Filter
the
available
WSG
success
criteria
upon
certain
settings
Abstract
Web
Sustainability
Guidelines
(
WSG
)
covers
a
wide
range
of
recommendations
for
making
websites
and
products
more
sustainable.
Following
these
guidelines
which
utilize
planetary,
people,
and
prosperity
(
PPP
)
principles
throughout
the
decision-making
processes,
you
can
minimize
your
environmental
impact
through
a
mixture
of
user-centered
design,
performant
web
development,
renewable
infrastructure,
sustainable
business
Strategy,
and
(with
metrics)
various
combinations
of
those
mentioned.
It
should
be
noted
that
these
guidelines
will
not
address
every
possible
mechanism
or
Strategy
to
become
sustainable,
as
such,
these
guidelines
(which
are
notably
Web
orientated
and
focused)
should
be
seen
as
a
starting
point
in
a
sustainability
journey
(coverage
does
not
extend
for
example
to
manufacturing
or
shipping
of
physical
products).
Following
these
guidelines
will
often
make
Web
content
more
accessible,
usable,
and
performant
as
a
by-product.
To
use
these
guidelines,
it
is
highly
recommended
that
you
take
a
methodical
approach.
Rather
than
working
through
the
entire
document
and
broadly
attempting
to
apply
everything
held
within
to
your
project
or
service,
scroll
through
the
table
of
contents
to
find
a
guideline
that
appeals
to
either
your
skill
set
or
that
you
(based
upon
the
impact
/
effort
rating)
feel
comfortable
in
attempting
to
tackle.
Sustainable
change
is
measured
in
progress
over
perfection
and
by
breaking
down
the
specification
into
achievable
goals
based
upon
guidelines
or
even
success
criteria,
you
can
more
easily
progress
toward
long-term
targets.
Guideline
examples
and
resources
may
also
provide
implementation
guidance
while
benefits
can
help
justify
their
usage
to
management.
Status
of
This
Document
This
is
a
preview
Do
not
attempt
to
implement
this
version
of
the
specification.
Do
not
reference
this
version
as
authoritative
in
any
way.
Instead,
see
https://w3c.github.io/sustainableweb-wsg/
for
the
Editor's
draft.
This
section
describes
the
status
of
this
document
at
the
time
of
its
publication.
A
list
of
current
W3C
publications
and
the
latest
revision
of
this
technical
report
can
be
found
in
the
W3C
standards
and
drafts
index
.
This
document
has
been
reviewed
by
Interest
Group
members
and
interested
parties.
This
is
a
draft
document
which
may
be
updated,
replaced,
or
obsoleted
by
other
documents
at
any
time.
It
is
inappropriate
to
cite
this
document
as
other
than
a
work
in
progress.
The
Interest
Group's
role
in
publishing
is
to
draw
attention
to
the
specification
and
to
promote
its
widespread
deployment.
By
publishing
these
guidelines,
the
Interest
Group
does
not
expect
that
the
work
produced
in
this
specification
will
affect
the
work
undertaken
by
other
W3C
sustainability,
accessibility,
or
performance
groups.
The
Interest
Group
will
continue
to
track
these
Working,
Interest,
and
Community
Groups
as
appropriate.
This
specification
closely
aligns
itself
with
the
principles
laid
down
for
Web
Platform
Design
[
design-principles
],
Privacy
[
privacy-principles
],
the
Ethical
Web
[
ethical-web-principles
],
and
Human
Rights
[
HR-Spec
].
To
provide
feedback
regarding
this
specification,
the
preferred
method
is
using
GitHub.
It
is
free
to
create
a
GitHub
account
to
file
issues.
Comments
received
on
the
specification
cannot
result
in
changes
to
this
version
of
the
guidelines
but
may
be
addressed
in
errata
or
future
versions
of
WSG
.
A
list
of
issues
filed
as
well
as
archives
of
previous
mailing
list
public-sustainableweb@w3.org
(
archive
)
discussions
are
publicly
available.
There
is
currently
no
preliminary
interoperability
or
implementation
report,
however
one
of
the
key
tasks
of
this
Interest
Group
is
to
examine
the
potential
for
better
models
for
digital
sustainability
that
can
feed
into
tooling
(and
thus
into
large
studies
of
implementations)
that
can
be
reported
upon
and
fed
back
into
guidance
for
the
Web
Sustainability
Guidelines.
Publication
as
an
Editor's
Draft
does
not
imply
endorsement
by
W3C
and
its
Members.
This
is
a
draft
document
and
may
be
updated,
replaced,
or
obsoleted
by
other
documents
at
any
time.
It
is
inappropriate
to
cite
this
document
as
other
than
a
work
in
progress.
The
Web
Sustainability
Guidelines
(
WSG
)
promote
good
sustainability
best
practices
based
on
the
latest
evidence
and
research.
WSG
apply
to
applications,
websites,
and
other
Internet-related
products
and
services.
The
guidelines
feature
Success
Criteria
you
MUST
comply
with,
and
provide
other
features
that
can
help
with
decision-making
and
implementation.
Digital
sustainability
is
a
complex
topic,
so
the
best
guidance
may
change
over
time,
and
other
considerations
(such
as
non-digital
factors)
should
be
taken
into
account.
1.1
Background
on
WSG
In
1999,
Web
Content
Accessibility
Guidelines
[
WCAG22
]
defined
a
set
of
baseline
guidance
for
Web
content
developers
and
creators
of
authoring
tools,
with
the
primary
goal
of
promoting
Web
accessibility
through
the
adoption
of
inclusive
strategies.
Through
a
similar
methodology,
the
Web
Sustainability
Guidelines
promote
planetary,
people,
and
prosperity
best
practices
based
on
measurable,
evidence-based
research;
aimed
at
end-users,
stakeholders,
website
or
application
creators,
tool
authors,
tool
authors,
educators,
students,
policymakers,
purchasing
agents,
product
owners,
managers,
and
decision-makers,
with
the
primary
goal
of
reducing
harm
to
the
wider
ecosystem
(regarding
people
and
the
planet)
through
sustainable
Strategy
adoption.
For
those
unfamiliar
with
sustainability
issues
relating
to
the
Web,
consider
that
many
variables
[
VARIABLES
]
may
contribute
to
waste
or
emissions
being
produced
online.
The
way
data
is
sent
or
received
between
client
and
server.
Hosting,
environments,
arrays,
and
infrastructure.
Consumer
devices,
components,
and
variability
in
conditions.
Software
like
Web
browsers
(rendering
engines
and
code),
operating
systems,
assistive
tools,
and
applications.
Human-centered
design
features
include
legislation,
accessibility,
and
the
vast
field
of
usability.
Development
workflows,
business
operations,
and
tooling.
The
visitor's
user's
equipment,
environment,
and
behavior.
Web
Sustainability
Guidelines
(
WSG
)
is
developed
in
cooperation
with
individuals
and
organizations
around
the
world.
It
does
so
intending
to
provide
a
shared
Strategy
for
Web
sustainability
that
meets
the
needs
of
individuals,
organizations,
and
governments
internationally.
WSG
is
designed
to
apply
broadly
to
different
existing
Web
technologies
and
to
be
testable
with
a
combination
of
automated
testing
and
human
evaluation.
Web
sustainability
depends
not
only
on
sustainable
websites
and
products
but
also
on
sustainable
Web
browsers
and
other
user
agents,
examples
include
the
performance
of
rendering
and
the
accurate
measuring
of
website
energy
use
through
developer
tooling.
Authoring
tools
also
have
an
important
role
in
Web
sustainability,
by
ensuring
performant
code,
reducing
waste,
and
the
results
are
served
in
the
most
sustainable
way
possible.
Significant
challenges
were
encountered
in
finding
existing
research
data
to
both
identify
and
establish
guidance
for
all
the
variables
that
affect
Web
sustainability,
which
came
as
no
surprise
with
the
subject
being
such
an
emerging
and
rapidly
evolving
field.
Work
will
continue
in
this
area
in
future
versions
of
WSG
.
Note
The
WSG
were
originally
developed
under
the
guidance
of
the
Sustainable
Web
Design
Community
Group
.
W3C
Community
Groups
act
as
incubator
hubs
where
ideas
for
new
technologies
and
standards
can
be
discussed
without
formal
constraints.
Over
two
years
with
the
help
of
over
100
subject
matter
experts
from
around
the
globe,
the
group
created
the
first
draft,
and
subsequently
through
GitHub
and
regular
meetings
continued
over
another
year
to
progress
the
WSG
and
its
supplements
to
a
level
of
maturity
in
which
the
group
and
its
work
were
ready
to
become
a
part
of
the
W3C
family
(where
this
specification
continues
being
developed
to
this
day).
1.2
WSG
layers
of
guidance
The
individuals
and
organizations
that
use
WSG
vary
widely
and
include
Web
designers
and
developers,
policymakers,
purchasing
agents,
teachers,
and
students.
To
meet
the
varying
needs
of
this
audience,
several
layers
of
guidance
are
provided
including
general
guidelines,
testable
success
criteria,
impact
and
effort
ratings,
advisory
potential
benefits,
documented
examples,
Global
Reporting
Initiative
(
GRI
)
ratings,
evidence-based
links,
and
category
tags.
All
of
these
layers
of
guidance
(guidelines,
success
criteria,
impact,
effort,
benefits,
reporting,
examples,
resources,
and
tags)
work
together
to
provide
guidance
on
how
to
make
content
more
sustainable.
Authors
are
encouraged
to
view
and
apply
all
layers
that
they
can
(relevance,
time,
or
budget
permitting),
including
the
additional
content,
to
best
make
their
product
or
service
the
most
sustainable
it
can
become.
It
should
be
considered
that
while
great
care
has
been
taken
to
make
these
guidelines
as
well-rounded
and
feature-complete
as
possible,
there
will
likely
be
additional
tasks
authors
can
perform
to
improve
sustainability
which
this
specification
failed
to
address
due
to
(for
example)
new
techniques
becoming
available.
These
guiding
principles
were
chosen
to
act
as
the
foundation
of
the
WSG
on
the
basis
that
they
opened
the
conversation
as
to
what
Web
sustainability
could
and
should
mean
for
website
or
application
creators
and
product
owners
attempting
to
make
a
change
to
benefit
people
and
the
planet.
While
the
primary
focus
of
our
guidelines
is
sustainability
in
the
environmental
impact
sense,
to
avoid
narrowing
our
definition,
as
with
many
frameworks
this
specification
takes
an
PPP
approach
to
sustainability.
The
benefit
of
this
methodology
is
that
while
we
do
recognize
the
importance
of
energy
/
carbon
accounting
and
reduction,
we
avoid
carbon
tunnel
vision
and
seek
to
approach
digital
sustainability
reductions
through
additional
measures
such
as
through
the
reduction
of
water
waste
and
raw
material
conservation
such
as
paper.
We
also
are
mindful
of
the
social
aspects
of
sustainability
and
the
importance
of
people
as
well
as
the
planet,
thereby
including
important
criteria,
notes,
and
cross-links
where
appropriate
to
W3C
work
in
accessibility,
privacy,
and
other
groups
and
including
mentions
of
Corporate
Digital
Responsibility
(
CDR
),
ethical
behavior,
and
other
important
disciplines.
Of
course,
principles
on
their
own
do
not
make
for
good
testable
guidelines,
which
is
why
our
guidelines
are
as
heavily
evidence-weighted
as
possible,
aligning
with
existing
sustainability
reporting
frameworks
and
standards
(such
as
GRI
).
We
also
have
made
every
effort
possible
to
map
our
work
to
comply
with
existing
and
upcoming
worldwide
regulatory
frameworks
to
assist
with
compliance.
1.2.2
Guidelines
Under
the
principles
are
guidelines.
These
guidelines
provide
the
basic
goals
that
authors
should
work
toward
to
make
content
more
sustainable.
The
guidelines
provide
the
framework
and
overall
objectives
to
help
authors
understand
the
success
criteria,
which
are
testable
against,
to
implement
better
digital
solutions.
This
specification
groups
guidelines
within
four
categories
(User
Experience
Design,
Web
Development,
Infrastructure,
Product
and
Business)
that
overarches
various
specialisms.
It
should,
however,
be
noted
that
while
many
of
these
guidelines
are
curated
into
categories
for
simplicity,
often
they
are
not
limited
to
a
single
group
and
can
be
utilized
within
other
specialisms
for
a
sustainability
benefit.
They
also
come
equipped
with
tags
that
can
be
utilized
by
third-party
user-agent
tools
to
filter
the
criteria
on
journeys,
categories,
preferences,
or
additional
variables
to
benefit
the
author
during
the
implementation
process.
1.2.3
Success
Criteria
For
each
guideline,
testable
success
criteria
are
provided.
WSG
success
criteria
are
written
as
testable
statements
that
are
not
technology-specific.
Guidance
about
satisfying
the
success
criteria
in
specific
technologies,
as
well
as
general
information
about
interpreting
the
success
criteria
is
provided
in
separate
documents
or
within
third-party
sources
as
cited
evidence.
Details
regarding
machine
testability
and
whether
human
testing
or
intervention
is
required
in
order
to
meet
a
success
criteria
are
indicated
against
each
success
criteria.
Resources
(third-party
evidence-based
links)
are
denoted
to
allow
authors
to
better
understand
and
meet
the
Success
Criteria
for
compliance
purposes.
These
Resources
are
also
provided
within
a
separate
document
and
all
information
within
is
subject
to
change.
Note
This
specification
offers
interactivity.
You
can
filter
and
see
only
the
Success
Criteria
that
apply
to
your
interests
/
choices
by
viewing
the
Full
Document
mode
of
the
WSG
and
clicking
the
interactive
"Filter
the
available
WSG
Success
Criteria
upon
certain
settings"
link
at
the
top
of
the
content.
Your
choices
will
reveal
themselves
upon
selecting
from
the
categories
and
checkboxes.
1.2.4
Additional
information
These
guidelines
come
with
both
an
impact
and
effort
rating
system.
Unlike
other
W3C
specifications,
WSG
uses
a
simple
system
of
Low,
Medium,
or
High
ratings
against
each
individual
guideline
to
reduce
the
burden
for
individuals
to
identify
quick
wins
or
minimal
implementations,
from
long-term
benefits
or
heavy
refactoring
while
encouraging
a
policy
of
progress
over
perfection.
Impact:
Low
Quick
sustainability
wins.
Medium
Noticeable
sustainable
impact.
High
Significant
long-term
benefit.
Effort:
Low
Minimal
implementation.
Medium
Some
changes
are
needed.
High
Heavy
refactoring
is
required.
For
each
of
the
guidelines
and
success
criteria
in
the
WSG
document
itself,
the
Interest
Group
has
also
documented
a
wide
variety
of
potential
benefits.
The
benefits
are
informative
and
may
potentially
justify
the
scope
for
compliance
with
the
specification.
Furthermore,
for
those
requiring
guidelines
to
be
linked
to
a
standardized
methodology
that
can
be
used
in
reporting
the
digital
sustainability
conformance
levels
of
a
business,
a
section
on
GRI
compliance
is
provided.
GRI
Impact:
As
with
impact
and
effort
ratings,
a
similar
scoring
methodology
has
been
used
within
each
rating
section.
Low
This
will
have
a
minimal
impact
within
a
particular
category.
Medium
This
will
have
an
impact
worthy
of
consideration
within
a
particular
category.
High
This
will
have
a
considerable
impact
within
a
particular
category.
Note
For
this
specification,
an
open
source
Jupyter
Notebook
was
created.
As
an
input,
it
takes
a
spreadsheet
containing
all
the
guidelines
and
(using
low,
medium,
or
high)
their
indicators
of
impact
on
the
reduction
of
server
resource
usage,
network
transfer,
and
end-user
device
usage.
Then
it
takes
data
from
a
GreenIT
Report
[
FOOTPRINT
]
which
estimates
the
environmental
impact
of
the
mentioned
categories
across
material
use,
water
use,
energy
use,
and
GHG
emissions.
It
then
combines
these
datasets
and
estimates
the
comparative
impact
of
a
given
recommendation
on
different
sections
of
GRI
taxonomy.
Examples
(where
possible)
are
provided,
comprised
of
either
URL
resources
or
code
samples
to
showcase
how
a
Success
Criteria
within
a
guideline
could
be
addressed.
Tags
are
also
provided
in
order
to
help
individuals
identify
the
relationships
that
occur
between
our
material
and
particular
groups.
1.3
Interpretation
It
should
be
noted
that
the
coverage
of
the
Layers
of
Guidance,
with
particular
emphasis
on
the
impact
and
effort
ratings,
may
be
left
open
to
interpretation,
due
to
the
broad
and
varying
nature
of
how
variables
can
benefit
the
wider
ecosystem.
For
example,
a
guideline
may
have
a
low
impact
on
preserving
water
but
a
high
impact
on
preserving
electricity.
As
such,
the
nature
of
benefits
is
nuanced
and
may
require
more
in-depth
analysis
if
authors
wish
to
target
specific
environmental
concerns
such
as
water,
paper,
or
mineral
waste.
Currently,
the
Web
Sustainability
Guidelines
use
a
crude
metric
of
human
assessment
from
subject-matter
experts
and
a
stated
calculation
and
methodology
underpinning
the
GRI
reporting.
However,
future
versions
of
the
specification
will
seek
to
expand
upon
this,
emphasizing
metric-based
calculations
and
proven
datasets
through
measurability
to
identify
emissions
(and
other)
related
targets.
