UI COM Style Guide
  • UI COM Style Guide
  • Contact Us
  • Writing for the Web
    • Know Your Audience
    • Reduce Content
    • Make Content Accessible and Easy to Read
      • Write in Plain Language
      • Write Content That is Design Agnostic
      • Structure Your Content
        • Use Headings Correctly
        • Formatting Lists
      • Images and Videos
        • Sizing Images
        • Follow Alt Text Best Practices
        • Videos
      • Avoid PDFs
      • Make User Friendly Forms
      • Make User Friendly Links and Buttons
        • Write Quality Link Text
        • Linking a Phone number or Email
        • Links to External Sites
    • Make Content Findable
    • Writing for the Web Tools
  • College of Medicine Logos, Brand & Style
    • Write with the College Web Style
      • Voice and Tone
      • Terminology and Language
        • UI COM Name Usage
        • Names and titles
        • Departments
        • Degrees and programs
        • Academic year and fiscal year
        • Alumni
        • Abbreviations and acronyms
        • Other Terminology
        • Inclusive language
      • Capitalization
      • Phone & Fax Number Formatting
      • Time and Dates
      • Address & Building Numbers Formatting
      • Profiles
    • Color Palette
    • Typography
    • Logo Guidelines
  • Info for the Chicago Campus
    • Chicago Campus Name Usage
    • Chicago Department Names
    • Chicago Administrative Offices/Personnel Titles
    • UI Health
    • Homepage Guidelines
    • Creating a New Website
  • Info for the Peoria Campus
    • Peoria Campus Name Usage
    • Peoria Department Names
    • Peoria Administrative Offices/Personnel Titles
    • Peoria Terminology
  • Info for the Rockford Campus
    • Rockford Campus Name Usage
    • Rockford Department Names
    • Rockford Administrative Offices/Personnel Titles
    • Rockford Terminology
    • Affiliations
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On this page
  • Reasons to Avoid PDFs
  • PDFs are not accessible
  • PDFs are difficult to maintain
  • PDFs don’t encourage your audience to visit other pages
  • What to Do if You Must Include a PDF
  1. Writing for the Web
  2. Make Content Accessible and Easy to Read

Avoid PDFs

PDFs are not ideal for web use and we should reduce reliance on them. Before publishing one, you should ask yourself if the content can be converted to a web page instead.

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Last updated 8 months ago

Reasons to Avoid PDFs

PDFs are not accessible

Web page content allows users to adjust text and color settings. This is necessary for some people with visual impairments. Many PDFs are also not compatible with screen reader assistive technology. Additionally, many users are accessing the web with their mobile devices. Downloading a PDF can be a drain on mobile data. If your content is important to your audiences, the best bet is to put it in a web page format.

PDFs are difficult to maintain

PDFs and other documents are much more likely to become out of date and forgotten. As content authors come and go, PDFs may continue to float around the website. Having inaccurate information about important things like school policies online is not just a disservice to your audiences but could potentially become a legal issue.

PDFs don’t encourage your audience to visit other pages

If a user finds a PDF via Google search, that PDF will automatically open a new window or download rather than directing them to the website where it lives. There is no context or breadcrumbs to help the user navigate to additional relevant information. They miss out on finding what they need, and you miss the opportunity to share key messages.

What to Do if You Must Include a PDF

There are some instances where it makes sense to create a PDF (for example, static and time-bound content, such as meeting minutes). If you have a clear use case for a PDF, make sure to read about how best to link to them:

Write Quality Link Text