1. Best Practices
  2. PDFs and Digital Documents as Web Content

PDFs and Digital Documents as Web Content

Why PDFs aren't great for sharing information online

  • PDFs are designed for print, not the web. They don’t resize well for phones and tablets, so users often have to pinch and scroll to read them. More than half of web traffic is mobile.
  • They may be inaccessible: Unless care is taken to ensure accessibility, a digital document may create a barrier to the information for some users.
  • Slow to load: They can be slow and large. Embedded images and graphics make PDFs bigger and slower to load, which affects users with limited bandwidth.
  • Hard to update: Changing content or fixing broken links in a PDF is cumbersome. Uploading a new file can break existing links, and old versions may remain accessible if not removed.
  • Low search rankings: HTML pages are easier for search engines to index and usually perform better in search results.
  • Retention, management, and use by AI agents: They cause retention and accuracy problems. Outdated PDFs left on servers can confuse users and be scraped by AI agents, which may then surface incorrect information.
  • Limited usage tracking: We can usually only count downloads or opens, not how people interact with the content.

Put important information directly on web pages using semantic HTML so it’s accessible, searchable, and mobile-friendly. This improves usability, accessibility, search ranking, and reduces the chance of outdated or hard-to-find information.

When a PDF is appropriate

Use a PDF only when necessary — for example, printable forms, official meeting minutes, letter templates, or academic papers that need a stable, fixed layout. If you must publish a PDF, follow the accessibility and publishing practices below.

Making PDFs accessible

Create PDFs with accessibility in mind. At minimum:

See the Creating Accessible PDFs tutorial on the Accessibility Hub for further guidance.

What to do when you publish a PDF

  • Add an executive summary on the web page so users can decide whether to download the file.
  • If the PDF is a printable version of site content, say that clearly.
  • Use descriptive link text and include the file type and size, e.g., "Document Name (PDF 500 KB)".
  • Use icons or visual cues to show a link downloads a file.
  • Use clear, descriptove file names.
  • Include a publication date or version number inside the document 
  • Include only essential links in the PDF content. 

Create a review and retention policy

  • Review the documents posted to your web server quarterly, at least.
  • Monitor documents that are time-limited and remove or update them when they are no longer accurate.
  • Check links to PDFs hosted on other sites. External documents can be removed or renamed and cause broken links on your site.

Linking to documents on other websites

hen referring to documents hosted elsewhere, link to the web page that provides access to the document rather than linking directly to the PDF. That reduces the chance of broken links if the document file is renamed or moved.