It
should
also
be
noted
that
a
drawback
of
the
sustainability
sector
is
that
unlike
other
forms
of
measurement
in
other
fields
(such
as
web
performance
and
accessibility)
where
binary
conversations
can
occur
(something
either
"is"
or
"is
not"
happening),
there
is
unlikely
to
be
a
situation
where
a
product
or
service
is
never
emitting
or
causing
some
sort
of
impact
upon
the
environment
by
nature
of
it
existing.
As
such,
implementors
need
to
come
to
terms
with
the
fact
that
the
aim
of
the
Web
Sustainability
Guidelines
should
be
to
firstly
reduce
what
you
can,
then
for
what
you
cannot
(as
emissions
will
likely
always
occur
to
some
extent)
compensate
for
these
continuous
emissions
to
ensure
as
minimal
a
footprint
as
possible.
Note
Coverage
should
not
be
restricted
to
what
falls
within
the
digital
sector.
While
for
this
specification
we
primarily
focus
on
Internet-related
technologies
(and
the
people
and
businesses
that
use
them),
sustainability
variables
exist
beyond
the
scope
of
this
work
and
as
such,
the
impacts
of
these
differing
areas
of
concern
should
be
addressed
when
meeting
targets,
reporting,
and
complying
with
relevant
legislation.
1.4
Relationships
Note
The
body
of
work
and
landscape
WSG
builds
on
is
constantly
evolving.
Some,
typically
referred
to
as
"living"
or
"evergreen"
standards,
are
subject
to
change
frequently,
and
their
impact
on
this
publication's
validity
may
be
immediate.
Others
are
updated
less
regularly
and
the
changes
may
not
affect
WSG
publications
until
a
new
revision
is
issued.
In
all
cases,
it
is
therefore
prudent
that
implementors
should
regularly
ensure
that
best
practices
have
not
changed
due
to
new
research
or
data
and
that
any
tooling
they
are
using
is
frequently
updated
to
account
for
compliance
changes
occurring
as
a
result
of
more
weighty
evidence
and
guidance.
Relationship
to
AFNOR
Association
Française
de
Normalisation
is
a
Paris-based
standards
organization
and
a
member
body
for
France
at
the
International
Organization
for
Standardization.
WSG
directly
references
the
AFNOR
SPEC
2201
document
where
guidelines
may
have
relatable
sustainability
associations.
Relationship
to
ARCEP
The
Autorité
de
Régulation
des
Communications
Électroniques,
des
Postes
et
de
la
Distribution
de
la
Presse
is
the
regulatory
authority
for
telecommunications
in
France.
Explicit
comparison
notes
from
guidelines
that
match
(for
compliance
purposes)
pointing
to
the
General
Policy
Framework
for
the
Ecodesign
of
Digital
Services
(
GPFEDS
)
inside
each
WSG
relevant
guideline
reference
section
have
been
provided.
Relationship
to
AWS
and
Microsoft
Azure
WAF
Amazon
and
Microsoft
Azure
both
provide
a
Well-Architected
Framework
offering
a
set
of
best
practices
that
helps
protect
digital
products
from
consuming
excessive
resources.
Where
sustainability
measures
match
the
evidence
and
guidelines
within
the
WSG
,
cross-links
have
been
placed
within
guideline
resources.
Relationship
to
GR491
The
Handbook
of
Sustainable
Design
of
Digital
Services
(also
known
as
GR491
)
is
a
series
of
sustainability
best
practices,
published
by
the
Institute
for
Sustainable
IT.
Alike
many
other
best
practice
guides,
where
matching
compliance
targets
can
be
found
to
the
WSG
guidelines
and
Success
Criteria,
cross-links
in
the
resources
section
have
been
provided.
Relationship
to
GreenIT
The
GreenIT
115
best
practices
of
web
Eco-Design
project
is
an
open
source
French
collaboration
to
provide
meaningful
goals
to
reduce
a
digital
carbon
footprint.
As
there
are
many
parallels
between
WSG
and
the
open
source
GreenIT
project,
guideline
references
note
prior
work
from
this
project
where
it
exists.
Relationship
to
GRI
Global
Reporting
Initiative
is
an
international
independent
standards
organization
that
helps
organizations
and
individuals
understand
and
communicate
their
sustainability
impact.
As
denoted
in
1.2.4
Additional
information
,
WSG
provides
metrics
relating
to
GRI
Standards
to
offer
more
targeted
guidance
for
regulatory
compliance
goals.
As
our
measurability
improves,
our
results
are
subject
to
change.
Relationship
to
OpQuast
OpQuast
is
a
quality
assurance
provider
that
offers
checklists
for
things
such
as
Web
quality
assurance
.
While
many
of
the
improvements
noted
fall
out
of
the
sustainability
scope,
several
directly
relate
to
WSG
Success
Criteria
or
may
impact
guidelines
as
a
secondary
effect
and
should
be
considered.
As
this
list
is
comprehensive,
items
deemed
of
consequence
are
noted
in
the
resources
section
for
relevant
guidelines.
Relationship
to
SDGs
The
United
Nations
Member
States
in
2015
as
a
result
of
the
2030
Agenda
for
Sustainable
Development
created
the
Sustainable
Development
Goals
.
While
some
of
these
goals
are
notably
difficult
to
achieve
by
individual
action,
wherever
digital
/
Web
technology
interconnects
with
an
explicit
SDG
target
(and
WSG
could
help
shift
towards
compliance),
the
SDG
target
is
noted
within
the
references
for
each
guideline.
1.5
Conformance
As
well
as
sections
marked
as
non-normative,
all
authoring
diagrams,
examples,
and
notes
in
this
specification
are
non-normative.
Everything
else
in
this
specification
is
normative.
The
main
normative
content
of
WSG
is
composed
of
guidelines
and
success
criteria,
which
define
requirements
that
impact
conformance
claims.
Non-normative
material
provides
advisory
information
to
help
interpret
the
guidelines
but
does
not
create
requirements
that
impact
a
conformance
claim.
This
section
lists
requirements
for
conformance
to
WSG
.
It
also
provides
information
about
how
to
make
optional
conformance
claims.
1.5.1
Conformance
requirements
The
WSG
approach
to
conformance
differs
from
WCAG
in
that
in
preference
to
having
conformance
levels,
these
guidelines
are
robustly
built
so
that
they
can
be
implemented
over
time,
in
a
non-specific
order,
and
each
will
provide
some
measurable
sustainability
benefit.
As
such,
conformance
is
measured
upon
the
implementation
of
each
guideline
(and
all
of
its
success
criteria
being
met)
across
the
whole
website
or
product.
Note
Total
conformance
is
achieved
by
meeting
every
Success
Criteria
for
every
guideline
within
the
specification.
As
a
general
policy,
most
websites
or
products
will
not
likely
be
able
to
satisfy
all
Success
Criteria.
This
could
be
as
a
result
of
time
commitments
for
refactoring
code,
or
because
certain
guidelines
and
Success
Criteria
simply
do
not
apply
to
your
work.
In
these
situations,
it
is
not
recommended
that
authors
prioritize
conformance
over
other
important
website
features
such
as
security
updates.
Pragmatism
and
progress
over
perfection
should
be
considered
paramount
when
implementing
and
conforming
to
these
guidelines.
1.5.2
Conformance
claims
Conformance
claims
are
not
required
.
Authors
can
conform
to
WSG
without
making
a
claim.
If
a
conformance
claim
is
made,
then
the
conformance
claim
must
include
the
following
information:
Conformance
:
A
concise
description
of
Sustainability
commitments
and
a
list
of
the
guidelines
adhered
to.
Other
:
In
addition
to
the
required
components
of
a
conformance
claim
above,
provide
additional
information
to
assist
visitors
users
such
as
additional
steps
taken
(beyond
the
specification)
to
improve
sustainability
or
statistics
(metrics)
that
show
the
effect
of
changes
that
have
already
been
made.
Note
Recording
conformance
claims
may
be
helpful
for
utilization
within
a
sustainability
statement
or
a
method
of
proving
that
you
are
meeting
sustainability
reduction
targets
(such
as
for
internal
scope
accounting).
1.5.3
Greenwashing
In
the
field
of
sustainability,
the
potential
for
greenwashing
(misappropriation
or
deliberately
misinterpreting
our
work
to
appear
greener
than
you
are)
is
a
very
real
threat.
Within
other
fields
of
the
tech
industry
(such
as
web
accessibility),
false
claims
can
lead
to
harm
to
users.
In
sustainability,
harm
can
occur
not
only
to
users
of
a
product
or
service
but
also
to
the
wider
ecosystem.
As
such,
with
claims
of
conformance,
we
advise
consumers
and
implementors
to
do
the
following:
Do
not
claim
the
Web
Sustainability
Guidelines
as
a
mark
of
total
sustainability
(as
there
will
always
be
gaps
in
this
document's
coverage).
Only
make
claims
that
they
can
reasonably
justify
with
evidence
to
back
up
such
statements
(and
provide
easy
access
to
this).
If
you
come
across
an
organization
or
individual
making
claims
regarding
the
WSG
that
appear
unlikely
or
untrue,
request
the
claims
be
justified,
rectified,
or
removed.
Legislation
exists
(or
is
coming
into
force
globally)
providing
coverage
around
sustainability
claims
and
as
such,
penalties
for
greenwashing
will
not
only
be
detrimental
to
your
visitors
users
but
to
your
business.
1.6
WSG
supporting
documents
The
WSG
document
is
designed
to
meet
the
needs
of
those
who
need
a
stable,
referenceable
technical
specification.
Other
documents,
called
supporting
documents,
are
based
on
this
document
and
address
other
important
purposes,
including
providing
further
techniques
regarding
implementation
strategies,
guiding
authors
through
the
guidelines
that
apply
to
their
use
case,
and
how
WSG
would
be
applied
to
new
technologies.
1.7
Requirements
for
WSG
WSG
meets
a
set
of
requirements
for
WSG
which,
in
turn,
inherit
requirements
from
any
prior
versions.
Requirements
structure
the
overall
framework
of
guidelines
and
ensure
backward
compatibility.
The
Interest
Group
also
used
a
less
formal
set
of
acceptance
criteria
for
success
criteria
which
is
based
on
evidence-supported
practices
grouped
by
their
impact
and
implementation
upon
the
Web
ecosystem.
This
allows
for
further
expansion
in
future
versions
while
maintaining
a
strict
grouping
of
related
(and
overlapping)
guidelines.
1.8
Versions
of
guidance
WSG
was
initiated
to
improve
Web
Sustainability
guidance.
As
no
prior
version
exists,
the
initial
draft
was
created
through
initial
Community
Group
meetings,
proposals
(laid
out
in
meeting
minutes),
and
early
draft
guidelines
were
drawn
up
and
refined,
leading
to
the
guidelines
included
in
this
version.
This
work
has
been
continued
through
the
formation
of
a
W3C
Interest
Group
to
enhance
and
improve
upon
the
work
of
the
early
Community
Group.
The
Interest
Group
considers
that
WSG
incrementally
advances
Web
Sustainability
in
numerous
areas,
but
underscores
that
not
all
potential
environmental
improvements
are
met
by
these
guidelines.
If
you
are
creating
content
and
systems
designed
for
users,
then
whether
you
know
it
or
not,
you
are
working
in
user
experience
(
UX
).
Good
user
experience
reduces
time
and
resources
wasted
on
the
journey.
Poor
user
experience
does
the
opposite,
often
also
harming
accessibility.
Meanwhile,
visual
design
choices
and
how
we
present
information
can
have
some
of
the
biggest
impacts
on
asset
size,
performance,
and
overall
web
sustainability.
Goals
include:
Identify
and
regularly
audit
product,
visitor,
user,
and
user
needs
and
the
related
impacts.
Improve
ease
of
access
with
a
clear
information
architecture.
Ensure
assets
are
suitable
and
optimized
for
the
lowest
possible
footprint.
Benefits
include:
Good
user
experience
amplifies
the
positive
impact
of
your
content.
Faster
loading
times
reduce
visitor
user
drop-off.
This
can
lead
to,
for
example,
more
sign-ups
and
reduced
cart
abandonment
in
e-commerce.
Improved
accessibility,
compatibility,
and
usability
boosts
social
inclusion
and
cohesion.
Sustainable
user
experience
design
best
practices
will
often
also
improve
performance
and
SEO
.
Plain
language
summary
of
User
Experience
Design
Identify
and
address
issues
affecting
your
service,
audience,
visitors,
users,
users,
non-users,
and
other
affected
parties.
Cultivate
a
lightweight
experience
based
around
well-written
content,
thoughtfully
designed
and
optimized
assets,
and
appropriate
alternatives.
Guide
users
quickly
to
their
objectives
with
an
effective
navigation
system
and
layout
using
recognized
patterns.
Create,
apply,
document,
and
share
efficient
design
systems
to
reduce
duplication.
Enable
accessible
interaction,
using
forms
only
when
necessary.
Integrate
regular
audits
and
tests
into
your
project
release
calendar.
2.1
Display
any
variables
that
have
a
negative
impact
on
your
project
Identify
existing
or
potential
negative
external
variables
affecting
a
project.
Disclose
these
in
a
publicly
available
resource,
identifying
areas
where
digital
sustainability
can
be
improved.
Perform
this
audit
at
the
start
of
your
project
and
at
regular
intervals.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Many
variables
can
impact
the
user
experience,
and
a
bunch
of
these
can
impact
how
sustainable
your
website
will
be.
Attempting
to
identify
where
you
can
make
a
difference
to
the
visitor
user
and
give
them
a
more
sustainable
experience
will
be
beneficial.
Accessibility:
Understanding
the
audience
can
identify
potential
improvements
that
go
beyond
basic
inclusive
design
practices.
Environment:
Constructing
a
plan
to
reduce
emissions
enables
improvement
over
time.
Privacy:
Having
an
overview
of
components
makes
it
easier
to
identify
potential
data
protection
risks.
Social
Equity:
Auditing
variables
can
reveal
factors
not
commonly
understood
or
covered
in
established
best
practices,
enabling
better
support
for
underrepresented
groups.
Identify
primary
and
secondary
target
visitors.
users.
Evaluate
and
define
their
needs
through
quantitative
and/or
qualitative
research,
testing,
or
analytics.
Ensure
your
visitors
users
and
affected
communities
are
consistently
and
closely
involved
in
the
research
and
testing
process.
Account
for
potential
visitor
user
constraints,
such
as
the
device
age,
operating
system
choice
or
version,
browser,
VPN
use,
and
connection
speeds
when
designing
and
assessing
the
quality
of
user
experiences.
Conduct
internal
and
user
research
to
identify
whether
a
technical,
material,
or
human
constraint
might
require
adaptations
to
reduce
barriers
or
improve
access
to
content.
Assign
all
involved
parties,
including
visitors,
users,
an
equitable
role
in
the
decision-making
process
when
undertaking
research,
identifying
needs,
or
iterative
design
work.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
When
creating
a
product
or
service,
identifying
your
target
audience
through
user-research,
analytics,
data
collected
using
ethical
anonymous
methods,
or
feedback
from
and
with
visitors
users
is
important
in
being
able
to
create
a
customized
service
for
and
with
them
that
is
tailor-made
for
their
specific
preferences,
adapted
for
any
needs
they
may
have,
and
particularly
useful
in
helping
a
website
or
application
evolve
its
service
to
meet
sustainability
targets.
Accessibility:
Understanding
the
needs
of
your
audience
through
accessibility
and
trauma-informed
research
will
help
you
prioritize
design
improvements
to
boost
accessibility
beyond
the
basics.
Conversion:
Meeting
audience
requirements
increases
the
likelihood
that
they
will
use
it
regularly
and
recommend
it
to
others,
improving
its
adoption
rate
and
reputation.
Economic:
Responding
to
the
needs
of
your
audience
means
they
are
more
likely
to
convert
and
purchase.
Environment:
Undertaking
research
to
identify
real
visitor
user
needs
and
behaviour
means
developers
can
avoid
wasting
time,
effort,
and
emissions
on
building
unnecessary
features.
Performance:
Use
visitor
user
research
to
identify
UX
bottlenecks
that
cause
visitor
user
abandonment.
Fixes
can
be
measured,
tested,
and
evaluated
to
further
improve
performance
and
reduce
emissions
through
removing
those
bottlenecks
and
inefficiencies.
Privacy:
Assessing
visitor
user
needs
and
being
minimal
with
further
information
requests
will
help
you
comply
with
privacy
legislation.
Social
Equity:
Improving
UX
with
compatibility
in
mind
means
products
or
services
work
better
for
visitors
users
who
might
otherwise
face
various
barriers
to
accessing
content
-
such
as
older
devices,
low-bandwidth
environments,
or
restrictive
territories,
language.
This
reduces
e-waste
and
improves
equity
if
older
equipment
meets
needs
for
longer.
Establish
a
plan
of
action
for
non-users
and
other
affected
parties
who
might
be
indirectly
impacted
by
choices
made
in
e-commerce,
this
can
include
neighbors
accepting
parcels
or
traffic
jams
due
to
deliveries.
Other
examples
include
the
local
health
impacts
of
infrastructure
emissions,
or
supply
chain
pressure.
