Best Practices in Creating Next Generation PDFs PDF Days Europe 2017 Best Practices in Creating Next Generation PDFs Matt Kuznicki Chief Technical Officer – Datalogics Chairman of the PDF Association 1

Agenda Best Practices in Next Generation PDF Creation Document adaptability to different user needs Reliable behavior Accessibility and content repurposing Quality verification Closing thoughts

Quick Note About These Best Practices These best practices represent my opinions based on my experiences and for the goal of maximum usefulness to the widest possible audience. Others may have different opinions. Specific audiences and workflows may warrant different considerations

Today’s User Expectations Users expect certain behaviors that are not reliably present in PDFs generated in the past Reflow, read-aloud and screen reader compatibility Style changes such as modified text size and font Reliable extraction of content the same way it appears on- screen Users today consume content across many different devices and in many different circumstances Information consumption has changed dramatically in the past quarter-century: Documents now are viewed on a wide variety of different screens Information is becoming more often read to users Information presented in more distracting circumstances (such as driving) Intelligent agents, search engines and other automated processes are consuming content as well

Document Adaptability Key value in next generation PDF is document adaptability For different screen sizes and orientations For different processing environments For different viewing circumstances For different readers This adaptability forms the foundation for meeting the needs of document users – today’s and tomorrow’s needs

Document Adaptability With great power comes great responsibility Adaptable content should be an alternative view of document content All users in all circumstances should be able to access all the information in a PDF file Needs of all users should be considered when authoring next generation PDF files PDF users expect reliable document behavior Users want PDF documents to convey information reliably – but tailored to their viewing circumstances Adaptable content should be an enhancement to your documents in next generation PDF – your documents should not rely on specific viewing circumstances Always should have a useful, suitable “default” view of a next generation PDF – this is up to the author to ensure

Reliable Document Behavior Next Generation PDF files should not break user expectations of PDF files Users should be able to print a useful printout at any time Users should be able to send the document out to someone else with confidence that the recipient will be able to see the same information Documents should make it clear to users how and when the presentation can change Documents should not change over time in dramatic and unexpected ways PDF files are well used for reliable interchange, so make sure your next generation PDF files can behave in the ways users like about PDF: Being able to refer to a content on a specific page # Being able to print reliably what one sees on-screen Self-contained information interchange that doesn’t rely on external data

Reliable Document Behavior Next Generation PDF extends the brand promise of a Portable Document Format - authors should not Create PDFs that immediately ask users to use a specific or different viewer Create PDFs that are not useful except in specific viewing circumstances or requiring specific viewer characteristics Create PDFs where content views differently than it presents for content extraction, for printing, etc. Assume interactive capabilities from the user Change their presentation over time without making this clear to users Key value proposition of PDF is reliable document viewing and exchange across space and time Any diminishment of the reliability of PDF presentation would strike at the heart of PDF's use for contracts and trustworthy documents User expectations of next generation PDFs will be a “PDF, but better” experience – they will not expect an experience that is radically different from PDF files

Accessibility and Content Repurposing Next Generation PDF files are based on Tagged PDF Semantic representation of content “baked into” files Using standardized representation for content and for content styling Allowing reliable transcription to HTML and other structured formats Making it easy for viewers to adapt content to different viewing circumstances Successful Next Generation PDF documents will make good use of these capabilities

Accessibility and Content Repurposing Avoid adhering to the rules but not to the spirit Poorly tagged content will be brittle and not adapt well across different viewers and circumstances Poorly structured content will adapt reliably – to deliver a reliably poor experience Content without navigation aids will suffer from performance and usability issues when translated to HTML Requests to generate alternate representations in non- standard formats will lead to dropped content Rasterized content will not reflow, read-aloud or index as users expect

Content Adaptability Guidelines Make adaptability as easy as possible for viewers Every alternate content request may require content translation – avoid excessive requests Image alternate requests should be kept to standard OWP formats for HTML views Some PDF features cannot be represented in other forms without rasterization – be careful in use Divide and section document content to allow conversion of content as needed Users expect fast document viewing – any alternate view that takes more than half a second to generate is likely to frustrate your users Many viewers can be expected to drop or ignore requests for alternate content that they cannot fulfill – dropped content is likely to confuse your users

Content Adaptability Guidelines Maximum content adaptability starts with document authors Use proper markup and structure for content Don’t indicate important information through visual content styling alone Don’t assume all users are able to have an interactive experience with your document at all times Don’t assume your audience is visually consuming your document Don’t assume your audience is entirely humans In many circumstances, we want our documents read to us. Non-human audiences include search engines, indexing and content summarization services

Content Adaptability Guidelines Next Generation PDF facilitates content adaptability But it can’t make up for poorly authored documents

Content Adaptability Guidelines Most best practices for Next Generation PDF are actually best practices for PDF files generally Indicate the meaning of content semantically, not just visually Design with accessibility and content repurposing from the beginning Design for the widest possible audience But also design optimally for the target audience Most PDF best practices aren’t specific to PDF at all! The technical bits behind next generation PDF allow for alternate presentations of content in a standardized fashion. However, even today we have a lot to do to educate users and improve tools to meet best practices. Otherwise, poorly authored content will continue to be an obstacle

Document Quality Assurance Make sure to verify proper document behavior in all the different ways users might be consuming If your document adapts to different screen sizes and orientations, verify proper behavior for all If your document has different view and print conditions, verify proper behavior for both Verify the suitability and capability to be read-aloud and of content adaptability Verify the usefulness of the “base” content view – the non- adapted view Viewers that do not support next generation PDF will only show the base content view – so make sure it is a useful view

Closing Thoughts Next generation PDF brings the benefits of reliable documents to a world of changing user expectations Content reliability is still key to users Sharing documents and specific content in documents is still key to users Adapting presentation to different circumstances does not mean giving some users a poor experience Best results begin with properly authored content

Closing Thoughts: Compatibility Next Generation PDF files should work across different viewers – including those without support Don’t create PDFs with a base view that tells the user their viewer is not supported Don’t create PDFs where alternate presentations are the only useful views of a document Don’t create PDFs that are only useful when viewed in specific circumstances Don’t create PDFs that are only useful in a next generation PDF – capable viewer Remember – the next generation of PDF is being designed to give users better experiences. It’s not there to give some users a better experience by taking away usefulness from other users

Thank you! Any questions? PDF Days Europe 2017 Thank you! Any questions? Get in touch: matt.kuznicki@pdfa.org Web site: www.pdfa.org Twitter: PDFassocation 18