PDF or Word?

[mattastic]

Hi,

Could anybody tell me which is the best file format to use, for downloading documents?

Many thanks

[Charles]

Word is bad, it passes along viruses. PDF is much better but it isn't accessible. The best practice is to post both a PDF and an accessible HTML version.

[Robert Wellock]

Rich Text Format is only slightly better than Word and PDF needs to be "tagged" to be accessible but (x)html with good CSS support can beat either.

[Charles]

RTF is certainly and option, especially if you want users to be able to edit the document. But neither RTF nor PDF is acessible. Each require an accessible HTML sister.

[williambrandes]

But neither RTF nor PDF is acessible This statement is misleading if not false. I have a visual disorder and concerning accessibility I would think the web being primarily a visual medium those would be the accessibiltiy issues.

There are many text to speak browser/readers that read rtf just fine. But, I am amazed by the new generation of pdf acrobat readers (FREE) that have a built in text to speak engine. AdobeAcrobat7 is such an animal. If you are looking to creating stand alone documents that is the way that I would go. In fact the newer versions of word, wordperfect, open office all have a save to pdf function. Those are probably bundled on your desktop, so there is no need to buy any addtional programs. Cheers. William

[the tree]

The problem with .pdf when it comes to accesability, is that you just can't linerise it like you can with well done html.

Incedently, the web is not a primarly visual medium, http transports infomation which can be interpreted by a graphic browser, a text browser or a voice browser.

[williambrandes]

web is not I tend to respectfully disagree. But ................ that isn't the problem. Disability/accessibility, no matter which, is the hurdle. Mine is visual. And, I am more comfortable and in control in front of a desktop. And, that wasn't available just a short few years ago. Cheers. William

[the tree]

Yup accesability is definately the hurdle in question, that's why there's a whole board for it. I tend to shy away from .rtf because it doesn't always render the same from one wysiwyg to another, just like .doc, the whole point of .pdf is consistency although the file size is massive, and that's why I prefer to keep things as plain text or .htm