Fresh AIR for the HealthComm Reader
At HealthComm, we like to make sure that the various electronic materials we produce are viewable and usable by the broadest swath of the public as possible. For instance, all of the Web sites we’ve done and will do use standards-compliant XHTML so that the content is accessible to visitors with disabilities. Using strict XHTML also helps ensure the best possible experience for visitors using browsers in their previous, current and even future versions (for example, Safari, Internet Explorer 6 and 7, Firefox 2 and the as-yet-unreleased Firefox 3) on different operating systems (e.g., Windows XP or Vista, Mac OS X).
This last is particularly important, and we’re also dedicated to cross-platform functionality in the applications we build. Our preferred foundation for building cross-platform apps is Adobe Integrated Runtime, more commonly known in the computer-programming world as AIR. AIR is a great tool that lets developers use their favorite technologies, such as Flash, Flex, Ajax and HTML, to make applications that will run on both Mac and Windows systems.
If you want to experience an AIR app in action (if you haven’t already), check out our HealthComm reader. It’s a rich Internet application (or RIA — any acronymic resemblance to AIR is purely coincidental!), which is a stand-alone application that can harness all the power of the Internet. In the case of the HealthComm reader, once you’ve downloaded and installed it, you’ll get the most up-to-date HealthComm and healthcare news every time the app is open and your connected to the Internet. But — and here’s the great thing about RIAs — if you’re disconnected, you can still access and read all of the feeds that have already been delivered.
Unless you have already downloaded and installed AIR, either on its own or when you downloaded another AIR app, you’ll be prompted to do so when you click the “Install Now” button beneath the HealthComm Reader icon to the right. But don’t fret — the process couldn’t be simpler. AIR installation is integrated into the process of installing our reader, so you don’t have to go to any other Web sites to find it and then track down the right version for your OS and all that.
You’ll have to agree to the Adobe T&C, and if you don’t want to install it in its default location, you can specify where you want to install it. Once you do that, you’ll be ready to install any AIR RIA you’re sure to come across in the future. But we’re sure the HealthComm Reader will hold a special place in your heart as your introduction to some of the future’s most promising technology.