Hurricane Katrina survivors looking to apply online to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for assistance better make sure they're running Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system and using Internet Explorer Version 6 or higher. Internet Explorer 6 is required for the aid applications, according to information on FEMA's Web site.
That means people using Macintosh or Linux computers are unable to file a claim online -- although they can do so by calling the emergency agency by phone. A statement online says, "If you would like to apply for Federal Disaster Assistance by telephone, you can contact us at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or for the hearing/speech impaired at TTY: 1-800-462-7585. The current hours and days of operation are 24 hours per day 7 days per week. Currently the lines are quite congested and the best time to call is 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. EDT."

Last month, the World Wide Web Consortium protested a proposal by the U.S. Copyright Office that could temporarily require online forms to be submitted using only the Internet Explorer or Netscape Web browsers (see "W3C objects to U.S. Copyright Office's browser plan").