Make the web a better place
As a digital provider committed to minimizing our environmental and societal impact, we felt it was essential to conduct a sustainability assessment of our website development and hosting practices.
Below are the key insights we’ve gained from this process.
Because our mental image of the internet is dematerialized, it gives the impression of something intangible. This idea is reinforced by terms like “the cloud,” making it seem as though our data, websites, and files float autonomously in the sky. However, the reality is quite different: every picture, file, folder, and line of code is stored on physical machines in server farms, which have a considerable environmental impact.
A similar issue arises with accessibility: while we instinctively provide ramps next to stairs, helping those in need, we often overlook that internet users face barriers too.
When talking about making the internet more sustainable, WOOGIE has decided to focus on two key areas: environmental impact and accessibility. To address these, we’ve developed a methodology based on several pillars, which we are sharing here.
Hosting providers
Hosting infrastructures are highly energy-demanding, operating 24/7 and requiring cooling systems to maintain specific temperatures. To better visualize this, imagine your website being stored in a giant fridge that runs non-stop. Hosting provider choices are therefore critical to reducing environmental impact. At WOOGIE, we use Hostinger, a company actively working toward greener hosting practices.
As of 2023, 43% of the energy powering Hostinger’s data centers comes from renewable sources. The company is committed to increasing this percentage, optimizing energy efficiency, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. While some providers may have a stronger environmental record, Hostinger balances sustainability with security and stability.
Hostinger is certified by the Green Web Foundation and is transparent about its sustainability goals in its reports. Additionally, we host most of our websites on shared servers, which are more eco-friendly by maximizing resource efficiency. By sharing server resources, we reduce energy consumption compared to dedicated servers, lowering our overall carbon footprint.
Thoughtful use of media elements
Hosting and serving large media files are energy-intensive, requiring substantial storage space and processing power, both of which consume electricity. By thoughtfully using media elements on the websites we create, we can significantly reduce the amount of data stored and transferred, leading to energy savings.
The term “media” encompasses various elements, including images, videos, and graphic design components. At WOOGIE, we prioritize educating our clients during the design phase about the importance of efficient media usage. We craft tailored designs that align with their visual identity while considering ecological impact.
To minimize the impact of images on websites, we encourage clients to reflect on several key questions before uploading:
- Does this image add genuine value to the user?
- Does it communicate essential information?
- Can you use vectorial elements instead?
By asking these questions, editors can better understand the significance of each image and reduce their website's environmental footprint.
Additionally, we have implemented several practical measures to support this effort: constraint media size through CMS, providing tool for image conversion and formatting, lazy loading, content delivery network (CDN) and specific for videos management.
Development techniques
In addition to this, we also implement a range of smart technologies and development techniques to make greener websites.
- Minifying the code – we optimize the code by removing unnecessary elements, to make the file as light as possible.
- Responsive design – from the early stage of the process; we make sure our designs are optimized for all platform, so we don’t have to build separate mobile and desktop versions.
- Serving pre-generated static pages from the server – imagine a 6-year-old child, asking the same question repeatedly. It’s exhausting. That’s what traditional content management system do with hosting infrastructures and that consumes a lot of energy too. With Static Site Generation (SSG) and Next.js framework we limit the number of queries, so all users consult the same pre-built static pages, instead of generating them from scratch for every visitor.
Accessibility and Inclusion
At WOOGIE, we prioritize accessibility in our web development process to ensure that everyone can access and engage with our websites, regardless of their abilities or location, by implementing key guidelines and best practices:
- Comply with WCAG (web content accessibility guidelines);
- Use semantic HTML to structure the content and make them accessible through keyboard navigation;
- Ensure highly contrasted color choices, making our websites easier to read for users with visual impairment;
- Implement ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles to improve accessibility for dynamic content, ensuring that assistive technologies can interpret it effectively;
- Brief our client on the need of creating websites that are representative of the diversity of our society and respectful of everyone.
While WOOGIE is dedicated to making a meaningful impact through sustainable practices and clear guidance, the final decisions often lie with our clients. We guide them toward responsible choices, but their unique needs and preferences ultimately shape the outcome. In our view, the responsibility to create digital platforms that are sustainable rests on both clients and providers. We’re fully committed to doing our part in this shared effort.