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Re: Saving as Web Page (HTML) instead of PDF-unencrypt

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From: Duff Johnson
Date: Feb 18, 2020 1:05PM

> Ignoring how Word saves as HTML for the moment, the general concept that
> HTML is more accessible than PDF is true.

Of course, the PDF guy has to say something here… :-)

The only reason this statement is true - today - has nothing to do with PDF itself and everything to do with (in the following order):

(a) The use of software incapable of producing properly tagged PDF, and
(b) authors who don't know how to achieve accessible results irrespective of format, and
(c) inadequate support for tagged PDF in consumer software (browsers, viewers and AT)

(a) and (c) are something end users can affect themselves… by loudly complaining to software vendors!
(b) is certainly harder in PDF than in HTML. More possibilities = more ways to screw up.

From the format point of view, PDF may be as accessible as HTML; even more so in some cases, as an accessible PDF retains the full context of its author's original intent, whereas HTML's presentation is typically at the mercy of CSS, servers, bandwidth, browser, settings, etc.

> If you can provide an HTML
> version of a document instead of PDF or Word, that would be ideal.

Sure… if you don't need PDF capabilities such as reliability, self-containment, color-management, annotations, redaction, encryption, digital signatures etc, etc, etc.… don't use PDF! :-)

Duff.