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Answer: Fight the impulse to fill the page. White space enhances readability, helps emphasize important points, and shows which information is related.

Print (SEC handbook)

• A wide left or right margin can make the document easier to read.
• White space between sections or subsections helps readers recognize which information is related.

Web (U.S. Web Design System)

• Use less whitespace to group elements and more to distinguish them from each other.
• Don't indent paragraphs; use at least 1em of whitespace between them, and at least 0.5em between list items.
• Headings should be closer to the text they introduce than to the text before them: use at least 1.5 times the whitespace above a heading as below it.

Headings (CDC Clear Communication Index)

Headings are visually distinct from body text; leave more space above a heading than below.

See also

• plain-line-length-and-spacing
• plain-heading-types

Claims

• id: C1 claim: SEC: white space enhances readability. source: S1 evidence: "Generous use of white space on the page enhances readability"

• id: C2 claim: SEC: resist filling the page. source: S1 evidence: "You should fight the impulse to fill up the entire page"

• id: C3 claim: USWDS: more space above headings than below. source: S2 evidence: "Use at least 1.5 times the amount of whitespace above the heading as below it."

• id: C4 claim: CCI: more space above a heading than below. source: S3 evidence: "Leave more space above a heading than below."

Sources

• [S1] A Plain English Handbook. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/pdf/handbook.pdf . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-09.

• [S2] Typography. U.S. Web Design System (GSA). https://designsystem.digital.gov/components/typography/ . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-09.

• [S3] CDC Clear Communication Index: User Guide. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://www.cdc.gov/ccindex/pdf/clear-communication-user-guide.pdf . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-09.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Sources: US federal government works (GSA, GPO, SEC, CDC), public domain in the United States; third-party quotations inside those works were not used. Text was condensed and changed from the originals.

@misc{iil_note_8ck2se9b,
  author = {{iinventedlight}},
  title = {{Use white space to group and separate content}},
  howpublished = {iinventedlight Library},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-11-09},
  url = {https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/plain-white-space-and-heading-spacing/},
  note = {Permanent ID iil:note:8ck2se9b. License: CC-BY-4.0.},
}

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