RE: Nielsen and PDFs

[Sean Hower <hokumhome -at- freehomepage -dot- com>]

<cross-posted to TECHWR-l and stcusesig>

I have to agree with Nielson, to an extent. PDFs are great if the end 
product is something that is supposed to be printed. Reports and 
newsletters are a perfect use for PDF I think.

But I've seen online help that was nothing more than a pdf file. That's 
a totally bad idea, for all of the reasons that Nielson cites. I think I've looked at the help for Distiller precisely because it's in the form of a pdf and it's not easy to use.

But I guess it doesn't really matter what we think about the technology, it matters what our users think. If Nielson's quotes are anything to go by, then perhaps pdf isn't as great as technocrats/technophiles (like myself) think they are and we should stick with html and a "printer friendly" button. :-)


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