I think you're mistaking your experiences of users for all users. I
don't know anyone who uses JAWS, doesn't mean that people don't tho.
I (usually) like the way that PDF files tend to open in the browser
window. Many people I know also are used to this and it doesn't
bother them. You say that users "expect the way to return to web
content ". A pdf online IS web content, you may argue that what you
meant was Hypertext content but the 'average' user doesn't think like
that. When I am browsing, I'm looking for information, be it in a
word document, PDF document or HTML document. The ability for my
browser to navigate between these just by using the back/forward/
history options is very useful.
Now, I'm not saying that my experience represents the norm, but I
don't think that you, as a designer, should try to dictate in which
application your data loads.
If sometimes a PDF file opens in the browser, other times in a new
window, A user will become confused and this is something we should
always work to stop. Besides, breaking a delivery mechanism to
create a non-standard behavior is hardly a standards based approach. :)
Stephen.
On 2 Feb 2006, at 21:58, Joshua Street wrote:
Yes, it's a good thing. PDF's aren't web pages. This is the
distinction between a web site and a web application: applications are
'expected' to have 'application-like' behaviour (such as new windows,
etc.). Also, PDF content rarely has the _behaviour_ of a web page
(rich hyperlink structures/inbound/outbound links, etc) so to expect
it to appear AS a web page is flawed: there is no way of navigating
out of it but to close the window, or press Back.
Users (correctly, IMO) identify Acrobat as a separate, non-web
application, and hence expect the way to return to web content is to
close Acrobat (i.e. if you've loaded it in a browser, the browser
window). They're not going to look for the Back button here.
Also I wasn't aware of way to override browser object settings for PDF
files easily -- by all means feel free to correct me, but I doubt very
much users do this by 'preference' one way or another.
Josh
On 2/3/06, Stephen Stagg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On 2 Feb 2006, at 20:57, Patrick H. Lauke wrote:
(and ideally force a download via appropriate MIME settings on the
server to send it as an octet stream).
Doing so would override the local browser's setting. Is this 'a good
thing'? I would have thought that trying to force the browser to do
a particular, non-default, action is rather like setting your text-
size in PX and then writing a script to force Firefox to use those
font-sizes.
YOU may not like the way that PDFs open in the current window, but if
that is the case then configure your browser to open Acrobat
documents in a new window.
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