Research
non-user
needs,
understand
how
they
might
be
affected,
and
consider
ways
negative
effects
could
be
mitigated.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
If
you
provide
physical
goods
or
services,
you
may
also
have
to
account
for
the
sustainability
impact
of
delivery
services.
This
can
often
be
tricky,
but
courier
companies
may
provide
useful
tooling
to
help
you
identify
emissions
data
for
routing.
Accessibility:
Including
people
who
are
not
primary
or
secondary
users,
such
as
people
with
disabilities,
in
research
means
their
specific
needs
can
be
addressed
more
effectively.
Economic:
Researching
the
entire
ecosystem,
including
the
broader
or
indirect
impact
and
services,
helps
organizations
to
manage
budgets
more
effectively.
Environment:
Making
certain
interventions,
such
as
coordinating
planning
with
suppliers,
can
significantly
reduce
the
environmental
impact
of
a
digital
product
or
service.
Social
Equity:
Including
marginalized
or
excluded
groups
in
the
research
process
makes
it
easier
to
avoid
unintended
consequences
or
requirements
relating
to
these
groups
ahead
of
time.
Optimize
all
branding
materials
and
assets
approved
during
the
ideation
process
in
line
with
sustainability
best
practices
prior
to
deployment.
This
also
applies
to
brand
refreshes,
rebranding,
and
later
enhancements.
Make
publicly
available
branding
guidelines
detailing
the
sustainability
impact
and
best-practice
deployment
of
materials
and
assets.
Use
wireframes
and
rapid
prototyping
to
quickly
build
consensus,
reduce
risk,
and
reduce
the
number
of
resources
needed
to
build
features.
Evaluate
the
impact
of
all
tools
used.
Use
the
participatory
design
approach
to
involve
users
within
the
iteration
and
design
process.
When
conducting
user
testing,
reach
out
to
your
community
to
help
improve
your
product.
Provide
opportunities
for
users
to
apply
their
knowledge
and
experience
to
your
product
or
service.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
While
some
things
require
the
use
of
electricity,
during
the
early
ideation
phase
you
could
consider
wireframing
or
rapid
prototyping
(using
paper)
among
other
offline
tools
to
reduce
energy
consumption.
Even
the
electronic
versions
of
these
may
have
a
lower
carbon
cost
than
committing
to
building
a
full-blown
experience
for
each
idea.
Conversion:
Testing
user
interfaces
usually
leads
to
improved
conversion
rates
as
they
can
be
optimized
accordingly.
This
includes
removing
anything
that
causes
friction
and
designing
content
in
a
way
that
optimizes
user
flow,
reducing
emissions
while
maximizing
conversion.
Economic:
Incorporating
wireframes,
prototypes,
and
user
testing
into
early
product
design
cycles
reduces
money
and
effort
otherwise
wasted
building
features
people
will
not
use.
Consider
planetary
needs
and
environmental
boundaries
during
the
ideation
phase.
This
can
include
creating
non-user,
non-human
(animal,
planet)
personas,
or
climate-specific
user
stories
and
sprints.
Additional
information
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/
Hide
additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Brainstorming
allows
you
to
flush
out
ideas
before
you
commit
to
pursuing
a
path.
Being
considerate
of
not
just
your
visitors
users
but
other
individuals
who
may
be
affected
by
your
product
or
service
(including
non-humans,
like
the
environment!)
is
a
useful
practical
exercise
as
it
may
influence
your
decisions
in
how
you
scope
your
project.
Accessibility:
Understanding
real-world
accessibility
requirements
in
the
early
development
stages
makes
it
possible
to
prioritize
inclusive
design
throughout
the
entire
lifecycle.
This
improves
efficiency,
as
developers
will
not
be
prompted
to
add
in
accessibility
later.
It
will
also
reduce
emissions
associated
with
the
patching
process.
Environment:
Helping
key
contributors
to
better
understand
the
environmental
impact
makes
it
possible
to
track
and
reduce
that
impact
throughout
the
lifecycle
of
a
project.
Social
Equity:
Accounting
for
the
needs
of
visitors
users
who
might
otherwise
face
various
barriers
to
accessing
content
-
on
such
as
older
devices,
in
low-bandwidth
environments,
or
have
other
barriers
to
accessing
information
early
in
the
process
will
reduce
the
need
for
costly
redesigns
or
adding
appropriate
alternatives
at
a
later
date.
Make
access
as
simple
and
efficient
as
possible.
Displaying
the
time
required
to
complete
an
action,
reduction
of
choice,
and
ensuring
visitors
users
understand
requirements
at
the
start
of
a
journey
can
improve
user
efficiency.
Ensure
that
disruptive
actionable
information,
such
as
pop-up
or
modal
windows,
can
only
be
initiated
by
the
visitor.
user.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
When
providing
the
option
to
download,
save,
print,
or
access
anything
online,
defaulting
to
the
most
lightweight,
least
featureful
version
will
reduce
emissions
through
passive
browsing;
with
non-essential
information
removed
from
the
screen
either
to
be
shown
when
it's
required
or
eliminated.
Accessibility:
Providing
intuitive,
lightweight
user
experiences
improves
understanding
and
accessibility,
especially
for
people
with
cognitive
disabilities.
Reducing
confusion,
this
can
reduce
the
time
spent
trying
to
find
content.
Conversion:
Following
conventions
and
patterns
with
a
clean,
distraction-free
layout
reduces
churn,
page
abandonment,
and
barriers
to
entry.
Economic:
Simplifying
interfaces
by
reducing
the
amount
of
information
can
reduce
the
burden
of
choice
and
help
to
convert
visitors
users
during
online
decision-to-purchase
processes.
Reduced
visitor
user
choice
will
also
reduce
data
payloads.
Environment:
Streamlining
user
experience
to
remove
barriers
and
the
non-essential
reduces
unnecessary
code
and
content
payloads
and
the
amount
of
time
visitors
users
spend
on
their
devices
trying
to
complete
tasks
or
find
information.
This
reduces
the
amount
of
energy
used
and
lowers
emissions.
Performance:
Minimizing
the
amount
of
content
on
screen
to
what
is
genuinely
required
reduces
bandwidth
consumption
over
the
lifecycle
project
and
may
make
the
user
experience
feel
faster.
Privacy:
Hiding
non-essential
features
can
improve
data
protection
by
reducing
overall
data
collection
overall,
especially
that
associated
with
the
integration
of
third-party
services.
Social
Equity:
Reducing
device
and
bandwidth
requirements
through
providing
more
lightweight
experiences
can
improve
work
better
for
visitors
users
using
older
devices
or
located
in
low-bandwidth
environments,
and
similar.
Use
decorative
design
only
when
it
enhances
user
experience.
Remove
unnecessary
assets
or
those
that
do
not
enhance
user
experience
or
sustainability.
Alternatively,
make
these
optional
and
disabled
by
default.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
It's
great
to
have
a
pretty-looking
website
or
application
but
to
ensure
a
sustainable
design,
it's
important
to
avoid
cluttering
up
the
interface
with
too
many
visuals
(which
aren't
necessary
to
the
content).
Keeping
a
clean
design
will
reduce
website
rendering,
and
thereby
emissions.
Consider
implementing
an
efficient
and
regularly
updated
sitemap
for
human
visitors.
users.
While
guidance
beyond
the
nav
bar
may
be
unnecessary
for
smaller
projects,
clearly
structured
human-readable
sitemaps
can
improve
accessibility
and
help
users
find
their
way
through
websites
or
other
online
content
with
naturally
complex
or
legacy
information
architecture.
Implement
lightweight
and
efficient
means
for
visitors
users
to
learn
about
new
content
and
services.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Information
architecture
is
a
central
part
of
the
Web
development
process,
and
how
you
structure
a
website
ensures
that
people
can
way-find
your
content
easily.
Having
appropriately
marked-up
links
within
your
product
or
service
allows
visitors,
users,
search
engines,
and
social
networks
to
identify
key
information
quickly.
Accessibility:
Enabling
easier
navigation
makes
content
accessible
to
people
with
disabilities.
Bringing
people
to
their
goal
faster
also
reduces
data
consumption.
Conversion:
Optimizing
structure
can
also
boost
conversion
rates
as
people
are
more
likely
to
find
what
they
need.
The
same
applies
when
users
are
made
aware
of
new
content
related
to
their
interests.
Economic:
Shortening
user
journeys
can
also
reduce
hosting
costs
where
this
is
linked
to
data
transfer.
Environment:
Improving
navigation
and
search
efficiency
can
reduce
the
time
users
spend
finding
what
they
need
and
achieving
their
objectives.
This
also
lowers
emissions.
Avoid
using
design
strategies
intended
to
artificially
prolong
user
attention,
such
as
infinite
scroll.
Additional
information
Show
/
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additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Time
is
precious,
wasting
a
visitor's
user's
will
cause
frustration
and
lead
to
abandonment
or
resentment.
Additionally,
the
more
time
a
visitor
user
spends
in
front
of
a
screen,
the
more
energy
they
utilize.
As
such,
throwing
stuff
in
front
of
the
visitor
user
vying
for
their
attention
might
sound
like
good
business
(even
though
we
know
due
to
banner
blindness
it
rarely
works),
but
it
mostly
damages
the
environment
and
dissuades
the
visitor.
user.
Accessibility:
Reducing
unnecessary
barriers
can
improve
accessibility
and
navigation
using
assistive
technologies.
Environment:
Using
pagination
rather
than
infinite
scrolling
allows
individuals
to
request
data
on
demand
rather
than
encouraging
overconsumption.
This
reduces
carbon
impact
while
encouraging
healthy
and
sustainable
browsing
habits.
Performance:
Avoiding
attention
traps
improves
user
experience
by
reducing
the
time
spent
clicking
through,
closing,
or
hiding
these
distractions.
Presenting
the
information
in
less
distracting
ways
makes
the
experience
feel
faster,
reduces
barriers
to
access,
and
improves
user
flow.
Social
Equity:
Preserving
user
focus
on
their
objectives
reduces
the
potential
for
confusion,
mistakes,
and
lapses
in
judgment.
Transparency:
Avoiding
deceptive
patterns
will
boost
trust
and
encourage
users
to
return
or
recommend.
Display
only
essential
components
at
the
time
they
are
needed.
Where
appropriate,
use
familiar
patterns
to
maximize
ease
of
use.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Visitors
Users
can
identify
patterns
fairly
easily,
and
they
like
browsing
websites
and
apps
and
feeling
as
if
they
know
what
they
are
dealing
with.
As
such,
focusing
your
efforts
on
producing
a
product
or
service
that
is
clean
and
has
key
components
in
easy-to-recognize
locations
(and
visuals)
will
allow
faster
user
experiences
and
fewer
emissions.
Accessibility:
Using
established
design
patterns
makes
it
easier
for
all
users
to
understand
how
to
perform
a
task,
especially
those
with
greater
accessibility
needs.
Environment:
Building
using
recognized
design
components
will
reduce
the
amount
of
time
visitors
users
spend
trying
to
perform
a
task.
The
less
time
visitors
users
spend
achieving
their
goals,
the
lower
their
energy
usage
and
emissions.
Performance:
Using
familiar
design
patterns
that
appear
where
visitors
users
expect
and
only
when
appropriate
can
increase
perceived
performance
due
to
more
effective
navigation.
Avoid
deceptive
design
or
unethical
coding
techniques
that
manipulate
visitors
users
into
taking
actions
that
are
not
in
their
best
interest.
Examples
include
anti-right
click,
copy
prevention,
requiring
an
account
to
purchase,
etc.
Select,
present,
and
label
advertisements
and
sponsorships
transparently
and
only
implement
where
these
provide
economic
and
ethical
value
without
diminishing
user
experience.
Focus
on
serving
user
intent
through
non-manipulative
search
and
social
media
optimization.
For
example,
do
not
misuse
coding
practices
intended
to
support
assistive
technologies.
This
can
include
content
with
natural
redundancy,
or
unhelpful
or
low-quality
material
designed
only
to
manipulate
search
results.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Manipulating
the
visitor
user
into
doing
things
you
want
them
to
is
a
short-term
gain,
long-term
loss
tactic
tool.
It's
ethically
bad,
unsustainable,
and
should
be
avoided
at
all
costs.
Accessibility:
Avoiding
deceptive
design
patterns
improves
user
experience
for
people
using
assistive
technologies,
as
these
can
be
especially
disruptive
when
using
a
screen
reader.
This
improves
their
trust
and
access
to
your
content.
Conversion:
Avoiding
deceptive
patterns
can
result
in
fewer
complaints,
reduce
barriers,
and
improve
conversion.
Environment:
Avoiding
deceptive
design
patterns
reduces
energy
consumption
because
visitors
users
do
not
waste
time
and
energy
trying
to
undo
choices
they
never
intended
to
make.
Performance:
Using
ethical,
non-disruptive
practices
will
accelerate
the
user
journey
and
perceived
speed
and
reduce
unnecessary
friction.
Privacy:
Ensuring
compliance
with
ethical
privacy
practices
and
avoiding
dark
and
deceptive
patterns
reduces
litigation
risk.
It
also
reduces
data
transmission
between
tracking
and
advertising
services
providers.
Developers
have
access
to
code
comments
and
have
the
ability
to
view
source
to
make
it
easier
to
access,
understand,
maintain,
and
use
code.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Everything
produced
by
designers,
developers,
writers,
and
those
involved
with
a
project
should
be
in
an
open
format,
well
maintained,
and
curated
in
a
common
format
(so
everyone
is
working
from
the
same
model).
Conversion:
Using
open
and
reusable
formats
lowers
barriers
to
entry,
as
there
will
likely
be
no
cost
involved
in
participation.
It
can
encourage
users
to
play
a
more
active
role
in
the
project.
Economic:
Creating
and
maintaining
good
documentation
will
make
implementation
easier
and
reduce
future
ongoing
costs
associated
with
maintenance.
Environment:
Using
common
and
clear
formats
for
deliverables
will
reduce
the
time
users
need
to
spend
familiarizing
themselves
with
and
adapting
to
the
environment.
This
reduces
the
energy
spent
managing
a
project
and
the
associated
emissions.
Use
a
design
system
based
on
web
standards
and
established
patterns
to
share
interface
components
and
ensure
a
consistent
user
experience.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Design
systems
allow
common
components
and
patterns
to
be
formalized
and
managed
within
a
website
or
application.
By
using
such
a
tool,
designers
and
developers
can
avoid
reinventing
existing
tooling
and
thereby
reduce
wasted
time
(and
emissions).
Accessibility:
Using
a
design
system
with
accessible
components
will
improve
access
to
information
for
people
with
disabilities.
Building
design
features
that
integrate
accessibility
from
the
start
ensures
everyone
is
always
included.
Conversion:
Using
design
systems
supports
consistent
user
interfaces.
This
improves
visitor
user
trust
because
individuals
will
recognize
familiar
components
and
know
how
to
use
them.
This
can
improve
conversion
rates
as
it
will
reduce
frustration,
abandonment,
and
possible
complaints.
Economic:
Using
standardized
components
and
avoiding
redundancy
can
reduce
development
time
and
the
associated
costs.
Familiarity
makes
the
experience
easier
for
users,
reducing
bounce
rates.
Environment:
Following
web
standards
to
build
consistent
interfaces
requires
less
energy
and
resources,
because
they
are
naturally
more
optimized.
Design
systems
that
incorporate
environmental
criteria
can
help
to
scale
digital
sustainability
and
reduce
redundancy,
reduced
energy
use
and
negative
impact.
Performance:
Building
design
systems
using
standardized
components
reduces
the
need
for
repeat
coding.
This
reduces
developer
coding
time
and
can
improve
performance.
Overall,
sustainable
patterns
reduce
emissions.
Write
content
using
plain
and
inclusive
language,
at
an
appropriate
reading
level
for
your
audience.
Account
for
specific
needs
in
relation
to
accessibility,
native
language,
and
internationalization.
Use
appropriate
formatting
for
digital
media.
Provide
a
clear
document
structure
with
consideration
of
visual
hierarchy.
Use
headings,
bulleted
lists,
line
spacing,
and
highlights
appropriately.
Provide
information
with
appropriate
formatting
for
the
action
users
need
to
take.
Success
Criterion:
Search
Engine
Optimization
(
SEO
)
Prioritize
SEO
from
the
early
design
stages
and
throughout
the
lifecycle
to
ensure
content
can
be
found
and
used.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Everyone
should
be
able
to
understand
what
you've
written
without
wasting
time
staring
at
a
screen
or
jumping
from
page
to
page
looking
for
answers,
whether
they
have
accessibility
requirements
or
not.
This
also
means
avoiding
using
technical
language
(without
explanations)
and
including
enough
information
to
help
direct
people
(and
search
engines)
from
page
to
page.
Accessibility:
Using
plain-language
makes
content
easier
to
understand
and
accessible
to
more
users.
Good
structure
that
complies
with
standards
and
expectations
works
better
alongside
assistive
technologies,
such
as
screen
readers.
Conversion:
Writing
and
presenting
authoritative
content
with
intent
and
care
can
lead
to
citation
by
third
parties.
This
can
increase
traffic
with
pre-warmed
leads.
Economic:
Being
recognized
as
an
authoritative
source
can
bring
additional
recognition,
users,
and
opportunities.
Environment:
Ensuring
content
is
easy
to
find
and
comprehend
enables
users
to
make
informed
decisions
faster,
taking
less
time
and
resources.
This
reduces
energy
consumption
and
emissions.
