May 2012

Section 508 Compliance: Is Your Website Accessible to People with Disabilities?
Thursday, May 3, 2012
If you haven't checked your website for accessibility, you really should. Though often not the foremost "design" consideration, every aspect from navigation to website text to images to downloadable documents should be available to those who use assistive technology. And if you provide information technology products for the US government, it's a requirement.

January 2012

Digital Signatures on the Rise Worldwide
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
While Europe has seen a steady increase, the United States is slowly adopting digital signatures as more organizations move from paper shuffling to more efficient online processes.

June 2011

PDF Accessibility: Happy 10th Anniversary Section 508
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The first decade of tagging PDF files for accessibility, and what we learned as a PDF accessibility provider.

Developing Standards: The Latest on PDF, PDF/A, PDF/E and PDF/UA
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Determining the future direction of PDF.

May 2011

Antivirus Software: Ask the Hard Question
Monday, May 23, 2011
What to ask an antivirus vendor.

Antivirus Developers Dropped the Ball: PDF is not a Surprise
Friday, May 6, 2011
Antivirus vendors should understand PDF if they claim to scan PDF.

April 2011

Flubbed Redaction Makes Headlines...Again
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Redaction takes the right tools, training and policies, otherwise this will keep happening.

The Fourth Paradigm of Document Capture, part 2
Friday, April 8, 2011
Why PDF and semantics represent the way forwards for document capture.

March 2011

The Fourth Paradigm of Document Capture
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Part 1 in a two-part article on content capture.

February 2011

Kindle: Printed Page Fights Back
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
The popular ebook platform adds "real page numbers".

January 2011

Thinking Beyond the PDF
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Go "Beyond the PDF" without leaving PDF.

You Reap What You Sow: The Australian Government's Report on PDF Accessibility
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Duff Johnson reviews the Australian Government's Report on Accessible PDF

December 2010

Objects and Semantics
Monday, December 20, 2010
The Metaphysics of Electronic Documents

PDF Standards in Real Life
Friday, December 3, 2010
The ISO PDF Conference meets in Ottawa to discuss the future of PDF.

November 2010

REVIEW: 5 Free PDF Readers Compared
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
The definitive industry-insider's review of PDF readers, now updated to include new releases.

Each PDF Page is a Painting
Monday, November 8, 2010
PDF reading order explained - and shown to be irrelevant to accessibility.

October 2010

PDF/UA Introduced at ATIA
Thursday, October 28, 2010
It's the new International Standard for Accessible PDF!

REVIEW: PAC (PDF Accessibility Checker) 1.1
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
This new tool represents an important advance in PDF accessibility - and it's FREE.

When You Think of PDF
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
From the Farmer's Market, a reminder about the most basic value of PDF.

September 2010

Reader Extensions: Read the Fine Print First
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Yes, PDF forms can be saved in Reader, but you might want to check with your lawyer first.

Key Best Practices for Document Scanning
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Some scanned PDFs are way too big. Here's some basic advice on how to scan regular documents.

August 2010

White Paper: How to Implement PDF/A
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
How should PDF/A-aware software interact with PDF/A files?

The iPhone reads PDFs out-loud (sort of)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Now all we need is support for tagged PDF!

Tip: Selecting Text in a PDF
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Sometimes, text-selection isn't obvious. Here are a few tips.

July 2010

The Simplest Way to Share PDF Sticky Notes
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
It's really easy, and it can really help get your work done.

PDF Forms: More than Fields Alone
Monday, July 12, 2010
A cautionary tale of technology oversight.

June 2010

What you don't know about PDF can hurt you
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Perhaps the single most common myth about PDF files is the idea that they are unchangeable? WRONG.

TIP: Linking to a specific page
Thursday, June 10, 2010
A neat little feature for frequently-accessed PDFs.

May 2010

Why PDF?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Why do we need PDF anyhow?

Is PDF an Open Standard?
Friday, May 14, 2010
The reality about Adobe Systems claim to open standards.

Testimony at the US Access Board public hearing on Section 508
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Duff Johnson's testified before the US Access Board to discuss PDF/UA and the ongoing refresh to Section 508.

Mr. Chairman, this testimony is not accessible!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Section 508 enforcement should start in Congress.

April 2010

TIP: How not to worry about PDF metadata
Thursday, April 29, 2010
How to avoid creating PDFs that contain potentially harmful metadata.

No, PDF is NOT owned by Adobe!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Who really owns the PDF format? The answer may surprise you.

March 2010

Word doesn't do Section 508, PDF gets the blame
Monday, March 22, 2010
You can't blame PDF if the source file can't comply with Section 508.

Section 508 and PDF: The Facts
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
10 key facts about making PDF files comply.

REVIEW: Four Free PDF Readers
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
We review Adobe Reader and three free alternatives.

February 2010

What does 'Add Tags' really do?
Friday, February 26, 2010
What does the Add Tags tool in Acrobat Professional do, and why should I care?

The Command-Line: Reliability Never Goes Out of Style
Friday, February 19, 2010
Why command-line software is often the right choice for server implementations.

PDF is Easy. Maybe Too Easy
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Rich media isn't just for fancy websites and Flash developers. Maybe PDF is just too easy, but it still deserves more respect.

January 2010

The Tablet: What it Means for Publishing
Friday, January 22, 2010
What does the coming tablet economy mean for print publishing? An opportunity.

More on Read Out Loud
Friday, January 15, 2010
Some more gripes highlighting how Acrobat's Read Out Loud is ANYTHING but a screen-reader.

Staying Safe with PDF
Monday, January 11, 2010
A reality-check on the reported security vulnerabilities in current releases of Adobe Acrobat and Adobe Reader.

Choosing between PDF and Designer/XFA forms
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
How to choose between "original" PDF forms and the Designer/XFA variety.

December 2009

It “sounded” like a good idea at the time
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Comparing Read Out Loud with a screen reader is like confusing a go-cart with a Toyota pickup.

Follow Appligent via Twitter!
Monday, December 14, 2009
When people ask if you're Twittering, you start to Twitter.

Making PDFs Comply with Section 508: An AUC Tech Talk
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
A live webinar with Appligent Document Solutions CEO Duff Johnson, direct from Adobe headquarters in San Jose.

November 2009

Why PDF is a Black Box for Content Managers
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Traditionally, content managers aren't expected to take responsibility for PDF content. Is this model still viable?

Talking PDF Standards in Orlando
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The recent ISO meetings in Orlando continue the development of the PDF format.

October 2009

Software Review: PDF on the iPhone
Monday, October 12, 2009
There's good and lots of not-so-good in current iPhone software for PDF files.