The problem
How a web page prints is sometimes an underappreciated part of website design. When overlooked, it can lead to pages printing with unnecessary elements — such as background colours, images or navigation menus. This not only wastes users’ ink and paper, but more critically for the government, also represents a failure to meet the NZ Government Web Standards.
The solution
To help address this, our team turned an internal solution — originally developed for govt.nz, digital.govt.nz and gazette.govt.nz — into an open-source toolkit: PrintReady.
PrintReady can be added to your website with minimal effort, helping to improve accessibility for printed webpages and to comply with the relevant NZ Government Web Standards.
The approach
PrintReady takes a practical approach to print styling. It builds on the browser’s default print stylesheet. Most formatting is handled well by browsers already. The toolkit only adds enhancements where needed.
PrintReady follows the ‘separation of concerns’ principle. Print styles are focused just on printing. Screen styles stay focused on screen display. This helps keep things simple and organised.
Separation of concerns — Microsoft
Why use PrintReady?
Streamlined and adaptable implementation
PrintReady offers a ready-made setup to help you save time and avoid repetitive manual work. This includes pre-built print:
- CSS
- JavaScript files.
The toolkit is split into core generic files and separate site-specific files, so you can quickly adapt it to your website’s unique structure.
This flexibility makes customisation straightforward and efficient, while still benefiting from a consistent core foundation.
Consistency across websites
PrintReady provides a familiar, predictable print experience across all sites that use it.
Content first
PrintReady removes clutter and highlights what matters — the content.
Meet the government Web Standards
PrintReady helps your website comply with section 3.3 of the Web Usability Standard 1.4, which covers requirements for printable web pages.
3.3 Printable web pages — Web Usability Standard 1.4
Optional extras
Optional features of PrintReady include the ability to generate:
- an easily readable list of page links
- contact email addresses and phone numbers
- information about the page being printed.
Getting started
Implementing PrintReady is straightforward. Just follow these steps:
- Visit the GitHub repository.
- Download or clone the toolkit.
- Follow the step-by-step integration guide.
- Customise it for your needs.
- Test how your pages look when printed.
Open-source collaboration for developers
PrintReady welcomes contributions from government development teams in the form of pull requests.
This project has limited support, so response times may vary and community contributions are welcome.
The project is designed primarily for government websites. However, it is not restricted to them. Anyone can use it under the open-source licence.
Try PrintReady
Give PrintReady a try if you want to:
- save time
- improve consistency
- make your website easier to print.
Visit the GitHub repository and follow the guide to get started.
Contact us
If you have questions or comments about PrintReady either:
- add a comment on the discussions tab of the GitHub repository, or
- email: info@digital.govt.nz.
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