Converting PDFs to webpages can unlock valuable content

UPDATE: This interview is creating conversation. See: http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/w3c-wai-ig/2012JanMar/thread.html

We were very happy to have the opportunity to talk to Mark Bryant, Systems and Technical Manager for the Victorian Government’s Department of Primary Industries about a major web development project in which the Department made the decision – no more PDFs.

Converting PDFs to webpages results in staggering increase in page views

A striking lack of PDF files differentiates the Victorian Government’s Department of Primary Industries web site from just about every other government and business site in Australia.

Since DPI Systems and Technical Manager Mark Bryant completed a PDF purge in July 2011 the DPI site has also registered an astonishing increase in page views – up 1.6 million per annum from 4.2 million to 5.8 million.

Mark says the reason for the increase in page views is simple – the conversion to HTML and removal of thousands of PDF files has unlocked a vast wealth of useful information, and made it easily searchable and accessible.

“As we converted more and more PDFs to HTML/web format, the stats just kept going up and up until we reached around 1.6 million extra page views per year – it was fantastic.”

Today, the DPI web site has 22,000 pages and just a couple PDF files which have made their way back onto the site – a stark change from 2009, when the site featured 6000 pages and 9000 PDF files.

Accessibility issues

Mark said although PDFs are a convenient tool for web content publishers, they present considerable accessibility challenges for users.

“I think it was part of the cultural change from print to online; PDFs allowed people to create documents as if they were going to be printed, and then save them as a PDF and put them up on the web, a complete re-think was needed.”

Mark said major disadvantages of PDFs include:

• not showing up in search results
• failing Australian Human Rights Commission requirements for being accessible to people with a disability, such as compatibility with screen readers
• penalising people who have slow internet connections
• often extremely large document sizes.

Business case for turning PDFs into HTML

In July 2009 DPI started a major DPI web redevelopment project, focusing on technical upgrades, governance, visual identity, information architecture, and market research.

“Our users were telling us they wanted to do things in a different way, and when we converted a few PDFs to web pages we found the web pages outperformed PDF by as much as 160 to one.

“Initially we tried to create a web page to match each PDF, but in the end we introduced a blanket rule – no PDFs as it was far too difficult to manage both formats,” Mark said.

“There was some resistance, but the business case is pretty simple when you can show that a web page is being read around 160 times more often than a PDF.

“If you are spending money preparing content for the web, then that money is essentially being wasted if that content is locked up in a format people are unwilling to use.”

Team to convert 9000 PDFs

With PDF clearly identified as a barrier to site use and accessibility, Mark established a team of five people responsible for converting 9000 PDF files into web pages.

Starting in July 2010, the conversion team worked with content owners to ensure all relevant content for each PDF was captured – in some cases involving very large PDFs, this required creation of ‘micro sites’.

“No information was discarded, and with all content now in HTML search results work a treat, which means our audience is more likely to find the information they need,” Mark said.

“Now if you want to use a PDF on the DPI web site, you need a pretty good business case, you accept any responsibility, and you make sure its WCAG2 compliant (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), which means you have to have a web version anyway.”

Mobile phone wire frame based on responsive design

We’ve just completed wireframes for the Victoria Legal Aid website redevelopment project. For the first time, we included wireframes to cater for large screen layouts (e.g. desktop computer) and small screen layouts (e.g. mobile phone).

The process we used is widely known as responsive design i.e. how to make the design of your website respond gracefully to different screen sizes.

Here’s some of the things we learned:

• On a small screen, you need to focus on the most important tasks you want the user to complete. There’s no room for waffle.
• There are some elegant options for dealing with site wide navigation on the small screen. We tried using just a small version of the header bar but in the end we redesigned it so that the main menu is accessible via a button. Here’s an interesting article on responsive design navigation patterns.
• Don’t skimp on font size. On small screens you need large fonts that are comfortable to read.

Once the website has been built, we’ll include a link here.

We’ve recently completed a great intranet project for an IT service group.  With an established Intranet already in operation, the task was to create concise and informative intranet content pages detailing the services provided by each team. These page will  be used as a point of reference for new starters and a document portal for established staff.

The challenge for us was getting the raw content from the different team managers.

So we opted for direct intervention. We held a series of face-to-face interviews, which helped managers identify the key elements to include in their pages, and discard any unnecessary padding.

The result was that we got the input we needed to complete the web writing project on time.

Gill, Jonathan and Bek at the launch of spinalhub.com.au

Spinalhub.com.au is a comprehensive resource for people with spinal cord injuries. The website is designed to support and guide people in the positive self-management of their spinal cord injury and their successful participation in the community.

The Briarbird team (Christine, Neil and myself) worked closely with Gill Hilton (from Austin Health: Royal Talbot Rehabilitation Centre) and Bek Fraser (Transport Accident Commission) to help define, develop, adapt and rewrite content for the website. The challenge was making complex medical information easy to understand and keeping a positive tone throughout.