Performance:
Creating
well-structured
content
can
improve
search
performance.
When
content
ranks
higher
in
search
engines,
people
are
more
likely
to
land
in
the
right
place
straight
away.
Social
Equity:
Using
inclusive
language
that
avoids
jargon
and
unnecessary
exclusion
can
improve
user
experience
for
a
broader
audience.
Set
up
a
media
management
and
use
policy
to
reduce
the
overall
impact
of
images.
Include
criteria
for
media
compression
and
file
formats.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Of
all
the
data
that
comprises
the
largest
over-the-wire
transfer
rates
within
the
average
website
or
application,
images
are
usually
those
that
are
responsible
due
to
their
quantity
and
usefulness.
As
such,
doing
all
you
can
to
reduce
their
size
and
unnecessary
loading
will
be
beneficial
for
sustainability.
Economic:
Optimizing
resources
means
visitors
users
with
data
caps
can
preserve
their
resources.
Providers
can
enjoy
reduced
hosting
costs
due
to
less
data
being
transferred.
Environment:
Compressing
and
delivering
images
in
lightweight
formats
can
reduce
the
hardware
burden
on
older
devices.
This
can
reduce
overall
consumer
e-waste
by
slowing
or
eliminating
forced
upgrade
cycles.
Performance:
Optimizing
images
can
accelerate
performance
by
reducing
HTTP
requests,
data
transfer,
and
the
physical
rendering
effort.
All
of
these
have
an
impact
on
user
experience
and
performance.
Social
Equity:
Providing
lightweight
images
makes
it
easier
for
users
in
low-bandwidth
areas
or
those
using
older
devices
to
access
your
content,
provided
these
devices
can
support
the
formats
used.
Let
the
visitor
user
control
media,
including
a
choice
of
resolutions
and
formats
and
the
option
to
deactivate
media.
Inform
users
the
length,
format,
and
data
intensity
of
the
media.
Establish
media
management
and
use
policy
to
evaluate
and
reduce
the
overall
impact
of
media,
such
as
audio,
video,
or
emerging
media
formats.
Include
criteria
for
media
compression
and
file
formats.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Video
and
audio-heavy
websites
are
often
those
that
can
have
significant
sustainability
costs
in
terms
of
storage
and
carbon
intensity
for
viewers
who
have
to
process
the
media
with
their
devices
to
watch
them
(draining
batteries).
Optimizing
such
assets
as
much
as
possible
is
critical
for
a
sustainable
product
or
service.
Economic:
Eliminating
data-intensive
media
entirely
and
using
alternatives
such
as
transcripts
reduce
costs
associated
with
hosting
and
data
transfer.
Environment:
Reducing
the
battery
drain
associated
with
loading
data-intensive
content
by
preventing
auto-loading
or
delaying
it
until
the
moment
it
is
required
reduces
energy
emissions
associated
with
data
transfer
and
renering.
Performance:
Tailoring
user
experience
to
the
device,
situation,
and
environment
of
the
visitor
user
by
having
different
resolutions
and
quality
formats
available
reduces
wasted
bandwidth.
This
can
boost
performance
for
users
who
make
choices
to
reduce
the
data
downloaded.
Social
Equity:
Providing
alternatives
to
data-intensive
media
allows
with
limited
bandwidth
or
older
devices
to
access
content.
Progressively
display
an
appropriate
number
of
animations
to
avoid
overburdening
the
visitor
user
or
negatively
impacting
device
performance.
This
includes
setting
a
maximum
number
of
replays
or
iterations.
Allow
visitors
users
to
start,
stop,
pause,
or
otherwise
control
animated
content.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Animation
can
be
both
CPU
and
GPU
-intensive
and
have
implications
for
accessibility.
While
visually
appealing
and
useful
in
certain
situations,
care
and
attention
should
be
taken
when
considering
the
use
of
a
high
emissions
technology.
Environment:
Disabling
and
reducing
animation
to
the
essential,
with
appropriate
optimization
and
user
control,
reduces
rendering
impact
and
associated
emissions.
Social
Equity:
Catering
to
different
perspectives
on
and
preferences
in
relation
to
animation
can
improve
acceptance
and
access
for
individuals
using
different
devices
and
from
different
backgrounds.
Limit
the
number
of
fonts
used.
Design
or
subset
fonts
to
omit
unnecessary
or
unused
variations,
such
as
font
weight
or
characters.
Use
the
most
performant
file
format
available.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Since
the
advent
of
the
modern
web,
the
ability
to
include
embedded
fonts
and
provide
a
more
customized
experience
has
seen
their
use
explode.
They
aren't
always
the
most
performant
option
(which
poses
emissions
hazards)
and
come
with
a
few
issues
such
as
Flash
Of
Unstyled
Content
(
FOUC
)
/
Flash
Of
Unstyled
Text
(
FOUT
)
which
should
be
addressed.
Include
WebVTT
closed
captions
and
subtitles
support
for
videos.
Provide
localization
as
expected
by
your
audience,
including
subtitles
and
sign
language
that
meet
the
same
standard.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Media,
images,
fonts,
and
documents
enrich
the
Internet.
The
problem
is
that
people
may
not
want
to
watch
a
video,
listen
to
an
audio
file,
look
at
an
image,
or
use
a
specific
application.
By
providing
alternative
formats
to
anything
you
embed,
you
ensure
the
widest
possible
audience
can
benefit
from
it
(and
reduced
carbon
output
will
occur
as
the
alternative
text
will
induce
less
consumer
hardware
thrashing
than
its
rich
media
alternative).
Accessibility:
Providing
content
in
multiple
formats
means
users
can
choose
the
format
that
best
supports
their
needs,
helping
to
eliminate
barriers.
Conversion:
Creating
text
alternatives
to
media,
such
as
transcripts,
means
your
content
can
be
more
easily
found
and
indexed
by
search
engines.
Economic:
Hosting
and
delivering
text
is
less
computationally
expensive
than
media,
so
providing
text-based
content
can
reduce
hosting
and
bandwidth
costs.
Environment:
Offering
low-impact
alternatives
to
media
formats
reduces
rendering
and
processing
effort,
and
the
associated
emissions.
Performance:
Reducing
interactivity
can
help
visitors
users
access
what
they
need
faster.
Social
Equity:
Providing
text
alternatives
for
those
who
are
not
able
to
watch
a
video
or
listen
to
audio,
even
situationally,
improves
access
and
user
experience.
Remove
unnecessary
forms
and
reduce
form
content
to
the
minimum
necessary
to
meet
the
user
needs
while
satisfying
the
organization's
minimum
requirements.
Clearly
communicate
why
a
form
is
necessary,
the
value
it
provides,
the
number
of
steps
required
for
completion,
and
what
will
be
done
with
the
collected
data.
Also
disclose
if
the
data
will
be
shared
with
third
parties.
Avoid
using
auto-completion
or
auto-suggest
based
on
partial
entry
to
conserve
user
bandwidth
and
reduce
unnecessary
server
side
requests.
Support
the
use
of
helpful
tooling,
such
as
password
managers,
by
not
preventing
autofill.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Understandably,
businesses
want
to
know
more
about
their
customers,
but
a
key
part
of
sustainability
is
being
ethical
towards
visitors
users
and
as
such,
the
right
to
privacy
is
considered
paramount.
Don't
demand
information
when
it's
not
required
and
not
only
will
this
help
visitors
users
complete
transactions
quicker
(reducing
emissions),
it
will
help
with
legal
compliance
such
as
GDPR.
Accessibility:
Labeling
your
forms
correctly
and
testing
for
accessibility
and
compatibility
with
a
range
of
different
devices
and
inputs
reduces
barriers.
Autocomplete
improves
ease
of
use
and
efficiency
for
all
use,
especially
those
with
additional
accessibility
needs.
Well-labeled
and
accessible
forms
are
more
likely
to
be
successfully
completed.
Conversion:
Building
forms
based
on
standards
with
ease
of
use
and
accessibility
in
mind
boosts
conversion,
as
more
users
are
able
to
complete
them.
Economic:
Implementing
more
accessible
and
usable
forms
reduces
frustration
while
increasing
completion
rates.
This
can
reduce
complaints,
support
costs,
and
abandonment.
Environment:
Optimizing
forms
reduces
the
resources
required
to
complete
them,
which
reduces
emissions.
Privacy:
Collecting
informed
consent
and
providing
helpful
disclosures
about
cookies,
data
collection,
and
data
processing
within
forms,
alongside
appropriate
links
to
find
further
information
in
an
accessible
format,
improves
data
privacy.
Support
non-visual
browsing
methods
and
various
non-graphical
ways
to
interact
with
content.
This
includes
anything
from
assistive
technologies
to
voice
agents.
Consider
and
provide
working
alternatives
to
visual
interfaces.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Certain
visitors
users
such
as
those
with
visual
disabilities
or
speech
agents
(like
Amazon
Alexa)
may
rely
on
an
experience
without
the
graphical
part
of
an
interface.
As
such,
they
potentially
may
use
less
data
or
may
have
a
different
carbon
impact
on
the
Web.
Accessibility:
Supporting
non-visual
browsing
methods
means
people
can
access
your
content
more
easily
when
using
specialized
accessibility
aids.
Conversion:
Increasing
compatibility
by
supporting
a
wider
range
of
devices,
beyond
the
most
popular
or
well-known
hardware
and
software,
will
enable
interactions
with
new
audiences
and
increase
the
likelihood
of
a
positive
outcome.
Environment:
Allowing
non-visual
browsers
to
interact
with
your
content
can
help
to
reduce
overall
emissions.
Non-visual
browsers
may
lack
a
display,
which
reduces
the
environmental
impact
of
browsing.
Remove
non-essential
notifications.
Justify
and
reduce
email,
text
message
(
SMS
),
and
other
invasive
or
energy-intense
notifications
to
what
is
strictly
necessary.
Useful
notifications,
such
as
alerts
for
new
content
should
be
used
with
care
and
restraint.
Let
the
user
adjust
their
own
notification
and
messaging
settings.
Ensure
the
options
to
unsubscribe,
log
out,
and
close
an
account
should
be
available
and
visible.
Ensure
it
is
possible
for
the
user
to
change
their
contact
details.
Clearly
explain
the
result
of
a
potential
input
through
helpful
prompts
and
messages
that
explain
errors,
next
steps,
and
other
relevant
information.
This
will
help
to
manage
users’
expectations.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Notifications
whether
through
the
browser
or
messaging
can
be
potentially
useful,
but
only
used
in
moderation.
Spam
and
the
lack
of
control
are
contributing
sources
of
Internet
emissions
and
as
such,
businesses
should
aim
to
reduce
such
actions.
Accessibility:
Signposting
individuals
to
information
through
helpful
notifications
or
error
messages
will
reduce
abandonment.
All
information
must
be
presented
in
a
way
that
does
not
discriminate,
as
this
could
exclude
many
potential
users.
Environment:
Notifying
visitors
users
about
important
events
can
reduce
the
need
to
constantly
refresh
pages.
These
notifications
provide
a
shortcut,
ensuring
content
is
loaded
when
it
becomes
available.
This
can
save
emissions.
Privacy:
Using
notifications
appropriately
ensures
personalized
content
is
only
displayed
on
specific
devices,
reducing
the
risk
of
information
exposure.
Design
your
process
to
reduce
the
need
for
paper
documents.
Where
the
production
of
paper
documents
is
essential,
it
should
be
designed
to
have
the
lowest
impact
possible.
Include
a
CSS
print
stylesheet
and
test
it
with
different
types
of
content.
Encourage
saving
documents
in
digital
formats
over
paper-based
storage
and
archiving.
Display
the
document
name,
a
summary,
the
file
size,
and
the
format
prior
to
downloading.
Allow
users
to
choose
the
right
format
and
language
for
their
needs
where
possible.
Avoid
embedding
documents
directly;
provide
a
link
to
download
or
view
them
within
the
browser
instead.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Printing
or
downloading
documents
can
both
be
a
net
benefit
and
a
net
cost
in
terms
of
sustainability
as
it
can
reduce
repeat
requests
to
websites,
but
the
act
of
printing
(especially
when
unoptimized)
wastes
valuable
ink
and
paper.
Accessibility:
Providing
a
range
of
inclusively
designed
downloadable
documents
in
a
variety
of
formats
benefits
those
with
accessibility
needs
as
they
can
choose
the
ideal
format
for
their
device
and
use
case.
Environment:
Reducing
the
need
to
print
documents
or
providing
a
print
friendly
style
sheet
reduces
emissions
associated
with
paper,
ink,
and
the
act
of
printing.
Performance:
Compressing
or
otherwise
optimizing
documents
means
they
can
be
downloaded
faster,
avoiding
users
needing
to
wait
to
view
documents
prepared
for
offline
viewing.
Outline
processes
used
to
prototype
and
test
new
features,
product
ideas,
and
user
interface
components.
Test
with
real
users
who
represent
different
perspectives
and
user
constraints.
Conversion:
Using
a
well-built,
thoroughly
tested
interface
is
likely
to
reduce
user
frustration
and
churn.
Economic:
Prioritizing
user
research
in
organizational
policies
helps
to
reduce
and
mitigate
risks
and
costs
associated
with
building
unnecessary
features,
which
would
also
incur
technical
debt.
Performing
iterative
testing
and
prototyping
reduces
the
resources
needed
to
build
new
features.
Environment:
Enabling
users
to
complete
tasks
more
quickly
and
efficiently
reduces
energy
use
and
emissions.
Check
the
codebase
for
bugs,
identify
performance
issues,
and
account
for
accessibility
or
security
problems
at
appropriate
regular
intervals,
such
as
every
month
or
quarter.
Incorporate
regression
testing
into
each
release
cycle
to
ensure
new
features
do
not
introduce
bugs
or
otherwise
conflict
with
existing
functionality.
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information
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guideline
and
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success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Products
and
services
at
any
stage
of
a
project
can
suffer
bugs
or
issues
that
need
to
be
resolved.
Fixing
these
regressions
also
generates
additional
development
and
environmental
costs.
By
resolving
such
issues,
you
can
reduce
the
chances
of
a
visitor
user
giving
up
on
a
session
and
thereby
reduce
the
amount
of
wasted
energy
your
website
emits
overall.
Accessibility:
Maintaining
inclusivity
over
time
through
regular
audits
and
testing
reduces
outages,
improves
access
to
information,
and
creates
a
better
experience
for
all
users,
not
just
those
with
accessibility
needs.
Economic:
Performing
ongoing
regression
testing
improves
security,
which
reduces
risk
and
its
associated
costs.
Environment:
Carrying
out
regular
service
audits
reduces
technical
debt,
which
improves
performance
and
environmental
sustainability.
Regression
analysis
also
supports
continuous
improvement
and
lowers
resource
use
over
time,
which
in
turn
reduces
emissions.
Security:
Auditing
a
product
or
service
regularly
will
identify
potential
sources
of
breaches
and
areas
of
improvement
in
security
and
privacy.
Identify
and
resolve
bottlenecks
or
issues
in
the
underlying
code
or
infrastructure
which
could
impact
sustainability
and
performance.
Consider
both
simulated
and
real-world
metrics.
Monitor
performance
across
every
release
cycle
using
appropriate
tooling
or
through
research
and
auditing.
Collect
only
data
required
to
provide
a
streamlined
and
effective
user
journey
and
comply
with
relevant
accessibility
and
data
protection
legislation.
Put
policies
in
place
to
ensure
strict
adherence.
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information
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guideline
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success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Try
to
ethically
measure
how
efficient
a
visitor's
user's
experience
is
by
analyzing
the
performance
of
the
website
or
application
and
how
it
has
been
constructed,
by
doing
so
you
might
be
able
to
reduce
any
issues
they
may
have
encountered
previously,
decrease
loading
times,
and
reduce
the
burden
of
loading
unnecessary
pages.
Conversion:
Increasing
page
load
speed
can
measurably
improve
conversion
rates,
as
visitors
users
will
be
less
likely
to
abandon
a
product
or
service
if
the
content
appears
instantaneously.
Economic:
Storing
and
transferring
less
data
reduces
costs
for
content
hosts
and
website
and
application
owners.
Environment:
Improving
performance
of
a
website
or
application
increases
device
longevity,
as
visitors
users
will
be
less
compelled
to
upgrade
their
devices.
Performance:
Loading
less
data
improves
performance.
Lighter
pages
are
rendered
and
available
to
visitors
users
quicker,
helping
to
improve
the
UX
.
Monitor
visitor
user
feedback,
adoption,
and
churn
rates
in
relation
to
different
features
and
incorporate
these
insights
into
future
releases.
Additional
information
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Occasionally,
you
may
find
that
features
you
have
developed
for
a
product
or
service
have
little
to
no
active
users
or
could
be
better
implemented
to
bring
better
value.
Undertaking
research
to
identify
redundancy
allows
you
to
optimize
your
codebase
(and
reduce
emissions).
Conversion:
Acting
on
feedback
often
improves
conversion
rates
because
it
ensures
that
your
digital
product
or
service
reflects
the
needs
of
your
audience.
Economic:
Avoiding
wasted
development
time
building
features
that
bring
little
value
to
the
consumer
means
resources
can
be
focused
where
they
deliver
more
value.
Environment:
Learning
from
feedback
enables
choices
that
improve
environmental
impact.
An
example
of
this
would
be
making
sure
that
the
most
frequently
used
features
are
placed
higher
in
the
visual
hierarchy.
