[DMSmillie]

Originally Posted by Steven Lake

PDF is an international standard, so they'll be hard pressed to move away from it since everyone else will demand it. Personally, I think that whoever is making this recommendation is being paid (aka bribed) by a major software company (I can give you three guess who, but you'll probably get it on the first try) to get away from open source standards and towards someone's closed, vendor locked, proprietary standard so that they can rake in the bucks.

Can I take you up on that bet? Please?

The only recommendation is that "if PDF was used, accessible alternative file formats should be made available." PDF is, itself, a proprietary format, and PDF documents are rarely created using all of the accessibility tools available in Adobe Acrobat. The report referred to in the article linked in the OP was commissioned to assess the accessibility of PDFs for those with disabilities - in particular, for those with sight impairment. The conclusions in the report are as follows:

The findings of the Study raise the need for:

• An updated position on the use of PDF files on government websites; including a review of the use of PDF files when the PDF/UA standard is released and Sufficient Techniques become available to satisfy WCAG 2.0 conformance;
• An internationally-agreed position on the characteristics a PDF file must have for optimal accessibility and a transparent indication of the time and skill required to create such files;
• A study into the impact (cost and resource implications) in creating accessible PDF files;
• Better resources and tools to support people in the creation of accessible PDF files, including clear and centralised guidance for government agencies on:
  • appropriate use of the Portable Document Format;
  • how to optimise PDF files for greater accessibility;
  • the importance of testing PDF files for accessibility;
• Education programs, for authors and publishers of government documents, that include:
  • the impact of inaccessible web content on people with a disability;
  • information about assistive technologies and how they are used;
  • advice on how to author documents for online publication; and
• Government agencies to:
  • examine their use of PDF documents;
  • examine their workflow process in the creation of PDF files;
  • continue to offer a choice of file formats.

Nowhere is there any recommendation to dump PDF in favour of some other, equally proprietary, format.

I've worked with the guys at Vision Australia, the organisation commissioned by the Australian government to carry out the end-user consultations that form a large part of the report, and they have, for many years, campaigned and worked to gain greater acceptance of the need for accessibility on the Web and in digital information generally, and they are in no-one's pocket, I can assure you.

- Donna