diff --git a/README b/README
index e69de29bb..af25386aa 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+pdf.js is a technology demonstrator prototype to explore whether the HTML5
+platform is complete enough to faithfully and efficiently render the
+ISO 32000-1:2008 Portable Document Format (PDF) without native code
+assistance.