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Attach a MS Word document to a PDF that will be viewed on the web

Enthusiast ,
Mar 04, 2021 Mar 04, 2021

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I want to attach an MS Word document to a PDF file. The PDF will be uploaded to a web site. 

If the PDF is viewed on the web will people be able to click on the embedded Word document and either view it on the web or download it to their computer?

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General troubleshooting , How to

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Community Expert , Mar 04, 2021 Mar 04, 2021

Wow.

This could have a nightmare of consequences!

 

First, most browsers do not fully handle PDF files. They might render the content of the PDF in the browser, but not give the user full access to it, such as for accessibility, filling in forms, executing buttons, and other common tasks. In this situation, I doubt they'd be able to open the attached Word.

 

Second, users might have a PDF-viewer plug-in in the browser, which should then give them more functions, like opening an attached Word fil

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Community Expert ,
Mar 04, 2021 Mar 04, 2021

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Wow.

This could have a nightmare of consequences!

 

First, most browsers do not fully handle PDF files. They might render the content of the PDF in the browser, but not give the user full access to it, such as for accessibility, filling in forms, executing buttons, and other common tasks. In this situation, I doubt they'd be able to open the attached Word.

 

Second, users might have a PDF-viewer plug-in in the browser, which should then give them more functions, like opening an attached Word file. But you do not know what the user's browser set up is.

 

Third, depending upon the user's settings, the PDF might authomatically be downloaded to their computer and the user might newer see it displayed in the browser at all. Hopefully, they'll notice a download arrow or some other indicator that the file was downloaded, but most average computer users I've observed just think that nothing happened and never know about the download.

 

Fourth, the only solid way to make this work is to give the user detailed instructions:

  1. Download the file to your computer.
  2. Open it with Adobe Acrobat Reader or other version of Acrobat.

 

I'm not sure if all PDF-viewers (non-Adobe viewers, that is) will be able to handle the attached Word file.

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer & Technologist for Accessible Documents
|    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

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Enthusiast ,
Mar 04, 2021 Mar 04, 2021

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Is there a recommended browser for viewing PDFs?

(I usually use Chrome and it has worked pretty well for me.)

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Community Expert ,
Mar 04, 2021 Mar 04, 2021

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To the best of my knowledge, no browser yet fully supports the PDF and PDF/UA-1 standards (ISO 32000 and ISO 14289). Plus, your experience with the PDF in a browser depends upon which 3rd-party plug-ins you've added, too, if any.

 

Bottom line: use what gives you the best user experience.

 

|    Bevi Chagnon   |  Designer & Technologist for Accessible Documents
|    Classes & Books for Accessible InDesign, PDFs & MS Office |

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