This
reduces
the
effort
and
time
users
must
invest
to
achieve
their
goals.
Performance:
Performing
user
testing
allows
you
to
retain
focus
on
goal
and
maintain
good
performance
without
unnecessary
complexity.
Incorporate
usability
testing
into
product
cycles
and
routinely
measure
the
impact
of
these
tests
for
future
releases.
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information
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criteria.
This
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is
non-normative.
Intent
Researching
a
product
or
service
and
how
it
is
used
over
time
allows
you
to
iterate
and
ensure
the
features
and
functionality
being
offered
match
how
user-needs
change
over
time.
Doing
so
will
help
you
reduce
code
redundancy
further
and
reduce
emissions
through
optimization.
Accessibility:
Gathering
feedback
from
people
with
disabilities
can
guide
key
improvements.
This
ensures
your
project
can
be
used
by
the
widest
possible
audience.
Environment:
Ensuring
visitors
users
can
quickly
and
easily
accomplish
tasks
or
access
information
reduces
the
energy
used
searching
for
answers.
Establish
and
maintain
a
compatibility
policy
which
covers
current
and
obsolete
devices
and
software
versions,
listing
the
supported
device
brands,
operating
systems,
and
browsers
(including
versions).
Update
this
regularly
in
line
with
new
releases.
Avoid
planned
obsolescence.
Strive
to
maintain
compatibility
for
as
long
as
possible
and
communicate
clearly
whether
an
update
is
evolutionary,
as
in
large
updates
that
can
significantly
reduce
performance,
or
corrective,
as
in
smaller
updates
that
fix
bugs
or
improve
security.
Test
performance
in
various
scenarios
to
ensure
compatibility.
Testing
should
cover
weak,
unstable,
restricted,
or
slow
connections,
old
browsers,
and
devices
older
than
five
years.
Use
a
PWA
over
a
native
mobile
application
if
it
meets
sustainability,
interoperability,
and
compatibility
criteria.
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information
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criteria.
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section
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Intent
Compatibility
is
a
critical
part
of
the
sustainability
mindset
and
should
be
prioritized
through
all
products
and
services.
If
individuals
wish
to
use
older
devices
(or
cannot
upgrade
due
to
cost)
or
do
not
wish
to
upgrade
as
frequently,
it
will
reduce
the
amount
of
e-waste
that
enters
the
system.
If
something
doesn't
work,
it's
also
likely
to
result
in
visitors
users
suffering
a
wasted
effort,
potentially
leading
to
refused
access
to
your
service
(and
thereby
emitting
further
emissions).
Accessibility:
Incorporating
accessibility
into
early
prototypes
ensures
it
remains
a
priority
throughout
the
lifecycle.
Broken
code
can
also
impact
assistive
technologies,
such
as
screen
readers,
and
how
they
describe
content
to
individuals
with
visual
disabilities.
Semantic
code
can
help
to
deliver
an
equal,
error-free
experience
to
all.
Conversion:
Delivering
products
and
services
that
last
longer
and
enjoy
longer-lasting
compatibility
can
increase
conversion
rates,
due
to
the
lower
abandonment
rates
and
a
broader
audience
that
is
able
to
use
a
barrier-free
version
of
the
product
or
service.
Economic:
Saving
time
and
improving
quality
results
in
cost
reductions,
because
increased
stability
reduces
the
need
for
refactoring.
Users
benefit
from
greater
trust
and
potentially
lower
costs
and
maintenance
fees
as
upgrades
may
not
be
required
as
frequently.
Environment:
Avoiding
incompatibility
issues
can
significantly
reduce
e-waste,
with
planned
obsolescence
being
is
one
of
the
biggest
contributors
to
e-waste
worldwide.Extending
lifespans
and
improving
compatibility
within
your
service
plan
can
improve
sustainability
and
slow
the
upgrade
cycle
otherwise
driven
by
sluggish
digital
experiences.
Performance:
Deploying
incompatible
code
has
an
energy
cost.
When
code
is
non-standard,
deprecated
or
does
not
work
on
a
device,
it
can
take
additional
time
to
render
because
it
is
usually
not
optimized
for
the
environment.
This
puts
pressure
on
the
CPU
and
wastes
battery.
Using
modern
web
standards
will
help
your
service
run
reliably
in
modern
browsers.
Social
Equity:
Enhancing
compatibility
and
longevity
helps
to
reduce
the
digital
divide.
This
can
be
significant
in
relation
to
income
inequality,
infrastructure
robustness,
or
accessibility,
for
example.
Broader
support
can
therefore
open
your
work
to
new
markets,
or
extend
the
viability
of
existing
access.
Similarly,
because
progressive
web
applications
use
established
web
standards,
they
are
available
to
more
people
than
more
cost-prohibitive
closed
systems.
Sustainable
web
design
and
development
practices
at
the
front-end
and
back-end
often
intersect
with
best
practices,
unlocking
numerous
benefits
for
people
and
the
planet
alike.
Front-end
and
back-end
web
development
play
a
big
role
in
creating
a
sustainable
web.
The
result
is
code
that
runs
more
efficiently
and
transparently.
Products
are
better
able
to
meet
visitor
user
and
user
objectives,
fast,
while
reducing
the
burden
on
hardware
resources.
Sustainable
web
development
offers
scaling
and
wide-reaching
advantages.
Goals
include:
Optimize
code
for
sustainability
impact
targets.
Maximize
product
and
service
efficiency
to
reduce
hardware
load
and
requirements.
Add
and
adapt
technical
features
to
increase
digital
sustainability.
Benefits
include:
Sustainable
coding
practices
promote
faster,
more
efficient
code
that
is
easier
to
scale
and
maintain.
Similarly,
reducing
client
device
entry
requirements
may
allow
you
to
expand
your
services
to
include
those
using
less
advanced
client
devices.
Lower
abandonment
rates
thanks
to
optimized
code
on
both
the
client
and
server-side
means
fewer
errors,
less
downtime,
and
better
user
experience.
More
efficient
web
services
inevitably
translate
to
better
performance
and
technical
SEO
,
boosting
search
engine
visibility.
Plain
language
summary
of
Web
Development
Optimize
your
project
by
eliminating
unnecessary
or
duplicate
code.
Develop
your
project
to
sustainably
meet
the
needs
of
your
audience.
Assess
the
necessity
and
quality
of
third-party
services,
dependencies,
and
first-party
code.
Eliminate
incorrect
code,
blocking
events,
form
errors,
security
issues,
and
outdated
code.
Design
interfaces
to
be
responsive,
and
adaptable
to
different
devices
and
user
preferences.
Include
useful
files
expected
by
browsers,
search
engines,
and
other
services.
Use
the
latest
version
of
tools
and
software
and
use
native
features
where
able.
3.1
Set
goals
based
on
performance
and
energy
impact
Set
clear
goals
with
performance
and
environmental
impact
in
mind,
then
meet
them.
These
could
include,
the
number
of
requests
or
elements
that
must
be
rendered.
Consider
differences
in
the
energy
intensity
or
testable
impact
across
each
component.
For
example,
unstyled
text
is
less
computationally
intensive
to
render
than
CSS
,
which
in
turn
is
less
process-heavy
than
JavaScript,
which
is
less
resource-heavy
than
WebGL
or
4K
video.
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information
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guideline
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Intent
Performance
is
a
key
part
of
the
sustainability
mindset
as
reductions
in
loading
times
can
have
a
considerable
impact
on
energy
loads
within
CPU
,
GPU
,
RAM
,
and
hard
drive
caching
(among
other
variables),
as
such
ensuring
a
performant
product
is
essential.
Conversion:
Page
speed
and
web
performance
are
confirmed
ranking
factors
when
it
comes
to
SEO
.
A
faster
digital
product
or
service
may
support
an
organization's
efforts
to
rank
higher
on
search
engines.
Combined
with
the
better
on-page
user
experience,
this
can
lead
to
improved
conversion
rates.
Environment:
Limiting
the
number
of
server
requests
and
the
DOM
size
lessens
the
negative
environmental
impact
of
a
product
or
service'
by
reducing
CPU
and
GPU
cycles
and
RAM
usage.
This
brings
down
energy
consumption,
and
reduces
the
need
to
recharge
portable
devices
as
frequently.
Performance:
Reducing
the
hardware
load
improves
overall
performance.
Devices
are
less
likely
to
be
overloaded
or
hit
their
limits
with
reduced
resources.
Remove
unnecessary
whitespace,
comments,
and
other
non-essential
characters
from
code
and
data
files
to
reduce
file
sizes
and
improve
loading
times.
This
applies
to
HTML
,
CSS
,
JavaScript,
JSON
,
SVG
,
and
other
relevant
file
types.
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information
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Intent
Minifying
code
is
essential
for
creating
efficient,
performant,
and
sustainable
web
applications.
Smaller
codebases
translate
to
faster
load
times,
reduced
bandwidth
consumption,
and
easier
maintenance.
This
principle
applies
to
both
front-end
(client-side)
and
back-end
(server-side)
code,
though
the
specific
techniques
may
differ.
Code
should
not
be
minified
in
not-for-production
developer
visible
situations.
Conversion:
Faster
page
speeds
improve
user
experience
across
the
board.
This
makes
visitors
users
less
likely
to
abandon
their
journey
or
search
for
their
information
elsewhere.
Performance:
Less
data
transferred
means
reduced
loading
times.
Whitespace
itself
is
ignored
by
rendering
engines,
meaning
the
client-side
impact
is
minimal.
However,
reducing
data
transfer
has
a
positive
impact.
You
can
find
details
about
complying
with
[
GRI
]
through
the
body
behind
the
standard.
GRI
301:
Materials
Low
GRI
302:
Energy
Low
GRI
303:
Water
Low
GRI
305:
Emissions
Low
Example
!function(e,t){"use
strict";"object"==typeof
module&&"object"==typeof
module.exports?module.exports=e.document?t(e,!0):function(e){if(!e.document)throw
new
Error("jQuery
requires
a
window
with
a
document");return
t(e)}:t(e)}("undefined"!=typeof
window?window:this,function(g,e){"use
strict";var
t=[],r=Object.getPrototypeOf,s=t.slice,v=t.flat?function(e){return
t.flat.call(e)}:function(e){return
t.concat.apply([],e)},u=t.push,i=t.indexOf
Break
down
bandwidth-heavy
components
into
smaller,
modular
segments
that
can
be
loaded
only
when
required.
This
applies
to
both
front-end
and
back-end
code.
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information
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criteria.
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Intent
This
approach
is
applicable
across
various
programming
languages
and
platforms,
both
client-side
and
server-side.
By
modularizing
code
and
assets,
you
can
ensure
faster
load
times,
better
resource
management,
reduce
redundancy,
and
improved
scalability
for
your
application.
Additionally,
reducing
unnecessary
data
transfer
and
optimizing
load
times
can
contribute
to
more
energy-efficient
operations,
helping
to
lower
the
environmental
impact,
improve
the
UX
of
your
web
application
or
service.
Conversion:
Modularizing
code
can
accelerate
performance,
improving
user
experience
while
reducing
the
chance
of
abandonment.
This
is
especially
impact
for
users
of
low-resource
devices,
such
as
handhelds.
Economic:
Reducing
the
size
of
large
files
will
reduce
bandwidth
expenses
for
service
providers.
Performance:
Using
smaller,
modular
components
allows
for
more
effective
caching
of
commonly
those
reused
components,
while
loading
functions
only
when
required
reduces
the
payload.
Unused
portions
of
a
larger
resource
will
not
be
downloaded,
which
can
have
a
considerable
impact.
Identify
and
eliminate
unused
and
dead
code,
commonly
within
CSS
and
JavaScript.
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information
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information
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guideline
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its
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criteria.
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section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Often
when
coding,
projects
can
accumulate
clutter
and
functions
that
are
no
longer
used
(due
to
newer,
more
effective
features
being
developed).
By
utilizing
tree
shaking
techniques,
all
the
"dead
wood"
will
be
automatically
dropped
upon
compilation,
reducing
a
file's
size.
Performance:
Reducing
downloaded
code
that
otherwise
offers
no
benefit
to
visitors
users
frees
up
cache
and
RAM
resources
on
their
devices,
while
saving
time.
Remove
duplication
and/or
simplify
and
optimize
your
code
for
better
performance,
focusing
on
essential
features
so
you
have
a
cleaner,
less
redundant
product
and
codebase.
Improve
existing
solutions
rather
than
redeveloping
and
redesigning
products
from
scratch,
since
the
latter
would
duplicate
the
coding
effort
and
maintenance
burden
for
developers
rather
than
reduce
the
learning
burden
for
visitors.
users.
Use
organization
methodology
and
systems
such
as
DRY
or
WET
to
optimize
the
arrangement
and
output
of
your
JavaScript
and
CSS
.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
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understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Redundancy
is
the
enemy
of
sustainability.
Having
systems
in
place
to
ensure
that
everyone
can
work
from
established
patterns,
the
website
or
application
remains
clean
and
easy
to
use,
and
iteration
over
redesign
is
firmly
in
the
mindset
that
will
help
promote
sustainable
practices.
It's
also
worth
being
wary
of
abstracting
code
too
early
(see
AHA
methodology)
or
incorrectly,
as
while
good
abstractions
can
be
more
efficient,
poor
ones
can
waste
effort
and
introduce
complexity,
bloat,
and
bugs
to
your
codebase
which
can
lead
to
emissions.
Accessibility:
Following
naming
conventions
used
in
methodologies
can
be
easier
for
developers
with
accessibility
needs
to
follow
and
use
compared
to
generic
selector
identifiers.
Economic:
Using
an
optimized
and
reusable
codebase
can
enhance
productivity
and
code
quality
leading
to
a
better
return
on
investment.
Environment:
Integrating
certain
methodologies
can
add
code
to
your
markup,
but
they
also
improve
maintainability.
This
reduces
development
time
at
scale,
and
could
reduce
energy
consumption
as
developers
optimized
workflows
will
reduce
the
time
and
energy
spent
on
tasks.
Performance:
Avoiding
repetitive
code
reduces
waste
in
markup,
which
reduces
the
time
it
takes
to
download
site
data.
This
also
reduces
server-side
impact.
Assess
third-party
content
and/or
services
(including
plugins,
widgets,
feeds,
maps,
carousels,
tracking
scripts,
and
more)
as
early
as
possible
in
the
ideation
or
creation
process.
Use
as
few
as
possible,
preferring
lighter,
less
complex
solutions
to
reduce
the
overall
environmental
impact,
including
Scope
3
emissions.
Use
click-to-load
triggers
based
on
an
import
on
interaction
pattern
to
prevent
automatic
loading
of
third-party
content
and/or
services
(see
above).
Offer
suitable
alternatives
to
third-party
use,
for
example,
a
link
to
a
contact
form
as
an
alternative
to
a
chat
widget.
Host
icons
and
widgets
on
your
own
server,
rather
than
relying
on
third-party
services
to
host
and
deliver
these
or
embed
third-party
functionality
within
your
project.
Respect
user
preferences
around
the
use
of
third-party
products
and
services,
similar
to
the
implementation
of
cookie
consent
modals.
Provide
mechanisms
to
disable
or
refuse
non-first-party
features
alongside
explanations
of
their
purpose
unless
it
is
possible
to
show
these
third-party
features
are
critical
for
functionality.
Additional
information
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non-normative.
Intent
Whether
advertising,
chatbots,
maps,
or
other
tooling;
outsourcing
your
service
to
a
third-party
provider
may
be
potentially
useful
in
certain
scenarios
in
reducing
design
or
development
time
and
redundancy
(which
can
be
a
win
for
sustainability).
Third-party
services,
however,
come
with
issues,
such
as
the
lack
of
control
over
emissions,
and
they
often
can
potentially
suffer
from
latency
and
large
file
sizes
which
may
not
exist
if
you
self-hosted
or
created
the
material.
Environment:
Replacing
heavy
tooling
and
third-party
services
with
lightweight
tooling
reduces
visitor
user
bandwidth
usage
and
compute
impact.
It
does
require
learning
a
new
way
of
doing
things
or
reducing
the
visibility
of
impactful
features
until
they
are
requested.
It
can
significantly
reduce
a
page's
overall
'environmental
impact,
including
the
data
you
have
no
control
over.
This
is
especially
relevant
when
calculating
Scope
3
emissions.
Performance:
Self-hosting
fully
self-contained
services,
features,
and
content
are
more
performant
by
design.
They
avoid
additional
server
and
rendering
requests
or
other
complications
associated
with
third-party
content.
You
can
choose
to
only
include
the
required
features
,
further
reducing
overall
bandwidth
usage
and
associated
emissions.
Privacy:
Choosing
not
to
embed
and
automatically
load
third-party
content
may
be
perceived
as
a
privacy
benefit
by
privacy-conscious
visitors,
users,
because
this
reduces
opportunities
for
their
visitor
user
data
to
be
exploited.
Remove
optional
HTML
elements,
attribute
quotes,
and
default
attributes
only
when
they
do
not
negatively
impact
functionality,
accessibility,
or
readability.
Retain
them
when
they
enhance
accessibility,
maintain
clarity
without
compromising
on
performance,
or
ensure
consistent
browser
rendering.
Prioritize
the
use
of
standard
HTML
elements
and
attributes.
