Standard: PDF: When to Use And Document Metadata
Brief description
(see the full document below for details)
PDFs provide some benefits when used appropriately. However, this format should not be used for short documents. PDF files must include basic document metadata to improve search results.
Note: This is a "legacy" standard, written before the Web Council was created. It has been in force since the effective date. Since the creation of the Web Council, it has been rewritten to follow the normal layout for standards. "Date approved" refers to when the Web Council approved this rewritten version.
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Content requirements
- By default, present information in HTML, not PDF. If desired, you may also provide a PDF version, linked from all of the following:
- the same places where you link to the HTML version
- the top of the HTML version
- You are allowed to publish information in PDF without an HTML version if:
- the document is longer than 5 pages, or
- you need to preserve the formatting or layout of the original document (e.g. for printing), or
- you need to publish a paper document that has been scanned and for which no electronic version exists.
- you are providing a fillable PDF form.
- When linking to a PDF, you must follow the PDF Linking Standard.
- Create a document description with the following at minimum:
- Title is important and should be understandable. Include a date if possible (Month, Year)
- Author and the organization that published the document. Include US EPA, AAship or Region, Office or Program, Division. Only rarely will you use an individual author's name.
- Subject should be a short, descriptive summary of the document. Can be the same as the Title field.
- Keywords should be specific and descriptive. Use lower case. Separate words with commas but no spaces (e.g: pesticides,chemicals,methods,study). Phrases (e.g., Memorandum of Understanding) can be used as one keyword. Use at least two keywords and no more than ten.
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How to
- To create a document description, open the PDF in Adobe Acrobat and then choose File > Document Properties (or press Ctrl-D)
- Select the "Description" tab.
- Enter the information required above.
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Rationale
PDF is a useful format for publishing documents intended to be printed and read offline. It is also an efficient way to publish long documents.
However, reading PDFs in a browser is more difficult than normal HTML pages (or equivalents) because the navigation, linking, and other conventions are different. In addition, it can be very difficult to make PDF files accessible.
The limits above balance efficiency in creating Web content with the need to easily read short documents online.
The document description is necessary to produce meaningful search results. Otherwise, the title in search results is unpredictable; it could be the path showing where the document sits on someone's hard drive, simply "untitled," or something equally unhelpful.
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Related governance documents
EPA
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Non-EPA
None
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Full Metadata about this standard
Name PDF: When to Use And Document Metadata
Tracking number NT00000000
Type Standard
Required or Recommended Required
Effective date 01/01/2004
Date approved 03/12/2007
Category File Formats, Graphics and Multimedia, Links and Navigation, PDF
Web Council review by 03/12/2009 (or earlier if deemed necessary by the Web Council)
Governing Policy Web Governance and Management (PDF) (4 pp, 339K, About PDF)
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