Duff has published dozens of articles since the late 1990s to help educate IT executives, CIOs, developers and others on PDF, accessibility and electronic document technology. This page includes links to most of Duff’s feature-length articles in approximate chronological order (newest at top).
Most of the older articles are now maintained on TalkingPDF.org. Most writing since 2016 or so is posted on the PDF Association website, and may not be linked from here.
Lists: Contrasting HTML with PDF
Climbing the Matterhorn (on pdfa.org)
Interest in PDF vs. other formats
From the Seattle Technical Conference (on pdfa.org)
It Just Works! PDF Turns 20 (on pdfa.org)
The Argument for Skipping Heading Levels
PDF may be Web Content, but it’s Always PDF (on CommonLook.com)
Developing a Business Case for Accessible PDF (on CommonLook.com)
Why Web Managers Hate (and thus ignore) PDF (on CommonLook.com)
ISO 14289-1:2012 (PDF/UA) is here! (on CommonLook.com)
WCAG 2.0 and PDF/UA – Your Questions Answered (on CommonLook.com)
WebAIM’s Survey: Headings Matter to Users of Assistive Technologies (on CommonLook.com)
What’s EPUB in a PDF World? (on CommonLook.com)
HTML vs. OOXML (MS Word) vs. PDF vs. PDF/UA (on CommonLook.com)
What is PDF/UA? 5 reasons why it matters (on CommonLook.com)
What Follows WCAG 2.0 (on CommonLook.com)
Defining “Heading” in HTML and PDF (on CommonLook.com)
Heading Levels: Navigation or Decoration? (on CommonLook.com)
The Section 508 Refresh Takes a Far Too Expansive View of WCAG 2.0 (on CommonLook.com)
You Reap What You Sow: The Australian Government’s Report on PDF Accessibility
Accessibility – What PDF/A-1a really means (on pdfa.org)
REVIEW: 5 Free PDF Readers Compared
Reader Extensions: Read the Fine Print First
White Paper: How to Implement PDF/A
PDF Forms: More than Fields Alone
What you don’t know about PDF can hurt you
No, PDF is NOT owned by Adobe!
Word doesn’t do Section 508, PDF gets the blame (on PlanetPDF)
The Command-Line: Reliability Never Goes Out of Style
The Tablet: What it Means for Publishing
PDF on the iPhone: The First Swipe (on PlanetPDF)
Understanding Acrobat’s Optimizer (on AcrobatUsers.com)
Make your PDFs work well with Google (on AcrobatUsers.com)
The PDF Prescription for Health Care Cost Control
How Reader Extensions Should be Sold (on PlanetPDF)
PDF is Green Tech for Your Office (on PlanetPDF)
The content that endures: What to know about PDF/A
PDF goes to ISO: The road ahead
REVIEW: PDF Bookmarks: Surveying the options (originally written for AcrobatUsers.com)
PDF Goes to ISO: Some Background
PDF in Government (originally written for AcrobatUsers.com)
PDF Usability: Debate and Reality (originally written for AcrobatUsers.com)
Acrobat Bookmarks: Why and How (originally written for AcrobatUsers.com)
Maximizing PDF Usability (on AcrobatUsers.com)
Digital Signatures with PDF and Acrobat (on AcrobatUsers.com)
REVIEW: A Survey of Redaction Tools (on AcrobatUsers.com)
What are “PDF tags” and why should I care? (on AcrobatUsers.com)
REVIEW: CVISION’s PdfCompressor: Squeeze your PDFs, and more (on PlanetPDF)
Legacy Content Conversion: Generating citations, revenue and goodwill from your publication history (originally written for Journal Publishing)
REVIEW: ARTS PDF’s Aerialist Pro
REVIEW: First Impressions of Acrobat 7.0 (on PlanetPDF)
Accessible PDF: A Strategic Review
Strategies for PDF Accessibility: Tagged PDF vs Accessibility for the Masses
PDF files can comply with Section 508. Now it’s your move.
PDF Online 101 – A Crash Course
New Life for Old Content (originally written for Electronic Publishing)
REVIEW – Adobe Acrobat 5.0: “Focus on the Document” (on PlanetPDF)
REVIEW: Acrobat Capture 3.0x: Adobe Fires Back, Nearly Misses (on PlanetPDF)