On an experimental basis, I'm working with a visiting student to distribute born-digital html-based articles as "stand alone" files that include all assets and are easily downloaded. See:
https://isawnyu.github.io/isaw-papers-xhtml-standalone/
They key is that images are included as base64-encoded data urls. The strategic goal is to explore #ScholarlyHTML as an open and easily parseable equiv to PDF. More work to do, but I'm pleased with her progress.