Monday - April 27, 2009

Welcome to News For You, the e-newsletter for communicators in charge of health, wellness and benefits information.

Would you like to share your communication insight and successes with us? We’d love to get your perspective. Send us an email at NewsForYou@...

This issue’s articles will help you:

Realize what Plain Language is not.
The Plain Language movement is wrought with misconceptions. Before you take action to get your messages read and understood the first time, understand three mistaken beliefs. Read on...

Get employees to consider non-monetary retirement issues.
Finances often take center stage when employees prepare to retire, but it's wise to add a "life planning" component to your retirement education mix. Read on...

Wake up to the problem of sleep deprivation.
Discussing proper sleep practices and ways to unwind can bring about improved productivity and better morale. Here are four tips to help shape your message. Read on...

What do you want to know about? E-mail us your story idea at NewsForYou@...

6 Reasons Why PDFs Are Useful

If you archive health, wellness and benefits information online, or if you attach large files (booklets, manuals, etc.) to e-mails sent to employees, you're probably familiar with "portable document files" (PDFs). Still, some confusion pervades the PDF world, so here's basic information, plus reasons why you can benefit from using PDFs:

The PDF is a "read only" file format—it can be opened, but not altered. This makes it suitable for many situations where document authenticity is important. Some PDFs are interactive forms, so the reader can complete information, save the file and return it to the sender. Adobe Acrobat Reader is the most common free program that allows you to view PDFs, and the software is often pre-installed on computers. (The current version is Adobe Acrobat 9.)

1. PDFs print better than Web pages.

2. PDFs can be made small, making them usable in low bandwidth environments.

3. PDFs can have hypertext links, meaning they can link to other resources on the Internet.

4. PDFs can bundle fonts when they're saved, making them useful for storing and delivering digital photos and illustrations.

5. PDFs can be encrypted so that a password is needed to view or edit the contents, if security of the document matters.

6. PDFs can be indexed (read and catalogued) by major search engines, which can help your company's search engine rankings.

About HOPE Health

HOPE Health is your source for workplace employee wellness and benefit communications. We publish the award-winning HOPE Health Letter and a completely integrated line of Ready-to-Use communication materials. Our Custom Media division delivers expertly crafted and designed communication materials just for your workplace.