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HTML as an Accessible Format for Papers (2023)

(info.arxiv.org)
262 points el3ctron | 1 comments | 06 Dec 25 14:59 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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vatsachak ◴[06 Dec 25 17:10 UTC] No.46174859[source]▶
Why do we like HTML more than pdfs?

HTML rendering requires you to be connected to the internet, or setting up the images and mathJax locally. A PDF just works.

HTML obviously supports dynamic embedding, such as programs, much better but people just usually post a github.io page with the paper.

replies(4): >>46174901 #>>46174910 #>>46175059 #>>46175448 #
recursive ◴[06 Dec 25 17:16 UTC] No.46174910[source]▶
Why would html rendering require a network connection? It doesn't seem to on my machine.
replies(1): >>46175527 #
vatsachak ◴[06 Dec 25 18:38 UTC] No.46175527[source]▶
Things like LaTeX equation rendering are hosted on a cdn
replies(1): >>46175598 #
krapp ◴[06 Dec 25 18:46 UTC] No.46175598[source]▶
They can be but don't need to be. Any javascript can be localized like HTML and CSS.
replies(1): >>46175961 #
vatsachak ◴[06 Dec 25 19:29 UTC] No.46175961[source]▶
That's fair, but imagine trying to get the average reader up to speed with something like npm.
replies(1): >>46176841 #
1. krapp ◴[06 Dec 25 21:43 UTC] No.46176841{3}[source]▶
You don't actually need npm either. You can literally just distribute everything - html, css, images and js in a zipped folder and open it locally.