[jer0me]

Just spitballing, doesn't seem like you're on the team, but a possible solution could be a little popup when you hover over a footnote like Wikipedia has. Or maybe an option to put all the footnotes at the bottom of the document, except when printing.

[mvkel]

Requiring hover/tap for content context isn't good accessibility. Better to just find an alternative to footnotes.

[jonny_eh]

How would hovering work for a non-mouse user?

[jer0me]

Tapping, or perhaps it would appear when the cursor is next to the footnote?

[getcrunk]

+1 for tap/click, even for mouse user