Using open formats
It is best practice to publish as much of the content on the UKHSA website as web pages built in HTML.
If we publish documents to the website they should, as far as possible, be in open formats.
This is because open format documents can be opened by the widest range of softwares and so are more accessible, whereas proprietary brands, such as Microsoft Word or Excel, are only accessible to people who have paid for them.
You do not need any special software to save your document in an open format. Open format options are easily available within MS products.
Saving a Word document as an open document text (.odt) format
1. Go to Save As
2. Select the 'document type' field to open a dropdown menu in which you can see different format options. Note how Microsoft Word (* doc) is selected as the default setting.
3. Select ‘OpenDocument Text (*.odt)', at the bottom of the list.
4. Click Save. Your document is saved as an open document text with the filename suffix or extension '.odt'.
