Reuben Digital's website is a good example of sustainable web design.  It respects the principles of the Sustainable Web Manifesto - of being clean, efficient, open, honest, regenerative and resilient.

When DESIGNING this website, we considered the following:

  • Writing in an accessible, easy to understand format with no content 'bloat'
  • Clean design - not cluttered by unnecessary images and assets that make page loading slower
  • Simple and intuitive navigation
  • Use of simple fonts, already installed by default on most computers, so avoiding unnecessary HTTP requests
  • Limited colours and background styles, also chosen with accessibility principles in mind

When BUILDING this website, we considered the following:

  • Reduced reliance on third-party plugins to limit unnecessary code bloat
  • Implemented lazy loading for images, ensuring off-screen images only load when needed
  • Replaced JPG and PNG images with scalable vector illustrations and icons to reduce file size
  • Switched to vector-based backgrounds to minimize large image downloads
  • Further reduced vector images file size with optimisation tools
  • Chose a lightweight, efficient web framework to reduce network request sizes
  • Minified CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files to speed up page load times
  • Enabled browser caching for static assets to reduce server requests
  • Optimized font loading to prevent layout shifts during page rendering
  • Use of a single variable font across the site to reduce number and size of requests

 

 

Read More

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by Ray Stephens

Digital Carbon Report 2024

Date: 04 February 2025

I’m thrilled to share our latest carbon report. A huge shoutout to Gill Rixon, our dedicated Sustainability Lead and Green Team champion, whose incredible work has made a tangible difference.

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by Ray Stephens

The benefits of adopting a sustainable business model

Date: 15 January 2025

Sustainable development relies on the three Ps – People, Planet and Profit - working in harmony with each other. In simple terms, this means that businesses must of course be economically profitable to survive, but not at the expense of their impact on people and the planet.

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by Ray Stephens

Is your website contributing to global warming?

Date: 02 January 2025

Digital technologies currently contribute to 4% of global carbon emissions. Compare this to the much-maligned global aviation industry which actually only accounts for 2.4% of carbon dioxide emissions!

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