Screenshot of the spinalhub.com.au

Here are the video interviews with the key participants in the project. The videos are also available on Vimeo, just search: Jonathan Roper.
I’ll release a written case study shortly.

How to run an internal blog

Managing and moderating staff involved in internal blogging

Managing the risks in an internal blogging project

Benefits of running an internal blog project

Raising the profile of Internal Comms

I tried to buy a Kindle today, but the button ‘Add to Cart’ wouldn’t work, giving me instead small pop-up window that said ‘To add to Shopping Cart, select your primary country of use in the box on the left.’ Whenever you get a message like this, you know you are in trouble.

Well I searched and searched on the left of the page but couldn’t find any box. Frustrated and about to give up, I found the box finally sitting below in the middle of the screen, as a part of the content.

Now Amazon content pages are always rich and packed full of text and breakouts, but they never contain functional elements relating to buying.

The main issues with the design of this interaction are:

• The customer can’t ‘Add to Cart’ until they perform a function that is buried on the content page – this is unconventional and doesn’t match other online shopping experiences
• A core functional element (or widget) is placed in the content area rather than on either side of the content
• The instruction is wrong – the selection box is in the middle of the page, not the left of the page.

In tech speak, this is really a poor process flow.The obvious solution is to incorporate choice of country as part of the process:

1. Customer clicks on ‘Add to Cart’
2. Customer is then asked to choose country of use
3. ‘Add to Cart’ is completed.

There’s a full report on the session available for members from the Churchill Club but here’s a brief excerpt.

So what are some great eCommerce sites?

Apart from Red Bubble and Catch of the Day, the following websites rated a mention:
Amazon – was considered a great eCommerce offering because of its vast footprint and its heavy used of customer feedback.
Etsy – because of its user interface and allowing customers to shop the way they want to.
Groupon – because of its success in using aggregation of buying power as its business model.
Australia’s Dealsdirect – because of its dominance as an online clearance centre.
Ebay – because of its size, online auction model and its transparency for trends and margins.

Note: Foreign markets were considered to be 3-4 years ahead for e-commerce trends so they are the places to watch.
Some hybrid models are appearing such as MSY which is an e-commerce shop-front with delivery being pick-up from a warehouse.

If you are trying to foster understanding and experience of social media in your organisation, then LinkedIn is a good place to start.

Here are a few tips, designed to get staff using LinkedIn more effectively and boost their understanding and experience with social media.

Search for peers and make personal contact

If you’re scared of those networking events, LinkedIn can help you get out from behind your desk and expand your professional network in a very safe and simple way.

When I went to Prague last year I wanted to meet up with some locals to find out what’s it like working in Prague and find out how they do things there. I used LinkedIn to find people with similar job titles in Prague, then got connected through someone in my network who already knew them.

Here’s what to do:

1. Think of the sort of person you’d like to make contact with related to your role or industry.
2. Use the advanced search to find people working in similar roles. You can search by location, industry, job title and so on.
3. Make initial contact. You can do this through LinkedIn or by simply giving them a call at their workplace (you’ll have all the details you need to get you through their switchboard).

When you look at someone’s profile, you can see how you are connected i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd level. If you are connected by someone you already know, then get them to introduce you.

Find answers

If you search by ANSWER in LinkedIn, you can tap into the collective intelligence. For example, here’s some of the questions that have been asked about social media, with great responses.

Recommend social media monitoring and analysis tools?

What is the future of social and business networks?

Does anyone have any great examples of small businesses using social media?

By checking out answers, you can find and connect with like minded people.

Join groups

Joining a group allows you to see what other professionals in your field are up to.You can search for relevant groups or look at the groups that people in your network are already involved in.

When you join a group it’s a good idea to read back over recent discussions and then start making comments. Your comments can be simple and direct – don’t stress too much if you’re worried you don’t sound like you have a PhD in the area.

You can then have a go at starting some conversations or asking questions to the group.

Not all groups are equal – some are very active while others are almost empty. So you’ll probably need to persist till you find groups that really suit you.

We all get too much email. I’d started culling unwanted email subscriptions as part of a pre-Christmas clean up. But when I came to the oo.com.au newsletter, I was struck with how they addressed this issue head-on. In the header of their email, as you might see in the image above, they write:

Are you receiving too many emails? Click here to choose how often you would like to receive great deals & savings from us.

This simple but direct question led to me changing my subscription to once a week rather than unsubscribing altogether. By confronting a potential customer issue straight on, oo.com.au managed to keep me on their list and keep me happy.

When a girl turns 12 - still from the Girl Effect video

Girleffect.org uses rich online content to get the message across that the situation for girls in poverty is dire but there is a solution. Their online animations aren’t fluff pieces – they convey complex concepts while emotionally engaging the audience. The animation is impressive but more so the underlying script.

Check out: www.girleffect.org/video