Comments on: Stop using PDF and MS-Word Forms http://manwithnoblog.com/2010/05/13/stop-using-pdf-and-ms-word-forms/ Gary Barber rants on user experience, and the controlled chaos of the Web Industry Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:05:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Guy Park http://manwithnoblog.com/2010/05/13/stop-using-pdf-and-ms-word-forms/comment-page-1/#comment-13224 Guy Park Fri, 14 May 2010 00:57:24 +0000 http://manwithnoblog.com/?p=1363#comment-13224 Nice Post Gary. This article is quite interesting. PDF's I can let slide at some degree but MS-Docs, particularly the .docx formats, can not stand people using, it's too proprietary to Microsoft. The use of the Pros and Con titles we're a bit confusing but other than that, the article gets to the point fantastically well. Nice Post Gary.

This article is quite interesting. PDF’s I can let slide at some degree but MS-Docs, particularly the .docx formats, can not stand people using, it’s too proprietary to Microsoft.

The use of the Pros and Con titles we’re a bit confusing but other than that, the article gets to the point fantastically well.

]]> By: Gary Barber http://manwithnoblog.com/2010/05/13/stop-using-pdf-and-ms-word-forms/comment-page-1/#comment-13218 Gary Barber Thu, 13 May 2010 06:31:09 +0000 http://manwithnoblog.com/?p=1363#comment-13218 @jennifer - funny the issues with these types of PDF form Services is that it assumes you have the latest PDF reader. For instance I just get a blank page when I access their example forms. Then there is the Accessibility aspect. Professionally it would be just as easy to use a form builder CMS module to create your own web forms and not use a third party product that is going to block some potential clients. It comes down to testing with your audience. @jennifer – funny the issues with these types of PDF form Services is that it assumes you have the latest PDF reader. For instance I just get a blank page when I access their example forms.

Then there is the Accessibility aspect. Professionally it would be just as easy to use a form builder CMS module to create your own web forms and not use a third party product that is going to block some potential clients.

It comes down to testing with your audience.

]]> By: Jennifer Juergen http://manwithnoblog.com/2010/05/13/stop-using-pdf-and-ms-word-forms/comment-page-1/#comment-13215 Jennifer Juergen Thu, 13 May 2010 05:07:38 +0000 http://manwithnoblog.com/?p=1363#comment-13215 We had all our PDF forms created at http://www.pleht.com We haven't sent or received a fax since, and the forms can be filled out and saved. Our clients are happy. Different forms technologies meet different needs. For us, PDF forms was the way to go. We had all our PDF forms created at http://www.pleht.com We haven’t sent or received a fax since, and the forms can be filled out and saved. Our clients are happy. Different forms technologies meet different needs. For us, PDF forms was the way to go.

]]> By: Alfred Low http://manwithnoblog.com/2010/05/13/stop-using-pdf-and-ms-word-forms/comment-page-1/#comment-13213 Alfred Low Thu, 13 May 2010 02:23:49 +0000 http://manwithnoblog.com/?p=1363#comment-13213 Gary I spoke to a ATO rep on the phone to ask whether the PDF form I faxed two weeks ago had been received. She said that there wasn't any entry in my records that the ATO had received the form. However, she said, "This doesn't mean that the form has not been received. It just means that maybe it hasn't been entered into the system. However, I can't tell you categorically that the form has or has not been received." Sigh... I wonder how much it would cost and what the long-term savings would be if the ATO deployed live web-forms instead of PDF forms? Gary

I spoke to a ATO rep on the phone to ask whether the PDF form I faxed two weeks ago had been received.

She said that there wasn’t any entry in my records that the ATO had received the form.

However, she said, “This doesn’t mean that the form has not been received. It just means that maybe it hasn’t been entered into the system. However, I can’t tell you categorically that the form has or has not been received.”

Sigh…

I wonder how much it would cost and what the long-term savings would be if the ATO deployed live web-forms instead of PDF forms?

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