Only
use
custom
elements
or
Web
Components
if
you
cannot
use
native
elements
or
if
you
require
them
for
the
purposes
of
producing
reusable
design
system
components.
Additional
information
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additional
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criteria.
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section
is
non-normative.
Intent
HTML
semantics
are
important.
They
don't
just
play
a
key
role
in
making
the
Web
look
the
way
it
does,
they
have
a
function
in
accessibility,
SEO
,
and
even
in
sustainability.
Ensuring
that
you
markup
your
content
correctly
and
avoid
cluttering
your
markup
wastefully
will
reduce
emissions.
Accessibility:
Applying
semantic
approaches
means
your
content
will
be
easier
to
navigate
via
assistive
technologies
and
keyboard.
Many
tags
phave
native
semantics,
reducing
the
need
for
additional
tagging.
This
can
also
help
technologies
to
better
understand
your
content.
better.
Conversion:
Ensuring
your
code
is
efficient
and
works
reduces
the
risk
of
broken
features
and
visitors
users
giving
up.
Economic:
Conforming
to
accessibility
legislation
and
regulations
avoid
lawsuits
and
fines.
Environment:
Following
standards
ensures
users
have
a
coherent
experience
-
reducing
bugs,
saving
time
spent
fixing
bugs,
and
avoiding
wasted
resources.
Bloated
markup
can
otherwise
lead
to
waste
data,
while
broken
markup
can
even
trigger
memory
leaks.
Performance:
Clean,
modern
code
renders
better
than
deprecated
or
poorly
maintained
code.
While
Web
Components
do
outperform
framework
components,
they
cannot
outperform
the
native
elements
they
are
built
on.
Where
external
resources
are
required
to
be
used
upon
the
documents
load,
optimize
loading
using
resource
and
priority
hints.
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information
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is
non-normative.
Intent
The
ability
to
work
around
render-blocking
issues
is
a
great
addition
to
the
web.
From
deferring
code,
to
lazy
loading,
to
asynchronous
loading,
each
has
its
use
case
and
each
can
have
the
potential
to
reduce
or
give
performance
benefits
to
a
website
or
application.
Economic:
If
data
is
not
loaded
unless
needed,
you
will
reduce
your
server's
bandwidth
use.
Environment:
Lazy
loading
videos
and
images
so
that
they
are
only
loaded
once
required
by
the
visitor.
user.
This
reduces
transferred
data
and
the
required
processing
power.
Performance:
Allowing
text
to
render
first
make
the
user
feel
that
everything
is
loading
faster
while,
as
the
remaining
content
loads
in
the
background
or
on
demand.
Provide
accessibility
and
usability
aids,
such
as
skip
links
and
signposts,
to
help
users
find
and
navigate
content.
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information
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Intent
Helping
visitors
users
avoid
wasting
their
time
can
reduce
the
number
of
emissions
from
time
spent
in
front
of
a
screen.
As
such,
by
using
existing
technologies
like
metadata,
robots.txt
files,
and
accessibility-friendly
aids
within
the
page,
improvements
to
the
experience
can
be
made.
Accessibility:
Including
skip
links
and
other
accessibility
aids
can
accelerate
the
user
journey,
reducing
system
resources
required
and
allowing
them
to
find
the
content
they
need.
Conversion:
Providing
clearly
navigable
structures
and
sitemaps
ensure
search
engines
are
better
able
to
index
content.
Economic:
Enabling
quicker
visits
that
complete
the
visitor's
user's
objective
can
help
to
encourage
return
visits.
Environment:
Reducing
the
time
people
spend
searching
for
the
information
they
want
and
aiding
them
on
their
journey
will
reduce
energy
use,
including
battery
drain.
Social
Equity:
Allowing
users
to
achieve
objectives
faster
reduces
resource
consumption
while
potentially
enhancing
visitor
user
health
and
well-being.
Clearly
label
and
identify
required
elements
to
ensure
easy
recognition
for
visitors
users
using
assistive
technologies.
Remove
any
unnecessary
optional
elements.
Always
allow
the
copying
and
pasting
of
content
(including
passwords)
from
external
sources.
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information
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Entering
information
on
a
page
can
lead
to
problems.
If
a
visitor
user
makes
a
mistake
along
the
way,
it
makes
good
sense
to
have
systems
in
place
to
guide
them
through
resolving
the
typos,
confusion,
and
glitches
that
can
occur
which
lead
to
abandonment
and
extra
emissions
through
wasted
device
usage.
Economic:
Fixing
issues
immediately
and
keeping
people
in
the
process
can
help
to
prevent
abandonment.
Performance:
Enabling
visitors
users
to
fill
in
forms
more
efficiently
and
avoid
navigating
back
to
where
they
were
or
refilling
data
on
forms
can
increase
the
speed
of
necessary
form
filing
and
reduce
errors
in
completion.
Security:
Allowing
people
to
correct
input
errors,
verify
their
input
prior
to
submission,
and
identifying
errors
early
in
the
process
can
help
to
prevent
costly
data
protection
mistakes.
Include
necessary
meta
tag
references
that
are
commonly
recognized
and
used
by
user
agents
such
as
search
engines.
Follow
recognized
standards
and
vocabularies
such
as
Friend
of
a
Friend
(
FOAF
)
or
RDFa
.
Use
microdata,
structured
data
(e.g.,
Schema.org),
or
microformats
in
content
where
a
widely
used
structured
data
format
exists.
Additional
information
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additional
information
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Search
engines
and
social
networks
make
use
of
the
content
within
a
website,
by
ensuring
that
your
metadata
is
correctly
marked
up,
you
can
reduce
emissions
by
improving
way-finding.
Economic:
Improving
metadata
can
make
it
easier
for
search
engines,
social
networks,
or
other
platforms
to
present
your
content
appropriately.
This
can
lead
to
better
search
engine
visibility,
more
visitors,
users,
and
potentially
better
conversion.
Performance:
Providing
third-party
tools
and
search
engines
with
the
information
they
need
can
direct
people
more
quickly
to
the
content
they
need.
Transparency:
Metadata
ensures
clients
find
the
correct
content
fast.
If
users
only
require
something
basic,
such
as
contact
details,
they
may
not
even
have
to
view
the
content
directly
-
saving
bandwidth.
Accommodate
common
user
preferences,
such
as
prefers-color-scheme,
with
corresponding
CSS
media
queries.
Consider
accounting
for
additional
user
preferences,
including
monochrome,
prefers-contrast,
prefers-reduced-data,
prefers-reduced-transparency,
and
prefers-reduced-motion
preference
queries
where
these
will
benefit
your
users.
Use
print
and
scripting
media
queries
when
they
can
improve
sustainability.
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information
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Intent
Sustainability
benefits
can
be
generated
in
numerous
ways,
by
making
sure
that
your
website
adheres
to
the
requests
made
by
a
browser
for
specific
conditions
to
be
taken
into
account
(such
as
CSS
media
and
preference
queries),
you
can
unlock
benefits
for
the
visitor,
user,
and
as
a
by-product
reduce
your
emissions.
It's
worth
noting
that
the
introduction
of
user
preferences
and
APIs
has
increased
the
risk
of
visitor
user
fingerprinting
and
privacy
issues.
Accessibility:
Having
a
high
contrast
version
of
a
site
will
reduce
barriers
to
entry
and
time
wasted
for
visually
impaired
visitors.
users.
Reduced
motion
can
also
accommodate
other
accessibility
requirements.
Conversion:
Delivering
better
user
experience
by
meeting
their
preferences
can
improve
conversion
and
encourage
repeat
visits.
Economic:
Using
print
media
queries
within
stylesheets
can
reduce
visitors'
users'
ink
use
and
paper
costs.
Environment:
Accommodating
dark
mode
when
preferred
will
always
be
more
energy
efficient
on
OLED
devices.
Similarly,
animation
and
media
have
a
significant
impact
on
CPU
and
GPU
usage,
so
respecting
a
prefers
reduced
motion
query
will
reduce
energy
consumption.
The
presence
of
a
monochrome
preference
query
could
encourage
greater
adoption
of
energy-efficient
e-ink
devices.
A
sustainability-optimized
print
stylesheet
can
save
both
paper
and
ink
output.
Performance:
Allowing
visitors
users
to
access
a
reduced-data
version
of
a
site
could
significantly
reduce
the
data
transferred
and
the
resulting
carbon
footprint.
This
can
improve
performance
and
reduce
costs
for
individuals
on
a
metered
data
plan.
Detecting
if
scripting
is
disabled
and
offering
alternative
content
may
save
wasted
effort
and
improve
the
performance
of
a
project.
Social
Equity:
Meeting
visitor
user
preferences
is
a
positive
shift:
You
are
not
telling
your
visitors
users
how
they
should
'experience
your
content,
but
following
your
visitors'
users'
preferences
or
a
device'
capabilities
and
the
priority
of
constituencies.
Allow
your
project
to
work
and
adapt
seamlessly
across
a
variety
of
devices
and
screen
sizes,
including
smartphones,
tablets,
laptops,
desktop
computers,
smart
TVs,
and
other
emerging
platforms.
This
ensures
that
content
and
functionality
can
be
easily
accessed
and
are
suitably
optimized
for
display
on
both
smaller
mobile
devices
and
larger
displays
without
limiting
accessibility,
usability,
or
design
features
on
any
specific
device
type.
Implement
robust
fallback
strategies
to
ensure
that
the
digital
product
or
service
will
not
fail
if
it
encounters
unsupported
technologies.
Use
progressive
enhancement
to
enhance
overall
sustainability.
This
can
involve
a
single
approach
or
a
careful
combination,
such
as
adaptive
design,
mobile-first
design,
or
dynamic
serving.
Use
carbon-aware
design
techniques
to
maximize
your
use
of
carbon-free
energy.
This
is
achieved
by
adapting
the
delivery
of
your
project
to
current
electricity
availability
and
visitor
user
grid
load.
This
should
include
using
situational
design
to
reduce
the
codebase
and
disable
non-essential
functionality
during
high-intensity
periods.
Similarly,
it
should
be
possible
to
adapt
the
user
interface
to
perform
better
with
reduced
hardware
resources,
where
this
measure
can
be
taken
to
avoid
scaling
hardware
resources
and
the
resultant
increase
in
emissions.
It
can
also
include
designing
algorithms
that
can
automatically
disable
features
based
on
set
thresholds.
Support
additional
indirect
methods
of
interaction,
such
as
voice
(speech),
code
(
QR
,
etc.),
reader
view
(browser,
application,
or
RSS
),
or
connected
technologies
(watch,
appliance,
transport,
etc.).
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information
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additional
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Intent
Visitors
Users
approach
our
products
and
services
on
a
wide
variety
of
devices
these
days.
Ensuring
that
your
device
works
on
the
widest
range
of
devices
and
differing
screen
resolutions
ensures
that
you
will
have
a
compatible
website
or
application.
A
Device-Adaptable
approach
goal
is
to
provide
a
consistent,
adaptable
experience
across
a
full
range
of
devices
by
considering
all
screen
sizes
and
resolutions
from
the
start,
rather
than
primarily
focusing
on
mobile
scaling
upward.
Accessibility:
Incorporating
large,
touch-friendly
buttons,
simplified
navigation
menus,
and
clear
readable
fonts
on
your
mobile
websites
can
make
it
easier
for
individuals
with
visual
or
motor
impairments
to
interact
with
your
content.
A
device-adaptable
strategy
that
considers
the
limitations
of
each
approach
helps
to
maximize
accessibility
and
usability
across
all
devices,
enhancing
accessibility
and
optimizing
experience.
Conversion:
Broadening
the
compatibility
of
your
products
and
services
can
equally
broaden
their
appeal
and
use,
even
in
scenarios
you
may
not
have
originally
envisaged.
Economic:
Ensuring
your
website
or
application
works
well
on
desktop
devices,
smartphones,
and
other
resolutions
alike
can
provide
a
financial
benefit
by
enabling
individuals
to
make
purchases
wherever
and
whenever
it
suits
them.
Social
Equity:
Ensuring
content
works
well
on
older
and
low-powered
devices
is
important,
as
these
are
more
frequently
used
in
developing
nations.
Integrate
energy-relevant
APIs
-
such
as
Battery
Status,
Compression
Streams,
Page
Visibility,
or
Vibration
-
where
these
can
reduce
energy
consumption.
Call
client-
or
server-side
APIs
only
when
necessary.
Equally,
ensure
an
API
is
optimized
to
only
send
data
that
is
actually
required.
Additional
information
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guideline
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success
criteria.
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section
is
non-normative.
Intent
When
new
best
practices
or
if
beneficial
scripting
guidance
exists
that
will
improve
the
visitor
user
experience,
following
it
should
be
of
the
highest
priority
(only
using
scripts
ethically
should
be
promoted).
Conversion:
Creating
fallbacks
for
technology
that
might
fail
can
'enable
sales
you
would
otherwise
miss
out
on.
Economic:
Providing
easier,
reliable
access
in
more
situations
allows
you
to
sell
to
more
people.
Environment:
Reducing
unnecessary
visual
effects
-
such
as
animations
-
when
a
page
is
not
visible,
helps
to
prevent
wasted
processing
in
background
tabs.
This
can
potentially
help
visitors
users
who
leave
multiple
tabs
open
conserve
battery.
Performance:
Using
low-impact
scripting
can
reduce
heavy
codebase
sizes.
Providing
fallbacks
for
unavailable
JavaScript
ensures
older
or
less
capable
devices
can
still
access
your
content.
Privacy:
Allowing
script-free
visitors
users
to
easily
access
your
content
can
protect
the
privacy
of
visitors
users
with
increased
privacy
needs.
You
can
find
details
about
complying
with
[
GRI
]
through
the
body
behind
the
standard.
GRI
301:
Materials
High
GRI
302:
Energy
High
GRI
303:
Water
High
GRI
305:
Emissions
High
Example
const audio = document.querySelector("audio");
// Handle page visibility change:
// - If the page is hidden, pause the video
// - If the page is shown, play the video
document.addEventListener("visibilitychange", () => {
if (document.hidden) {
audio.pause();
} else {
audio.play();
}
});
Check
scripts
and
associated
code
for
vulnerabilities,
exploits,
header
issues,
and
code
injection.
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information
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additional
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success
criteria.
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is
non-normative.
Intent
The
dangers
of
scripting
are
well
known,
and
vulnerabilities
are
discovered
with
increasing
regularity.
As
such,
it's
of
ethical
benefit
for
authors
to
ensure
all
code
used
regularly
passes
security
processes.
Economic:
Preventing
security
issues
ahead
of
time
c
protects
you
and
your
visitors
users
from
financial
crime.
Environment:
Securing
your
project
against
threats
and
closing
vulnerabilities
makes
them
a
less
likely
target
for
individuals
who
might
exploit
them,
consuming
vast
amounts
of
data
in
the
process.
Performance:
Protecting
your
project
against
breaches
reduces
your
risk
of
large
amounts
of
data
being
stolen,
corrupted,
or
destroyed.
Security:
Maintaining
security
helps
to
maintain
trust
and
prevent
personal
information
from
being
exposed
and
exploited.
Prevent
developers
from
downloading
and
installing
libraries
and
frameworks
to
run
client-side
when
they
are
not
needed
by
checking
for
unused
dependencies.
Follow
up
by
uninstalling
those
that
are
not
needed.
Limit
your
use
of
libraries
and
frameworks
to
the
genuinely
necessary
as
this
will
reduce
the
amount
of
code
that
has
to
be
downloaded
and
parsed
by
the
browser.
Consider
whether
you
can
use
vanilla
code
instead.
Check
the
package
size
and
whether
individual
modules
can
be
installed
and
imported
individually,
as
opposed
to
the
entire
library.
Regularly
check
dependencies
and
keep
them
up
to
date.
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information
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criteria.
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is
non-normative.
Intent
While
JavaScript
may
not
cause
the
most
website
bloat,
it
can
cause
very
high
emissions
in
terms
of
CPU
load
due
to
the
rendering
process,
thereby
it
makes
sense
to
consider
the
use
of
dependencies
and
third-party
code
carefully.
Include
favicon.ico,
robots.txt,
opensearch.xml,
site.webmanifest,
and
sitemap.xml
files
by
default.
Also
ensure
that
any
similar
files
defined
in
future
web
standards
or
specifications
are
included.
Include
beneficial
files
such
as
ads.txt,
carbon.txt,
humans.txt,
security.txt.
Also
ensure
that
any
similar
files
defined
in
future
web
standards
or
specifications
are
included.
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information
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information
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success
criteria.
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section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Websites
should
include
a
range
of
expected
and
standard
beneficial
files
to
improve
search
engine
optimization,
user
experience,
transparency,
and
overall
site
health.
Search
engines
and
browsers
regularly
request
these
files
by
default.
If
they
don't
exist,
this
leads
to
unnecessary
requests,
potential
errors,
and
increased
emissions.
Including
these
files
avoids
these
issues
while
also
providing
SEO
,
user
experience,
and
other
benefits.
They
each
have
a
low
carbon
footprint,
so
while
they
do
create
emissions,
it's
worth
including
them
for
the
benefits
they
provide.
Accessibility:
Integrating
expected
files
enables
the
browser''s
default
search
box
to
search
a
service,
replacing
any
custom
solution.
This
can
increase
accessibility
as
it
encourages
the
use
of
a
browser-native
component
and/or
keyboard
shortcuts,
which
can
often
better
meet
accessibility
requirements.
