PDF usability and best practices?

[Bob Rasmussen]

This is a partial answer, based on what I know of PDFs' internal 
structures.

A key consideration is whether the PDF is "linearized". If it is, then the 
browser does not need to download the entire PDF before some of it (the 
first page) can be viewed.

Other factors to consider:

* Overall file size (as mentioned by someone else)
* Number and type of embedded fonts
* Whether it's "searchable". When pages of text are scanned, each is an 
image. When it has had OCR done on it, it becomes searchable (and could 
also be read aloud by screen reader software).

On Thu, 15 Mar 2012, Wilhelmina Randtke wrote:

> I am looking for recommendations or guidelines on best practices for
> displaying PDFs on the internet.
> 
> What I don't want:  I am not looking for ADA compliance.  I am able to find
> that.
> 
> What I do want:  I am looking for anything about ability to access the
> document - so:
>   -  How large a file size is acceptable?  (I anticipate U.S. visitors to
> the project this is for.)
>   -  How long in pages a document can be before it becomes overwhelming to
> a reader?
>   -  Any size constraints imposed by different PDF viewing devices and
> connection speeds?
>   -  Ways to represent a really long document - like a novel - and
> represent it in meaningful ways in PDF format, without doing a single giant
> PDF (and without becoming married to technology other than PDF-A and html)?
> 
> Any pointers to guidelines or best practices on displaying voluminous PDFs
> would be appreciated.
> 
> -Wilhelmina Randtke
> 
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> 2012-03-15
> 

Regards,
....Bob Rasmussen,   President,   Rasmussen Software, Inc.

personal e-mail: ras at anzio.com
 company e-mail: rsi at anzio.com
          voice: (US) 503-624-0360 (9:00-6:00 Pacific Time)
            fax: (US) 503-624-0760
            web: http://www.anzio.com
 street address: Rasmussen Software, Inc.
                 10240 SW Nimbus, Suite L9
                 Portland, OR  97223  USA

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2012-03-16