Don't Limit Readers

Looking back at my own habits: with a long document, I always preview it online and then download it to read locally with my own tools. If the original is HTML, I tend to read it right in the browser, and that’s the best experience. If the original is a PDF and the site “opens” it with some kind of viewer, the experience is usually poor, both in efficiency and in reading. I always end up downloading the PDF, because it’s smooth locally and I can use tools I know better.

So I don’t want to try to keep readers on my site. No matter how well it’s optimized, don’t hold them there. Just give them the tools, and leave them free not to use those tools, no conditions attached.