Conversion:
Configuring
robots.txt
appropriately
can
help
to
ensure
content
is
correctly
indexed
and
users
are
better
guided
to
appropriate
content
on
your
project.
Economic:
Including
robots.txt
and
sitemap
files
helps
search
engines
to
discover
and
index
your
website.
This
can
lead
to
more
visitors
users
and
potentially
more
customers.
The
ads.txt
file
may
reduce
advertising
fraud
and
could
similarly
benefit
your
business.
Environment:
Providing
files
expected
by
search
engines
or
browsers
will
reduce
loading
errors
and
may
improve
efficiency
in
how
visitors
users
find
or
interact
with
a
site.
Plain
text
requires
no
rendering.
If
visitors
users
or
search
engines
are
able
to
find
these
files,
such
as
carbon.txt,
they
can
load
more
quickly
and
with
less
CPU
/
GPU
impact
than
any
formatted
webpage.
Performance:
Satisfying
requests
for
expected
files
improves
interactions
with
search
engines
or
browsers
requesting
them,
while
also
potentially
avoiding
additional
requests
once
they
are
discovered.
Plain
text
files
contain
no
links,
no
markup,
and
has
a
low
rendering
impact.
Including
details
such
as
site
credits
in
such
a
file
will
reduce
data
transfer
and
have
a
lower
rendering
footprint.
Transparency:
Providing
a
humans.txt
file
allows
you
to
credit
the
people
involved
in
the
creation
process,
while
security.txt
provides
critical
points
of
contact
if
an
issue
is
discovered.
Both
increase
transparency.
Avoid
using
deprecated,
proprietary,
or
outdated
formats
and
web
standards.
Always
adopt
up-to-date,
widely
recognized
standards.
Only
use
deprecated,
proprietary,
or
outdated
code
where
this
is
required
to
meet
a
documented
customer
need
and
if
there
is
a
justifiable
benefit
that
cannot
otherwise
be
met.
Justifiable
reasons
could
include
compatibility
with
essential
legacy
systems
and/or
hardware,
accessibility,
or
emissions
reduction.
Use
polyfills
only
when
necessary,
and
regularly
audit
code
to
see
if
they
can
be
removed.
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information
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criteria.
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section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
web
is
full
of
outdated
or
deprecated
formats
and
web
standards,
and
proprietary
(non-standard
custom)
features
that
have
been
superseded.
By
adhering
to
up-to-date
and
widely
recognized
formats
and
web
standards,
developers
can
ensure
better
compatibility,
user
experience,
and
lower
environmental
impact.
Accessibility:
Using
modern
web
standards
helps
to
ensure
better
support
in
assistive
technologies.
Environment:
Avoiding
deprecated
standards
ensures
your
code
is
optimized
for
and
supported
by
modern
browsers,
ensuring
full
functionality
and
a
smooth
experience.
This
helps
to
reduce
browsing
time
and
associated
energy
use.
Performance:
Moving
on
from
deprecated
or
less
efficient
standards
increases
the
longevity
of
your
digital
product
or
service
and
reduces
the
need
for
a
carbon-intensive
redesign.
Security:
Keeping
up
with
modern
standards
reduces
the
risk
of
security
exploits.
Identify
the
requirements
and
use
this
as
a
basis
to
help
you
select
the
most
appropriate
implementation
for
your
project.
A
simpler
technological
implementation
may
use
more
human
resources
but
could
have
a
smaller
footprint.
A
prebuilt
solution
may
use
more
system
resources
and
have
a
bigger
emissions
impact
on
render,
but
it
could
have
a
faster
build
time
-
meaning
less
carbon
is
emitted
in
development.
Use
the
most
effective
approach
for
your
use
case.
Most
of
the
time,
coding
from
scratch
will
often
provide
the
most
performant
results.
Where
an
existing
solution
is
present
and
is
being
actively
maintained,
this
may
be
better
optimized
than
what
you
can
reasonably
produce
yourself.
Favor
native
components
and
file
systems
over
WYSIWYG
editors
-
including
visual
page
builders
-
or
other
heavy
frameworks.
Be
mindful
of
the
impact
of
third-party
solutions.
Deliver
static
in
place
of
dynamic
content
wherever
possible.
If
you
choose
to
use
a
code
generation
tool,
then
favor
the
most
efficient
tool
available,
such
as
Static
Site
Generators
(
SSGs
).
Content
delivered
by
a
dynamic
CMS
will
involve
much
more
server-side
processing
and
uses
bulkier
libraries.
Carefully
select
and
review
plugins,
extensions,
and
themes
to
maximize
interoperability,
accessibility,
and
performance.
Audit
these
regularly
over
time
to
ensure
continued
compatibility.
Pay
particular
attention
to
user
interface
components
with
respect
to
their
sustainability
impact.
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information
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criteria.
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section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Every
product
or
service
is
different,
and
each
will
require
a
different
set
of
tooling
to
accomplish
the
most
sustainable
result.
Deciding
whether
to
go
with
a
bulky
framework,
Static
Site
Generator
(
SSG
),
or
a
Content
Management
System
(
CMS
)
takes
careful
planning
based
on
client
or
service
requirements.
Accessibility:
Making
assistive
technologies
a
core
part
of
project
specifications
from
the
very
start
and
throughout
a
product
or
service''s
lifecycle
improves
access
for
people
with
disabilities.
Economic:
Avoiding
tooling
at
risk
of
overburdening
user
experience
may
result
in
financial
savings,
especially
if
tooling
has
associated
maintenance
expenses,
licensing
fees,
or
subscription
costs.
Environment:
Evaluating
long-term
technology
implications
and
taking
the
time
to
ensure
they
are
optimized
and
efficiently
utilized
helps
a
team
measurably
reduce
the
environmental
impact
of
a
product
or
service.
Performance:
Reducing
complexity
in
your
infrastructure
will
increase
developer
productivity,
while
also
reducing
overhead.
This
further
reduces
emissions.
Privacy:
Prioritizing
security
and
user
privacy
helps
an
organization
better
comply
with
current
and
emerging
legislation.
Security:
Maintaining
a
software
product
and
restricting
your
use
of
third-party
solutions
to
the
essential
will
improve
overall
security.
Use
the
most
appropriate
programming
language
for
the
task.
Many
tools
and
programming
languages
are
optimized
for
the
performance
of
particular
tasks.
Applying
the
most
appropriate
tools
to
the
problem
can
justify
any
time
or
effort
involved
in
their
adoption,
especially
if
there
is
a
reasonable
user
base,
provided
it
does
not
impact
the
wellbeing
of
those
involved
or
risk
becoming
cost-prohibitive.
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information
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is
non-normative.
Intent
Languages
evolve
regularly,
and
it's
important
for
security
and
performance
reasons
to
keep
on
top
of
the
technology
stack
you
are
using.
It's
also
important
to
consider
whether
the
language
you
are
using
is
appropriate
or
optimized
for
the
task
you
wish
to
use
it
for.
Economic:
Using
the
latest
and
more
performant
language
version
can
help
hosting
companies
to
reduce
their
costs.
That
could
be
beneficial
for
the
company
and
customers
alike.
Environment:
Using
the
latest
language
version
can
improve
efficiency
and
reduce
data
center
energy
consumption.
Although
do
verify
that
benefits
are
worthwhile
before
major
build
upgrades.
Performance:
Updating
the
language
version
will
often
offer
performance
improvements.
Compiled
languages,
such
as
C
or
Rust,
can
have
greatly
reduced
execution
times
and
energy
usage
for
algorthims
compared
to
the
same
algorithms
written
in
interpreted
languages,
such
as
Python
or
JavaScript.
Security:
Maintaining
update
and
upgrade
schedules
is
good
for
security,
allowing
you
to
reduce
the
risk
of
security
vulnerabilities
in
older
versions.
Use
native
functions,
APIs
,
and
features
over
writing
your
own.
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information
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additional
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Intent
Ensuring
that
your
code
is
free
of
redundancy
by
using
pre-existing
functionality
provided
by
the
web
browser
is
important
as
it
will
help
you
to
reduce
the
amount
of
time
wasted,
re-creating
the
same
components,
this
offers
obvious
sustainability
benefits
in
terms
of
time
in
front
of
the
screen.
Economic:
Using
existing
features
means
you
do
not
need
to
invest
more
time
in
'development
or
maintenance,
which
reduces
costs.
Environment:
Avoiding
repetition
of
pre-existing
features
improves
efficiency,
which
ultimately
will
reduce
redundancy,
development
time,
and
emissions
associated
with
building
the
product
or
service.
Performance:
Using
browser-native
functionality
and
features
allows
you
to
take
advantage
of
their
natural
optimization.
They
will
generally
load
faster
while
using
fewer
resources.
Custom
components
are
unlikely
to
beat
their
performance.
Optimize
database
queries,
especially
for
frequently
accessed
information.
If
you
need
information
that
is
stored
in
a
database,
and
you
require
it
or
it
is
likely
to
be
requested
more
than
once
in
your
code,
the
database
should
only
be
accessed
once
and
the
data
stored
locally
for
subsequent
processing.
Avoid
relying
on
framework
helpers
that
might
defer
filtering
to
later
in
the
process.
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information
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Intent
Making
multiple
requests
whether
HTTP
or
within
a
database
has
a
carbon
cost
as
infrastructure
has
to
send
that
information
back
and
forth.
As
such,
managing
how
you
store
and
use
data
locally
for
a
visitor
user
will
help
reduce
wasted
cycles.
Economic:
Optimizing
the
codebase
to
avoid
pushing
multiple
additional
demands
to
the
server
reduces
bandwidth
overheads,
while
also
reducing
the
risk
of
stress
failures
and
lost
business.
Environment:
Filtering
out
unneeded
data
at
a
deeper
level
of
the
application
can
reduce
energy
usage,
as
it
reduces
the
processing
required
for
(de)serialization.
Performance:
Holding
the
data
locally
rather
than
remotely
eliminates
the
need
to
wait
for
additional
requests
to
process
the
query.
Relational
databases
and
other
specialist
data
stores
are
usually
heavily
optimized
for
data
filtering
and
retrieval.
Performing
transformations
at
this
level
of
the
application
creduces
processing
time
and
delivers
responses
faster.
Even
data
has
a
home.
Whether
you
are
developing
tools,
processing
data,
maintaining
online
systems,
operating
websites
or
something
else
-
conscious
choices
in
this
area
can
have
an
enormous
impact.
Sustainable
or
green
web
hosting,
infrastructure,
and
systems
covers
the
energy
our
data
centers
use,
but
it
ultimately
goes
much
further:
It
is
also
about
where
and
what
data
is
processed
or
stored
and
the
technologies
used.
Conscious
provisioning
choices
and
best
practices
can
improve
both
sustainability
and
operational
efficiency.
Goals
include:
Find
sustainable
providers
for
hosting,
CDNs
,
and
other
third-party
solutions.
Adjust
back-end
settings
to
ensure
proper
caching,
compression,
and
error
handling.
Ensure
your
processes
reflect
best
practices
to
maximize
efficiency
and
sustainability.
Benefits
include:
Reduced
system
resource
requirements
mean
potential
cost
savings
both
in
hardware
and
in
energy
use.
Efficient,
sustainable
hosting,
infrastructure,
and
systems
can
create
new
marketing
opportunities
for
your
business:
impressing
green-minded
or
privacy-driven
customers.
Gain
economic
benefits
in
the
form
of
reduced
hardware
investment
and/or
operational
expenses
and
lower
maintenance
costs
thanks
to
better
processes
and
appropriate
provisioning
of
resources.
Plain
language
summary
of
Hosting,
Infrastructure,
and
Systems
Select
a
green
hosting
provider
with
a
scalable
plan
that
meets
your
requirements,
in
the
location
where
you
need
it.
Optimize
your
files,
while
ensuring
appropriate
file-related
caching
and
error
handling.
Automate
processes
and
services
where
and
when
able.
Manage
the
processing
and
storage
of
data
with
care.
Monitor
the
sustainability
impact
of
projects
using
metrics.
Monitor
key
indicators
to
assess
and
transparently
report
the
environmental
impact
of
hosting
and
identify
overconsumption.
These
include
energy
and
water
usage,
but
also
hardware
factors,
such
as
CPU
usage
and
memory
usage.
Similarly,
track
the
allocation
of
servers
and
CPU
cores
to
optimize
resource
efficiency.
Consumers
should
monitor
and
providers
should
both
calculate
and
transparently
share,
environmental
impact
metrics.
Metrics
should
include
Power
Usage
Effectiveness
(
PUE
),
Water
Usage
Effectiveness
(
WUE
),
and
Carbon
Usage
Effectiveness
(
CUE
).
Maintain
hardware
to
extend
its
lifespan
as
long
as
possible.
Use
it
efficiently
at
an
appropriate
capacity,
and
ensuring
it
has
the
necessary
certifications.
New
purchases
should
be
from
reliable
long-lifespan
suppliers.
Use
electricity
with
the
lowest
possible
carbon
intensity.
Examine
location-based
emissions
factors
to
calculate
the
carbon
intensity
of
available
electricity
from
the
regional
grid.
Include
the
impact
of
on-site
electricity
generation,
including
backup
generators,
in
calculations.
Balance
unavoidable
remaining
carbon
emissions
with
high-quality
market
based
instruments
or
other
evolving
instruments
from
the
voluntary
carbon
market,
until
additional
carbon-free
energy
resources
become
available.
The
quality
of
market-based
instruments
should
be
verified
by
non-profit
third-party
organizations
with
sufficient
supporting
evidence.
The
impact
of
domain
names
is
disclosed
by
registries
and
registrars,
and
registrants
consider
and
(where
possible)
mitigate
against
these
environmental
issues.
Additional
information
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guideline
and
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success
criteria.
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section
is
non-normative.
Intent
In
addition
to
reducing
the
environmental
impacts
of
a
website,
choose
a
hosting
service
that
mitigates
the
remaining
impacts.
There
are
both
hardware
and
software
variables
to
consider,
including
virtual
and
real
world
impacts
that
need
to
be
measured
(and
can
result
in
beneficial
outcomes
if
reduced).
Conversion:
In
cases
where
a
badge
or
link
about
sustainable
hosting
providers
appears
on
a
website,
visitors
users
concerned
about
the
issue
may
use
and
reuse
the
site
preferentially.
Environment:
Using
hosting
providers
that
operate
with
lower
emissions,
better
power
efficiency,
and
more
responsible
electronic
waste
management
reduces
negative
environmental
impacts
from
websites
and
products.
Social
Equity:
Hosting
providers
with
transparent
environmental
sustainability
are
minimizing
the
negative
impacts
on
their
local
communities.
Transparency:
Sharing
the
efficiency
and
carbon-free
energy
metrics
of
hosting
services
allows
the
public
to
verify
and
understand
sustainable
websites
and
products.
Use
server-side
caching
where
possible
to
reduce
processing
time
and
repeated
database
lookups
or
API
calls.
Configure
caching
via
server
settings
to
control
file-type
expiration
using
appropriate
headers,
such
as
Expires
or
Cache-Control.
Cache
dynamic
page
responses
where
possible
to
serve
static
versions
to
future
users.
Support
client-side
caching
of
frequently
used
static
assets
to
minimize
repeat
server
requests.
Ensure
resources
remain
available
and
accessible
even
if
the
user
is
disconnected,
using
methods
such
as
JavaScript
Service
Workers,
Web
Workers,
and
browser
local
storage
features.
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information
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guideline
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success
criteria.
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is
non-normative.
Intent
Browser
caching
reduces
the
requirement
for
files
to
need
to
be
constantly
reloaded
from
the
server,
and
in
certain
situations,
it
can
even
allow
for
files
to
be
viewed
offline
(or
in
the
case
of
a
reverse
proxy,
send
immediate
recurring
requests
without
additional
calculation
or
computation
from
the
server).
As
such,
this
will
have
sustainability
and
performance
benefits
(for
instance
by
greatly
reducing
Time-To-First-Byte).
Economic:
Bandwidth
to
serve
visitors
users
cost
money
and
reducing
the
amount
of
data
transfer
saves
money.
Environment:
Caching
enables
websites
to
deliver
content
without
unnecessary
server
requests,
sparing
the
carbon
emissions
driven
by
networks
and
the
data
center.
Performance:
Enabling
browser
caching
can
reduce
page
reload
speeds
for
return
visitors
users
and
deliver
better
website
performance.
Social
Equity:
Optimizing
browser
caching
often
enables
visitors
users
to
view
content
when
their
network
connection
has
failed
or
when
they
must
use
a
low
quality
network.
Use
server-side
compression
to
reduce
file
sizes
before
delivery.
Server-side
compression
settings
and
tools
can
be
used
to
compress
most
commonly
used
file
types,
reducing
energy
consumption
while
minimizing
load
times,
saving
bandwidth,
and
improving
overall
performance.
Use
media
compression
tools
to
reduce
the
file
size
of
images,
videos,
audio,
and
any
other
media
before
uploading
to
a
server.
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information
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success
criteria.
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is
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Intent
Every
file
will
take
up
a
certain
amount
of
room
on
a
server's
hard
drive,
and
this
data
will
need
to
be
sent
across
the
wire
to
each
visitor.
user.
Doing
so
will
consume
resources,
but
by
using
compression
algorithms
you
can
shrink
each
file
to
make
its
journey
less
impactful.
