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PDFs – Portable Document Formats — were a technological breakthrough when launched by Adobe 1.0 in 1993. They allowed people to share documents without formatting and font compatibility issues from device to device, largely via email.
Fast forward 20 30 years and PDFs are still omnipresent and while they can be viewed directly on the web, it is time to “Up” our game.
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If the content is text, it will be evaluated by the web team for alternative presentation formats such as: calendar tool, html page, people listings, google sheet portals, clinical trial highlight or listing presentations
Archival material should be housed by the department on other platforms, such as ELI Scholar, Department shared drives or shared box accounts.
PDFs used as a visual element should be replaced with an image without text (not a .jpg version of the PDF).
PDFs can be attached as a secondary format for the material, marked as “Download for printing” or “Download PDF version of this material.”
Departments that maintain policies in PDF formats with frequent updates are accountable for maintaining the accessibility of their documents. The web team may suggest using PolicyTech, a BOX portal or google sheet for these documents.
The web team may require a Contact be posted for accessibility assistance. This sends a negative message about YSM’s commitment to diversity and accessibility.
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