Eco-responsible web design E-Book

Grégory Clément

• Herausgeber: BoD - Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 66

Beschreibung

In the vast world of the web, the notion of sustainable development is becoming increasingly important. Beyond simply reducing environmental impact, it also encompasses social and economic aspects, seeking to strike a balance between present needs and long-term imperatives. This book aims to become a tool for those seeking to harmonise the imperatives of web development with the requirements of preserving our planet and the well-being of its inhabitants.

Leseprobe

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CONTEXT

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

THE FOUNDATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE DIGITAL

THE TRAP OF "NO-CODE NO-CODE" PLATFORMS

ECO-DESIGN OF WEBSITES

HTML/CSS/JAVASCRIPT

THE CHOICE OF OPEN SOURCE

WORDPRESS, THE ULTIMATE CMS?

THE CASE OF HEADLESS CMS

RESPONSIBLE HOSTING

PERFORMANCE OPTIMISATION

SETTING UP A CACHING SYSTEM

CORE WEB VITALS: THE GOOGLE METHOD FOR OPTIMISING WEB PERFORMANCE

CHOOSING A WORDPRESS THEME

PAGE BUILDERS

SUSTAINABLE OF CONTENT

DATA DURABILITY

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO) AND CONTENT ORGANISATION

ON THE DESIGN SIDE,

OPT FOR MINIMALISM

3-CLICK RULE

MINIMISE THE CUMULATIVE OFFSET OF THE LAYOUT (

CUMULATIVE LAYOUT SHIFT

)

IMAGE OPTIMISATION

VIDEO AND PODCAST OPTIMISATION

SIMPLIFY FONTS

DELETE EMOTICONS

REL='PRECONNECT' ATTRIBUTE

DEBUG MODE AND LOG COLLECTION

THE DARK MODE

THE PAGE WEIGHT BUDGET METHOD

IMPACT OF ONLINE ADVERTISING AND SUSTAINABLE ALTERNATIVES

ACCESSIBILITY

GRAPHICS AND PUBLICATIONS

WEB SITES

RESPONSIVE DESIGN

OUTLOOK

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITIES ON THE INTERNET

CONCLUSION

APPENDIX CHECKLIST BEFORE PUTTING YOUR SITE ONLINE.

GLOBAL

WORDPRESS

ACCOMMODATION

CONTEXT

In the vast world of the web, the notion of sustainable development is becoming increasingly important. Beyond simply reducing environmental impact, it also encompasses social and economic aspects, seeking to strike a balance between present needs and long-term imperatives.

In this context, sustainable web development aims to create and manage websites that meet user expectations while minimizing their ecological footprint. With the rapid growth of digital technology, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and the production of electronic waste have increased significantly. Websites, as essential components of this digital revolution, make a major contribution to these issues. It is therefore crucial to understand and integrate sustainable development practices to mitigate these negative impacts and encourage a transition towards a more responsible web industry.

The main objective of this document is to provide a deeper understanding of the various aspects of sustainable development as applied to the web. By proposing concrete strategies for designing, developing, and maintaining websites while reducing their impact on the environment, this document aims to guide web professionals, developers, project managers and anyone interested towards more sustainable practices.

Ultimately, this book aspires to become a tool for those seeking to harmonize the imperatives of web development with the demands of preserving our planet. By understanding the issues, adopting responsible practices, and fostering a committed community, we can contribute to the advent of a more sustainable Internet that respects our environment.

Every action counts.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born in 1971, Grégory Clément has been an entrepreneur, author, and speaker in the world of digital communications for over twenty years. After working for major accounts in the automotive, retail and e-commerce sectors, the sustainable and eco-responsible aspects of his job have become increasingly important to him. He now wants to pass on the knowledge and experience he has acquired over the years.

Chapter I

THE FOUNDATIONS OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable development is a holistic approach that aims to balance the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of an activity. In the context of the web, these fundamental principles take on particular importance. This chapter explores the fundamentals of sustainable development, focusing on their application to web development and examining the environmental impact of the digital sector.

UNDERSTAND THE FUNDAMENTAL OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Sustainable development is based on three essential pillars: economic, social, and environmental. On the economic front, it is about guaranteeing the financial viability of projects. Socially, it aims to promote equity, diversity, and the well-being of individuals. Finally, on the environmental side, the aim is to minimize negative impacts on the planet. Applying these principles to web development means designing sites that thrive economically, respect users' rights and minimize their ecological footprint.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF THE DIGITAL

The digital revolution has considerably increased energy demand, mainly due to the data centers that power websites. Greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and the production of electronic waste are also major concerns.

The environmental impact of the digital sector is significant and continues to grow as reliance on technology increases. Here are some key figures to illustrate the scale of this impact:

Energy consumption:

According to

the International Energy Agency

(IEA)

1

, global electricity consumption due to information and communication technologies (ICTs) represents around 1 to 2% of total electricity consumption.

Data centers, which host a large proportion of online services, are responsible for a significant proportion of this consumption. In 2020, they accounted for around 200 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity per year, or almost 1% of global electricity consumption.

Greenhouse gas emissions:

The digital sector generates a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the

Global e-Sustainability Initiative

(GeSI)

2

, direct emissions from the digital sector represented around 1.4% of global GHG emissions in 2020.

Indirect emissions, mainly linked to the manufacture and disposal of electronic equipment and the production of electricity, are also significant.

Production of electronic waste:

The rapid growth of technology is leading to an increase in electronic waste. In 2019, the world generated around 53.6 million tons of e-waste, and this figure is expected to rise as more and more electronic devices are produced and disposed of, according to the

Global E-Waste Monitor

Report

3

.

Water consumption:

The production and cooling of electronic equipment, as well as the extraction of the materials needed to manufacture it, contribute to water consumption

4

. Although this amount is relatively small compared to other sectors, it is not negligible and could become more of a concern as demand for technology increases.

Understanding these impacts is crucial to developing appropriate and sustainable solutions. Choices in web development can help to mitigate these problems, while guaranteeing optimum performance. The challenge now is to lay the foundations for a transition to a digital industry that is more respectful of the environment and socially responsible.

Sustainable web development starts with ethical and responsible design. This includes reducing energy consumption and integrating fair practices throughout the development process. Technological choices, programming languages and site architectures need to be assessed for their impact on sustainability.

THE TRAP OF "NO-CODE NO-CODE" PLATFORMS

When it comes to creating a content site - by which we mean excluding e-commerce platforms and other interfaces with third-party software such as CRM or ERP, where a certain level of technical expertise is required - there are now many possibilities thanks to online solutions such as Wix, SquareSpace, Webly, Podia, Jimdo and many others, the list is long.

These 'no-code' platforms offer real added value in terms of functionality and design, and above all they require no technical knowledge of web development. All you must do is let yourself be guided by their increasingly intuitive interfaces to build your content pages one by one. It's a tempting solution.

However, these platforms do little or nothing to address the three pillars of sustainable development:

Economic pillar.

These are private pay platforms. To use them, you must pay a monthly fee, sometimes a large sum, with no guarantee of full ownership of the data or of the continuity of the service. Open source is preferable.

Social pillar.

Some of these platforms offer the basics of accessibility, but they fall far short of the mark, particularly when it comes to the transparency of customer data. As for the GDPR rules (respect for visitor privacy), they do not apply to platforms outside the European Union.

Environmental pillar.

This pillar is currently partially or completely ignored. There is little data on the quality of hosting servers and their sustainable management, on constant improvements in the use of bandwidth and the management of content quality, or on the optimization of the source code of the pages consulted.