1. 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

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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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

18. Thank you! Any questions?
PDF Days Europe 2017
Thank you! Any questions?
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