Grants.gov now REQUIRES Adobe Reader 8.1.1

This is a very important announcement regarding compatibility of various versions of Adobe Reader with Grants.gov. Please take note!

Important Software Version Announcement: Adobe Reader 8.1.1 Required

When applying with Adobe Reader applications on Grants.gov, it is now required to download Adobe Reader version 8.1.1. Adobe Reader 8.1.1 is available to download for free on the Grants.gov website. For more information on Adobe Reader please visit the Help section.

Please note, not all applications are provided in Adobe Reader, so it is recommended to also have the PureEdge Viewer installed.

Grants.gov has become aware of a corruption issue when Adobe Reader application packages are saved in different versions of Adobe Reader. To
address this issue Grants.gov is executing the following:

1. Immediate action to modify coversheets for all Adobe Reader forms to include a message that warns users against using any Adobe Reader version other than Adobe Reader 8.1.1.
2. Continuing our efforts to develop code to include in the Adobe Reader cover pages to detect the version of the Adobe Reader software seeking to open the form. Upon detecting the version of the opening software the new code will determine if the opening software version is compatible with Grants.gov forms. A determination of compatible=true will result in the form opening. A determination of compatible=false will result in failure of form opening and display of a message addressing the reason for the failure.
3. Code development efforts anticipate completion of a prototype solution and completion of prototype testing by Friday, January 25. Presuming a successful prototype, production code would be completed and clear internal testing. Release into production is still to be determined.

Comments

[Chris Harker]

There are many questions and concerns over the upcoming transition to Adobe and this got us wondering just how big this impact will be. For that reason, on January 25th we launched an informal, unscientific survey aimed at quantifying some of the anticipated burden.

www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ebaiDGNKPXlumqB6L9q0ng_3d_3d

There are certainly other important questions and this is just our first crack at gathering some data. The survey will close on January 30th at 5:00 PM (Pacific). The data are confidential and we will be sharing the compiled results with the RESADM listserv.

- Chris

[Dave]

Thanks, Chris. Not sure I'm on that list (and I suspect others won't be either). Can you share the results more broadly?

[Chris]

Sure. We'll post the results on www.cayuse.com on Thursday morning. The sample size is fairly small, and, as I said, it's unscientific. But it will be interesting.

[Chris Harker]

My thanks to the seventy three people on the RESADM listserv who completed our survey on the impact of Adobe forms! The
results are available, unfiltered in any way by us, via this link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/sr.aspx?sm=qRVWFFeCXM4EW6YAhKSk8UwNwlJzu9oLlZMsqa7SyXQ_3d

Also included there, are all of the "additional comments" posted by the
survey participants. You may find them worth reading, too.

If you have any questions/comments/suggestions, please let me know.