RE: PDF vs HTML

[Mike Tatro <tatro@xxxxxxx>]

Thomas-

Well, being the wallflower that I am, I wasn't going to say anything ;-) Oh
well... here's my take on the situation...

It seems to me that most of the problems Dan mentions are really due to not
properly optimizing the content for onscreen presentation in a hyperlinked
environment. The very scenario put forth that users must "read thru" so much
text that their mind skips over sections can be solved by chunking your
information into *VERY* small pieces so that the reader only has to digest
about one screen worth of data. BTW, PDF is completely inappropriate for
doing this. PDF's strength is fidelity to the original printed page, not
modular data organization for hyperlinked presentation. PDF may support
hyperlinking, but the overall paradigm is still serial data throughput (aka,
a "book").

The real advantage to an online presentation is hyperlinking. This almost
completely eliminates the sort of "chicken/egg" dilemmas we often encounter
(I need to explain x before you can understand y, but you sort of need to
know about y in order to really understand x). Also, each person is free to
engage the material in a way that fits their personality (some start at the
beginning, others dive into the middle, some even begin at the end).
Finally, being able to exhaustively deal with topics and hyperlink to them
from anywhere is a great advantage - I almost never have to repeat
information in my online help projects. I can also move information aside
that would otherwise cloud the bigger picture. If it is required for a
deeper understanding by certain individuals, it is a click away.

I guess I don't feel that bad examples of good technology make strong
arguments for abandoning the technology altogether. No doubt, online help
has a long way to go. I guess I just see the glass as "half full."

As always, this my .02. Your mileage may vary.

Warmest Regards,
Michael L. Tatro
Documentation Manager
V-Systems, Inc.
tatro@vsi.com 



> -----Original Message-----
> From: Thomas Neuburger [mailto:thomasn@twelfthnight.com]
> Sent: Friday, March 17, 2000 11:05 AM
> To: Dan Emory; Framers
> Subject: Re: PDF vs HTML
> 
> 
> Fascinating, Dan. Just some follow-up questions:
> 
> You say, "a further secondary reduction in comprehension
> (figures range from 5% to a whopping 40% depending on the study)
> occurs when the text is formatted in the flush-left, single-space-
> between-paragraphs (with generic fonts and font sizes) style
> that is almost unavoidable in HTML- and WinHelp-type documents".
> 
> And also, "The secondary comprehension reduction, and a small
> portion of the primary reduction, disappear when the text is
> formatted according to the conventional rules of typography
> for printed material...".
> 
> I'm interested in what specifically causes the reduction -- Is it
> flush-left-ness (i.e., the remedy is centered alignment, or right
> alignment), lack of spacing between paragraphs, lack of consistent
> page size, lack of headers and footers, and so on?
> 
> In other words, given a world in which HTML could be "corrected",
> what would those corrections be, specifically? Do your sources
> provide this information as well?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Tom Neuburger
> 
> 
> Dan Emory wrote:
> 
> >1. Experimental results have established that reading 
> information from a
> >monitor reduces comprehension and retention:
> >It is well established that, when reading informatioin from 
> a monitor, both
> >comprehension and retention are reduced (conservatively) by 
> 30% over reading
> >the same information in printed form.
> >
> >2. Experimental results show that a further secondary reduction in
> >comprehension (figures range from 5% to a whopping 40% 
> depending on the
> >study) occurs when the text is formatted in the flush-left,
> >single-space-between-paragraphs (with generic fonts and font 
> sizes) style
> >that is almost unavoidable in HTML- and WinHelp-type 
> documents. The main
> >reason seems to be that, when this shovelware-type 
> formatting is used,
> >readers can't keep their place in the text, and end up skipping or
> >re-reading lines, which breaks their concentration and 
> irritates them. The
> >studies also show that comprehension worsens even more with 
> multi-screen
> >documents.
> >
> >3. The secondary comprehension reduction, and a small 
> portion of the primary
> >reduction, disappear when the text is formatted according to the
> >conventional rules of typography for printed material in 
> whatever language
> >and culture is involved. In other words, people understand 
> more when the
> >screen looks like a well-designed printed book.
> >
> >4. Real-world experience supports the experimental results 
> cited in 1, 3,
> >and 3 above:
> >Most people who browse through long HTML documents adopt the
> >print-before-reading habit--they download the ones they 
> need, format the
> >text in their word processors, and print them out. What they 
> do on-line is
> >skim-read a couple of lines and scroll down, read a few more 
> lines, and so
> >on. They're not really "getting" the information this way, 
> and a tremendous
> >amount of time is wasted converting the information to a 
> readable, printable
> >form.
> >
> >CONCLUSION:
> >
> >By all means use PDF if you expect people to understand the 
> information you
> >are providing. If, as described in 4 above, your users adopt the
> >print-before-reading habit, there's no hassle, unlike HTML 
> and Winhelp, in
> >producing highly readable printed output. In addition to 
> replicating the
> >typography and layout (including running header/footers, 
> bleed tabs, etc.)
> >of a well-designed printed book, PDF has a zoom capability, which
> >facilitates the on-screen examination of complex graphics, 
> and allows the
> >user to adjust the size of the text for easy reading. In my 
> own opinion,
> >ordinary text in an on-line PDF version should be 12 points 
> rather than the
> >10 point size typically used in printed books.
> >      ====================
> >      | Nullius in Verba |
> >      ====================
> >Dan Emory, Dan Emory & Associates
> >FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
> >Voice/Fax: 949-722-8971 E-Mail: danemory@primenet.com
> >10044 Adams Ave. #208, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
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