Give footnotes the boot
Give footnotes the boot
This article, titled "Give footnotes the boot," argues against the use of footnotes in both print and web media, asserting that they disrupt the reader's flow. It details the poor user experience of footnotes, particularly on the web where they often necessitate extensive scrolling and navigation. Author Jake Archibald proposes several alternatives for presenting supplementary content, such as using parentheses for brief asides, `<section role="note">` for more substantial notes, and `<details>` elements for expandable information. The aim is to provide additional context in a less intrusive and more accessible manner, enabling readers to easily engage with or bypass extra content without losing their position in the main text.
Note
strong and humorous opinion.
point taken though and much more has been written about the most promising solution of https://gwern.net/sidenote.
funnily enough, sidenotes were used by Edward tufte in print.
all that said, bringing together the medium, the content and the audience are worthy considerations from developing the solution to provide extra content.
I for one find the goal of minimizing distraction to be worthy of effort in evolving designs for screens of all sizes.
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