Section 4.7 Make it easy to share and print

With roughly 7 out of 10 people in the U.S. using social media platforms⁹⁷ — like Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn — it’s important to give people the opportunity to share content on socials. People may also want to share content they’re interested in with their friends and family via text message or chat apps like WhatsApp, Signal, or Snapchat. Alternately, there is a subset of adults who want to share information offline — by printing it out. 

Make sure content is fast and easy to share

Make it easy to share your content by providing a “copy link” or “share” button so users can easily grab a link to your content. Avoid cluttering your site by overusing these buttons — only include them for content you expect users will want to share. 

Make web content printer-friendly

Many web users with limited literacy skills prefer to print pages from a website rather than read text on a computer screen. They may also want to share health information with family members or friends who don’t have access to a computer. That’s why it’s important to make sure your content is ready to print.

Use print buttons for pages designed specifically for printing

For pages meant to be printed (like a list of questions to bring to the doctor’s office), prompt users with a print button. Make the print button or icon clearly visible on each page. If possible, give users the option to print a single page, a complete section, or just a portion of the text. 

Make printed content user-friendly

Follow these design guidelines:

• Use a lot of white space, good color contrast, and clear headings on each page.
• Specify a print style sheet that will only be used when the user clicks to print the page.
• Design your site with fluid, percentage-based widths that allow for printing from a range of devices.
• If your site has page numbers, make sure that printing will override them — or give users a “view all pages” option.^{98, 99}