PDF: Unfit for Human Consumption

In the article, "PDF: Unfit for Human Consumption", Jakob Nielsen extols the lack of virtue in publishing PDFs on the web. This topic is especially pertinent to me because I am in charge of getting the BYU-Idaho on Wellness Newsletter on the web. If you go to the site right now (11/15/05), you will find some sad stuff. The problem is that all the back issues are in PDF. This summary will tell you exactly why that it is a bad thing. Jakob Nielson has put into words all the feelings that go through your mind as you browse the BYU-Idaho On Wellness website (especially if you are using Firefox, which has a problem opening PDFs anyway).

First problem deals with usability. The problem is that PDF breaks a lot of the usability rules.

Linear Explosion. The problem here is that PDF files are created for print, not for the web. This means that the writers did not follow standards like the inverted pyramid, brevity, scannability, or small chunks of text.
Jarring User Experience. PDFs are made for print, not the web. This creates some problems when they are used on the web, because the standard commands don't work.
Crashes and Software Problems. This is perhaps the most annoying of the bunch. There is nothing like trying to get a document off the web and spending minutes just waiting for Acrobat to load, then dealing with all the other stuff that is involved. It is annoying. Then, if there is anything wrong, it will close the browser window and there will be major problems.
Breaks Flow. This tails the previous one. It takes a long to load, and when you are in a surfing zone, you don't have time to wait. It lessens the user experience.
Orphaned Location. This is difficult because of the new toolbars that come up with the program, and if it doesn't open in a new window, good luck getting back to your original web page.
Content Blob. A PDF is one big blob of stuff. It makes it very difficult to find what you are looking for; you have to have the exact string to be able to find it. The longer the document, the harder it is to find.
Text Fits on a Printed Page, Not a Computer Screen. "Bye bye smooth scrolling. Hello tiny fonts." Or, if you are using a high resolution screen, hello HUGE fonts.

Basically, it boils down to: users hate them. One said, "They [PDF files] don't behave like Web pages. It's not the speed. It is like having a solid thing rather than a fluid thing."

I am going to figure out a way to publish those newsletters without using PDF, but still make them visually appealing. And I will make them easier for people to load and view and search in the future.

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