33. A method as claimed in claim 18 , further comprising the step of: f) transmitting the document data from the client device to a server.
18. A method comprising the steps of: a) generating at a client device a start scan signal using a control element defined by a hypertext mark-up language (HTML) document stored in the client device and displayed by a web browser of a user interface of the client device in response to a user's operation of an input device of the client device; b) at the client device, converting the start scan signal into a form compatible with a scanner; c) at the client device, transmitting the converted start scan signal from the client device to the scanner; d) receiving the converted start scan signal at the scanner; and e) scanning a document with the scanner to generate document data, in response to the converted start scan signal received in said step (d).