 will access all critical functions but some special effects may not appear.   Netscape 4.x will access all pages in a similar manner.  MS Internet Explorer 3.x works moderately and Netscape 3.x much less well.

• At 800x600 or higher screen resolution. Those viewing the site at 640x480 may experience size distortions.

• Millions of colors 256 or higher.

• JavaScript enabled. But you can navigate the site without it.

• Fonts : Times New Roman, Verdana, Arial. A wide variety of Web fonts are available for free by clicking here.

• Some pages require Arabic. Currently, with Netescape 6, MSIE 5+ (minimal/custom setup, add Arabic support), you can view Arabic using Latin Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP or NT 4. More information (in Arabic) on how to display Arabic, click here.

What does this mean?

Let's start with the screen resolution. If the website appears too large for your screen horizontally, your resolution is probably set for 640 x 480 screen resolution and should be changed. It is quite easy. Once you are used to it you will prefer it. Items will appear smaller but you will be able to fit much more on your screen. Most sites are now designed for this resolution.

To change your resolution just right-click anywhere on your desktop. Then click on Properties, then on Settings. In the Desktop Area, slide the adjustment bar over to 800 x 600. Then, click on Apply and then OK. Simple.

What about the color setting? This determines the quality of graphics. If the graphics on this site look very poor, chances are your computer is set to 256 colors. It can be changed unless you have an older computer and just don't have the power to do so. Changing is simple. Once again, right-click anywhere on the desktop. Click on Properties, then Settings, and go to Color Palette. Adjust the palette to at least 16 bit. Remember the higher the number the better the quality of the graphics but the more of your computers resources it uses. Click on Apply and OK. You might have to restart your computer for the changes to take affect.

Now let's talk about Browsers. Some people use Netscape Navigator and love it, others Internet Explorer. These are the Big Two. Some people don't know what they use, maybe they are on America Online. There is a new smaller browser called Opera and there are WebTV and a few others. Once again, this site is optimized for Internet Explorer. All browsers interpret html codes differently. This browser seems to do the best. If you aren't viewing this site on a later version of Internet Explorer, you should. It looks much better. And best of all, it's free. You can download it from Microsoft's website. Remember you should be using at least version 4.0. Older versions don't support advanced features.

In conclusion, if you are having an unpleasant viewing experience of our website it is probably related to either the resolution, color, or browser type/version or maybe Arabic. If you are still having or noticing any problems with this site after making any necessary corrections, please let us know.