Content Style Guide: Documents

One of the best ways to ensure that our website is user-friendly is to follow industry best practices, keep the content focused on key user tasks, and keep our content up-to-date at all times.

Be selective about providing content via linked documents.

PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. –  these formats are hard to keep up-to-date and may be a barrier for some users. If content is important, it should probably just be presented directly on the webpage. If you’re concerned about offering a print-friendly option for handouts, the webpages themselves are designed and optimized to be printer friendly.

Some appropriate times to offer a linked document

  • Fillable forms (although also consider setting up an electronic form)
  • Complex data
  • White papers

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Credits

Guide content originally created by Suzanne Chapman for the University of Illinois Libraries. Licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons By 4.0 license.

  • Last Updated: May 2, 2025 12:16 PM
  • URL: https://libguides.gvsu.edu/styleguide