[LINK] Government gives thumbs down to PDF format

[Pilcher, Fred]

Ivan wrote:

> There are difficulties in knowing end-user expectations in the
> electronic world. At least with print, expectations are generally
> uniform.

Are user expectations really different in the electronic world?

The fundamental expectation is to be able to read the document. In the print world it's perhaps the only expectation. Electronic publication adds some capabilities that may become expectations, such as the ability to use screen readers or to have hyperlinked indexing. But if you can't read it the rest becomes irrelevant.

Anything beyond plain text and, arguably, HTML, trades off that fundamental expectation for increasingly questionable benefit. The more complex the format, the more restricting it is.

Electronic publication makes it simple to publish in as many formats as you like. That's a Good Thing, unless you forget that at least one of those formats should be an accessible one.

Fred
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