Should pdf and doc open alone or inside the browser

Hi list

When the web page author needs to link to an application file like pdf
or doc, how should it open?

Should it open inside the browser, which I don't like since the browser
window is already rather small, or should it open in its own application
window?

What are the arguments from an accessibility and usability point of
view?

1) If a web page author links to a pdf file, the link will open Acrobat
Reader inside the browser in IE and Mozilla, but in Opera the Open/Save
dialog opens, which I prefer.

2) With a little server-side programming using a HTTP header, IE and
Mozilla will also open the Open/save dialog.

3) If search engines like Google should index pdf-files, probably based
on link text and filename only (?), the pdf file must look like a file
with the pdf extension that will normally open the application inside
the browser in IE and Mozilla.

4) In my new article, "The logo should not be a link back to the
homepage", www.smackthemouse.com/20040719, I use the pdf extension
(footnote in article), but I rewrite the url server-side and use the
http header to force the open/save dialog in all the three mentioned
browsers.

What are you doing to make the use of application files, like pdf and
doc, the most accessible and usable?

Should the application open inside the browser window or is it best
practice to force the open/save dialog?

Best regards,

Jesper Tverskov
www.smackthemouse.com

 
ps/ I use the pdf as it was provided to me, and I have a long quote from
it in my article. The pdf should only be regarded as an extra service,
since the original HTML file has been deleted.

Received on Tuesday, 20 July 2004 02:45:12 UTC