Accessible PDFs

Accessibility is not an especially familiar concept in the computing world. Most of us encounter the idea of accessibility often enough by way of special vehicle parking spaces, ramps, braille signage, beeping crosswalks, and so on. Improving accessibility is more than a courtesy, it is an accepted and vital goal of any advanced society.

Johnson, Duff. PlanetPDF. Design>Document Design>Accessibility>Adobe Acrobat

Make Your PDFs Work Well with Google (and Other Search Engines)

In Google's search results, and in the results of most other search engines, the listings of most PDF files appear at best unprofessional, and at worst, downright embarrassing.

Johnson, Duff. Adobe (2006). Design>Web Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

PDF Bookmarks: Surveying the Options

Most PDF files do not include bookmarks. This is a pity, because they are so easy to add, and because the real-world usability of longer PDF files suffers significantly by their absence. And there's no shortage of tools for creating and managing bookmarks, as this product survey article explains.

Johnson, Duff. Adobe (2007). Design>Information Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

PDF Can Comply With Section 508. Now It's Your Move

A blind person cannot read from a screen any more than from a printed page. Technologies nonetheless exist that allow blind and other disabled users impressively full-featured access to documents. To be accessible, however, the document contents must be available to these so-called 'assistive' technologies.

Johnson, Duff. PlanetPDF (2003). Articles>Accessibility>Adobe Acrobat>Section 508

PDF in Government

Duff Johnson looks at how several federal government agencies use Acrobat and PDF to solve old problems and, in some cases, to create new opportunities.

Johnson, Duff. Adobe (2007). Articles>Information Design>Government>Adobe Acrobat

PDF Usability: Debate and Reality

This article examines the claims of those PDF critics and argues that usability complaints about PDF documents are misdirected, and further, highlights some of the key reasons why PDF is the preferred electronic document format.

Johnson, Duff. Adobe (2006). Articles>Usability>Information Design>Adobe Acrobat