about the SOC website
Introduction
Welcome to the new-look SOC website. This is the first stage of a long-term website redesign, and over the coming months we hope to make a number of other additions and improvements. Behind-the-scenes changes will also make the website easier to maintain and develop in the future.
Stephen Hunter, June 2008
Browsers
The website has been tested on Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7, Firefox version 2, and Opera version 9. It might not display correctly on older browsers. The website will work best if scripting is enabled, but most features will work with scripting turned off.
Navigation
We hope you find the new website easy to use. If you're a regular visitor, you can see what's new by checking the list of recent updates on the Home page. The Home page also features a menu with links to the main sections of the website, but if you can't find what you're looking for, there's also an index page containing a list of website pages ordered by subject. Finally, on the left of every page is a set of 'quick links'. These vary from page to page; for example the Fife branch page has links to the Fife recorder page and local birdwatching sites.
Accessibility
If you find the text on this website too small to read easily, most modern browsers allow you to increase the font sizes. On Internet Explorer, click on View then Text Size. On Firefox, hold down the Cntl key and press + one or more times to increase the font size, - to decrease it, and 0 to return to the standard size.
Some browsers will also allow you to display a plain version of the website with all special formatting removed. On Firefox, for example, click on View then Page Style, and select No Style.
Symbols
If you see a link with an 'overlapping windows' 
symbol, it indicates that the target page will open a new browser window. This will usually be an external website. (If you disable scripting on your browser, all pages will open in the same window. You should use the Back button to return from an external website to the SOC.)
An envelope 
symbol indicates a link that will open a blank email, or a link to the email directory page.
Note that the symbols will be displayed by most modern browsers, but not by Internet Explorer version 6 or older.
Web Standards
This website contains some pages that were completely rewritten, and others that were converted from the previous website. The rewritten pages conform to the latest World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards, and as a result should display correctly on all modern browsers, including mobile phones and other hand-held devices. Over time, all pages will be rewritten to comply with the W3C standards.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to everyone who helped with the preparation of this website. I won't attempt to name everyone, but would like to credit Ian Andrews, who developed the original SOC website in 2000. Much of the material here has been retained from the old website.