PDFs don’t have the compatibility problems of Word docsĭocuments created in newer versions of Word often lose features and are formatted differently when opened by older versions, or vice versa. This interrupts the flow of the user’s browsing, and they will be more likely to click away and simply not read the document. If they don’t have a program on their device which allows them to read Word files, they won’t be able to view your document.

The user must first download and then open the file. When a user clicks a link to a Word document, this is what happens: (Don’t forget to indicate that the link goes to a file.) Word documents must be downloaded and opened in a separate program The document opens in the browser, and they can read it and go back to your site when done. When someone is browsing your site and clicks on a link to a PDF, it is a seamless experience. For those that don’t, Adobe Reader is a free download. Most modern browsers and operating systems have PDF reading capability built in. PDFs can be viewed in the browserĪdobe PDF is a document format that can be opened and read in a web browser. If the content must be uploaded as a file, documents for the web should always be saved as PDFs (except in unusual circumstances, for example, a template that users will download and edit in Word).

Always upload documents to the web as PDFs instead of Word, except in rare circumstances Please review this article for more details before choosing to use a PDF file. If possible please post your content as a webpage rather than a PDF or Word document. ACCESSIBILTY NOTE: unless authored with accessibility in mind, PDF documents often have accessibility issues. For this reason, before uploading a file, ask yourself if that content could be added to a new or existing webpage. It is far easier for users to browse, search, and access information in a webpage rather than a file. But when adding these documents to your webpage, is it best to upload Word files, or PDFs? First, if possible, add the content to a webpage instead Should my file be uploaded as a Word document or a PDF?ĭocuments are often created in Microsoft Word, or other word processing software.

How to add a pdf to a word document