PDF is short for ‘Portable Document Format’. It is a digital format for saving files that don’t lose their formatting and can be easily shared and printed.
We publish 100s of PDFs on our Nationwide and TMW (The Mortgage Works) websites. While we try to make PDFs as accessible as possible, there are problems with the PDF format that prevent us from meeting some requirements in our digital accessibility standard.
Deciding when to use PDF
HTML is the most accessible format to use for digital content. It should always be the first choice for publishing content online.
However, sometimes it’s not appropriate to publish content in HTML, and you may decide to use PDF instead.
Is the content being printed?
If you print the content, then PDF is an appropriate format to use.
If the content is also to be published online, you’ll need to make sure the PDF is as accessible as possible.
Use our guide on How to make a PDF accessible for support and guidance.
Is it lengthy, complex content?
When the content is lengthy or complex, publishing it as web pages (HTML) may not make sense. In these cases, it is appropriate to use PDF rather than HTML.
For example, our Annual Reports and Accounts information consists of over 300 pages. Producing this content as web pages would be unmanageable. By using the PDF format, it is more efficient to produce and easier for users to consume.
Is it legacy content?
If legacy content is already in PDF format, there is no requirement to make the PDF accessible until:
- updates to the design or content are necessary, or
- a customer requests an accessible version.
When this happens, consider using an alternative format, such as HTML. Or, if you aren’t sure what changes you’ll need to make to the PDF, use our guides:
Is it automatically generated content?
If the content is generated automatically as a PDF, you may not have any control over its use.
Sometimes, older or legacy systems automatically generate PDFs that are not accessible. This is often due to the templates used to produce them.
Where possible, you’ll need to:
- Adjust the software application templates
You’ll need to add the relevant code or change the visual and content design in the template. - Use a more accessible format
Longer-term, you’ll need to consider ways to provide the content in a more accessible format, such as HTML.
Does a supplier provide the content?
Often, PDFs provided by suppliers are inaccessible.
If you’re working with a supplier who provides content in PDF format, you’ll need to make them aware of our accessibility standards. You must ask them to provide the following:
- an accessible PDF version, or
- the content in a more accessible format, such as HTML.
For more guidance, please go to our Working with PDF suppliers guide.
Could the content be converted to a webpage (HTML)?
If the content already exists in PDF format, consider converting it into HTML.
Often, when content contains legal or regulatory copy, internal processes may restrict converting content into HTML format.
However, this is not a reason to keep doing things in a particular way. Longer term, we must rely on something other than PDFs. Our processes must evolve to publish content in a more accessible format.