Environment:
Applying
compression
effectively
reduces
network
demand,
consequently
lowering
power
consumption
and
carbon
emissions.
Performance:
Reducing
data
transfer
volumes
and
data
consumption
delivers
faster
performance
to
all
visitors.
users.
Social
Equity:
Decreasing
demand
on
networks
enables
visitors
users
with
slower
network
connections
to
enjoy
the
same
experience
and
performance
as
users
with
high
speed
networks.
Set
up
proper
error
handling
and
error
pages
to
clearly
inform
users
when
something
goes
wrong,
guide
them
back
to
useful
content,
and
maintain
a
consistent,
trustworthy
experience.
Regularly
audit
to
check
for
broken
and
outdated
links.
Update
these
as
necessary
and
add
redirects
to
guide
users
and
search
engines
to
the
correct
content
to
ensure
efficient
browsing
and
protect
SEO
value.
Test
all
redirects
to
ensure
they
function
as
intended
and
avoid
impactful
redirect
loops.
Favor
the
most
efficient
redirection
system
for
your
setup
(e.g.,
server
rules
over
database
lookups).
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information
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
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section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Navigation
errors
lead
to
mistakes,
which
lead
to
visitors
users
wasting
time
trying
to
resolve
them,
or
abandoning
a
website
altogether.
Anything
that
can
be
done
to
interject,
predict,
and
way-find
around
potential
problems
will
reduce
emissions
over
time.
Accessibility:
Error
pages
and
appropriate
redirects
matter
because
every
visitor
user
requires
appropriate
assistance
to
find
their
path.
Navigation
and
signage
that
successfully
support
individuals
with
cognitive
disabilities
to
find
their
path
deliver
the
best
design
for
all
visitors.
users.
Conversion:
Visitors
Users
who
find
their
way
out
of
an
error
quickly
have
a
faster
and
more
enjoyable
experience
that
encourages
return
visits.
Economic:
Every
page
load
costs
money,
so
minimizing
erroneous
page
loads
saves
money.
Environment:
When
visitors
users
load
fewer
pages
on
their
way
to
desired
content,
a
project
becomes
less
carbon
intensive.
Minimize
the
number
of
active
environments,
including
virtualized
environments
(such
as
containers).
Audit
codebases
for
unused
branches
and
environments
and
remove
them
as
appropriate.
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information
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
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section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Decommission
or
switch
off
additional
environments,
such
as
testing
/
QA
(Quality
Assurance)
/
re-production
and
other
such
environments
when
they
are
not
useful.
Economic:
Removing
unnecessary
environments
reduces
the
resources
that
must
be
provisioned.
This
reduces
infrastructure,
maintenance,
and
process
costs.
Environment:
Power
and
energy
resources
will
be
conserved
from
avoiding
utilizing
unnecessary
environments
and
lowering
carbon
emissions
will
result.
Social
Equity:
Scaling
back
the
usage
of
data
centers
reduces
the
need
for
new
facilities
that
may
bring
negative
community
impacts
and
strain
national
resources.
Automate
recurring
tasks,
such
as
deployment,
testing,
and
compilation
in
alignment
with
continuous
integration
and
continuous
delivery
best
practices.
Use
automated
scaling
to
promptly
adjust
server
capacity
up
or
down
based
on
demand,
ensuring
efficient
resource
allocation.
Implement
buffering
and
throttling
to
manage
load
and
maintain
performance
without
overprovisioning.
Restrict
the
activity
of
unwanted
and
unnecessary
third-party
crawlers,
suspicious
user
agents,
unwanted
visitors,
users,
bots,
and
scrapers
from
accessing
or
downloading
your
content.
Follow
best
practices,
such
as
server
access
rules
and
security
tools,
while
ensuring
your
content
remains
accessible
to
users,
search
engines
and
any
helpful,
welcome
crawlers.
Consider
that
scrapers
may
be
used
to
inform
and
train
large
language
models.
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Intent
Any
tasks,
especially
repetitive,
that
can
be
automated
should
be
automated
(compilation,
deployment,
tests,
etc.)
to
reduce
time
at
the
computer
being
wasted
by
people.
Economic:
Maximizing
the
number
of
tasks
carried
out
rapidly
by
machine
brings
down
maintenance
and
infrastructure
costs.
Environment:
Optimizing
workflows
can
reduce
the
amount
of
energy
used
during
peak
periods
where
it
may
be
most
costly
or
unsustainable
to
run.
Operations:
Automating
repetitive
tasks
allows
humans
to
focus
on
valuable,
novel,
and
creative
tasks
that
can
offer
greater
job
satisfaction
and
expand
skills.
Security:
Evading
unwanted
bots,
crawlers,
and
similar
visitors
users
protects
websites
from
harm
and
avoids
potential
downtime.
Define
the
revalidation
and
refresh
frequency
for
the
cache,
local
data,
and
page
content
based
on
user
needs,
balancing
performance,
data
accuracy,
and
resource
efficiency.
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information
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information
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success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Only
send
data
from
the
server
when
the
visitor
user
needs
it.
As
much
as
possible,
you
can
rely
on
client-side
or
server-side
cache
and
client-side
/
local
storage.
Rather
than
refreshing
data
on
a
given
frequency,
it
might
be
up
to
the
visitor
user
to
manually
ask
for
a
refresh.
Ensure
backups
of
system
and
user
data
are
secure
and
incremental
to
minimize
storage
use,
reduce
backup
time,
and
protect
against
data
loss
or
breaches.
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information
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its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
For
security
reasons
and
in
accordance
with
a
Service-Level
Agreement
(
SLA
),
it
is
often
recommended
to
duplicate
data
to
make
sure
it
remains
available
if
a
problem
occurs.
This
should
be
balanced
with
the
cost
of
such
duplication.
Not
all
data
is
critical
and,
rather
than
overcompensating
with
multiple
saves,
duplication
should
be
designed
with
efficiency
in
mind.
Economic:
Using
efficient
backup
processes
that
are
automated
and
include
only
incremental
changes
to
critical
data
results
in
less
storage
being
used,
reducing
costs.
Environment:
Designing
backups
as
efficiently
as
possible
minimizes
power
consumption
and
carbon
emissions
by
eliminating
excess
processes
and
storage.
Performance:
Ensuring
the
availability
of
critical
data
allows
continuation
or
speedier
resumption
of
service
when
problems
occur,
such
as
data
loss
or
outages.
Security:
Keeping
efficient,
stable,
and
well-protected
backups
is
good
practice,
meaning
work,
data,
and
business
value
are
not
irreparably
lost
during
a
data
breach.
Use
existing
and
supported
carbon-aware
computing
methods
to
automate
batching
and
scheduling
according
to
real-time
electrical
grid
carbon
intensity
data
or
shift
workloads
to
lower-carbon
regions
to
optimize
sustainability
while
maintaining
performance.
Choose
communication
protocols
appropriate
to
visitor
user
needs
and
the
type
of
data
being
transferred.
Avoid
insecure
options
such
as
HTTP
and
FTP
,
and
prioritize
secure,
efficient
alternatives
such
as
HTTPS
and
SSH
.
Use
modern
protocols
to
take
advantage
of
newer
features,
while
maintaining
backward
compatibility
for
older
devices.
Consider
using
event-driven
architecture
and
microservices
when
building
products
with
state
changes
that
do
not
require
full
page
refreshes.
Favor
these
where
they
offer
a
more
energy-efficient
alternative
to
traditional
APIs
based
on
performance,
power,
and
processing
factors.
Choose
the
approach
that
reduces
server
workload
and
environmental
impact.
Avoid
redundant
processing.
When
data
processing
is
necessary,
carefully
compare
the
relative
effects
of
client-
versus
server-side
processing
based
on
efficiency,
performance,
security,
and
sustainability
metrics
to
make
an
informed
decision.
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Intent
Depending
on
carbon
intensity,
some
processes
and
communications
should
be
delayed
and
sometimes
batched.
Redundancy
should
be
avoided
wherever
possible.
This
could
also
be
a
way
to
reduce
the
workload
on
a
server
or
Virtual
Machine
(
VM
).
In
such
cases,
visitors
users
should
be
warned
that
the
process
is
asynchronous
and
notified
when
it
is
over.
Economic:
Improving
the
efficiency
of
data
processing
saves
money
due
to
energy
and
infrastructure
needs.
Environment:
Running
servers
for
less
time
reduces
carbon
emissions.
Performance:
Processing
data
in
energy
efficient
batches
can
reduce
thrashing
of
hardware
during
high-intensity
periods,
maintaining
performance
stability.
Social
Equity:
Reducing
data
processing
demand
means
the
resources
that
data
centres
demand,
and
can
place
a
strain
on
local
communities
can
also
be
reduced.
Deploy
static
content,
assets,
and
other
read-only
resources
via
a
Content
Delivery
Network
(
CDN
)
on
a
case-by-case
basis,
where
judged
to
be
beneficial.
Carefully
evaluate
the
environmental
impact
of
any
CDN
service
used,
similar
to
a
web
hosting
provider.
When
serving
an
exclusively
local
audience,
consider
whether
a
CDN
is
required
at
all.
Instead,
select
hosting
providers
with
servers
close
to
your
target
audience.
Avoid
deploying
dynamic
or
frequently
changing
resources
to
a
CDN
.
Browser
behaviors
such
as
cache
partitioning
and
cross-origin
resource
sharing
(
CORS
)
can
limit
performance
gains,
hinder
caching
and
interaction,
and
attempting
to
override
these
can
introduce
security
or
privacy
risks.
This
does
not
apply
to
static
assets
or
JSON
files,
which
are
well
suited
to
CDN
delivery.
Perform
data
transformations,
transfers,
and
processing
between
the
layers
of
an
application
as
close
to
the
source
as
possible.
This
reduces
unnecessary
serialization
overhead
and
avoids
wasting
resources.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
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understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Edge
caching
and
CDN
delivery
can
help
optimize
the
sustainable
delivery
of
digital
services
by
optimizing
how
your
website's
traffic
is
transferred
over
the
internet.
Economic:
Using
a
CDN
may
save
money
because
their
data
transfer
rates
are
often
cheaper
than
hosting
providers.
Environment:
Using
a
CDN
to
host
content
closer
to
users
lowers
network-related
carbon
emissions
while
also
reducing
user
device
energy
use
because
they
can
load
content
more
quickly.
Performance:
Using
a
CDN
to
locate
content
closer
to
users
gives
them
faster
access
to
content.
Select
infrastructure
that
meets
your
requirements
and
customer
agreements
without
over-provisioning.
Favor
standalone
instances
over
multi-zone
or
distributed
setups
when
requirements
allow.
Provision
for
average
loads
rather
than
peaks
to
ensure
efficient
resource
use.
Use
autoscaling
to
handle
fluctuations
without
underutilizing
infrastructure.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Select
infrastructure
with
minimal
specifications
meeting
business
requirements
of
performance,
availability,
etc.
Environment:
Reducing
provisioned
resources
reduces
wasted
energy
and
water
costs,
even
when
resources
are
not
used
to
capacity.
Operations:
Keeping
a
closer
eye
on
actual
and
anticipated
use
allows
an
organization
to
better
understand
its
own
functions
and
anticipate
future
needs.
Economic:
Avoiding
overprovisioning
means
avoiding
unnecessary
costs.
Assign
expiration
and/or
maximum
retention
dates
to
stored
data
where
appropriate,
treating
excess
data
as
a
form
of
technical
debt.
Simultaneously
observe
any
applicable
minimum
data
retention
periods.
Make
data
cleanup
an
established
organization-wide
routine
to
prevent
long-term
data
accumulation.
Implement
a
data
classification
and
tagging
policy
to
improve
visibility,
simplify
management,
and
enable
efficient
removal
of
outdated
or
unused
data.
Optimize
log
collection
and
storage
by
scheduling
backups
during
low-activity
hours,
rotating
logs
appropriately,
and
using
off-site,
sustainable
providers.
Make
large,
long-term
assets
available
for
easy
download
in
order
to
provide
users
with
regular
offline
access
without
requiring
persistant
server
resources.
Additional
information
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additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Optimize
storage
of
data
according
to
what
is
most
important,
relevant,
and
required
in
service
to
visitors.
users.
This
will
help
to
avoid
unnecessary
storage
of
data
that
may
not
be
useful
or
valuable,
which
will
reduce
required
infrastructure,
power,
and
data
transfer.
Designing
websites
and
applications
for
better
sustainability
requires
good
business
strategy
and
product
management.
Anyone
who
owns,
manages,
or
operates
a
website
or
application
has
significant
capacity
to
improve
the
sustainability
footprint
of
their
organization.
Business
owners
and
other
C-level
executives
are
likely
to
be
the
main
people
responsible
for
the
most
impactful
strategic
decisions
an
organization
can
make.
But
all
individuals
working
online
can
also
make
a
big
difference.
Work
in
this
area
can
improve
the
sustainability
of
various
non-technical
considerations
that
stretch
beyond,
or
affect,
a
digital
product
or
service.
Goals
include:
Use
your
influence
to
ensure
projects
are
developed
more
sustainably,
at
scale,
across
organizations
of
different
sizes.
Raise
awareness
while
publicly
disclosing
and
reporting
on
your
efforts.
Support
your
organization
from
within
to
ensure
it
and
its
staff
are
better
able
to
meet
relevant
targets.
Benefits
include:
Proper
evaluation
and
reporting
make
it
easier
to
meet
compliance
targets,
comply
with
legislation,
and
avoid
the
risk
of
potential
lawsuits.
Transparency
about
your
sustainability
impact
can
improve
public
perception
of
your
company.
This
can
boost
customer
loyalty
and
staff
retention
alike
-
reducing
associated
costs.
Clear
policies
and
continuity
planning
build
trust
in
your
organization,
while
providing
the
opportunity
to
identify
quantifiable
risks
and
include
relevant
affected
parties.
Appreciating
visitors'
users'
time
and
resources
can
improve
trust
in
a
product
or
organization.
Plain
language
summary
of
Business
Strategy
and
Product
Management
Plan,
create,
and
maintain
policies
and
statements
to
cover
sustainability
initiatives.
Appoint
someone
to
take
responsibility
for
sustainability.
Inform
and
train
others.
Make
efforts
to
understand
your
impact.
Set
goals
and
targets.
Report,
verify,
and
disclose
your
progress.
If
a
project
is
necessary,
document
its
evolution
and
manage
its
lifespan.
Share
benefits
with
your
workers.
Involve
all
relevant
affected
parties
in
the
decision-making
process.
Be
ethical
in
your
approach
to
sensitive
materials,
including
data,
or
emerging
technologies,
such
as
AI.
Be
an
inclusive
workplace.
Give
back
to
good
causes
and
support
open-source
initiatives
5.1
Have
an
ethical
and
sustainable
product
strategy
Develop,
publish
and
maintain
key
policies,
such
as
a
code
of
ethics,
product
guidelines,
sustainability
statements,
and/or
other
documents
that
include
language
specific
to
digital
products,
services,
policies,
and
programs.
Make
these
publicly
accessible
and
transparently
versioned
formats.
Provide
evidence
to
demonstrate
how
digital
sustainability
policies,
climate
policies,
and
related
practices
are
effectively
implemented,
monitored,
and
governed
over
time.
Document
your
methodology
through
impact
storytelling,
documentation,
and
creating
resources
to
help
individuals
make
more
informed
decisions
and
raise
awareness
among
your
visitors.
users.
Demonstrate
how
digital
products
and
services
are
powered
using
carbon-free
energy.
Additional
information
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additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Create
a
publicly
available
statement
in
an
easy-to-find
location
on
your
website
that
outlines
a
clear
commitment
to
prioritize
ethics
and
sustainability
PPP
standards
that
align
with
the
organization's
mission,
vision,
and
values
and
include
statements
specific
to
digital
products,
services,
policies,
and
programs.
This
should
be
done
while
actively
promoting
such
efforts
(with
evidence)
using
social
channels.
Economic:
Communicating
the
ways
you
can
share
the
economic
benefits
of
your
digital
work
raises
awareness
of
social
inequalities.
Similarly,
enabling
visitors
users
to
make
more
informed
decisions
can
ensure
your
project
is
more
financially
sustainable
overall.
Environment:
Establishing
clear
sustainability
statements
should
make
it
easier
to
align
organizational
policies
and
practices
with
measurable
metrics
and
support
goals.
Integrating
this
early
in
the
digital
product
strategy
can
improve
efficiency
and
reduce
environmental
impact.
Operations:
Establishing
ethical
and
sustainability
policies
can
help
to
ensure
product
teams
are
more
engaged
in
the
work
they
are
doing.
Privacy:
Reducing
your
emissions
and
explaining
to
your
audience
how
you
aim
to
keep
to
your
sustainability
commitments
provides
the
opportunity
to
highlight
other
key
issues
of
interest
to
your
visitors,
users,
such
as
privacy
and
security.
This
can
boost
visitor
user
trust
in
your
brand.
Social
Equity:
Highlighting
intersectional
social
issues
in
documentation,
storytelling,
and
marketing
materials
raises
awareness
of
problems
and
potential
solutions.
Transparency:
Maintaining
clear
and
public-facing
policies
helps
internal
and
external
affected
parties
to
better
understand
an
organization's
sustainability
commitments,
while
making
it
easier
to
report
on
the
impact
of
these
efforts.
Assign
a
sustainability
advocate
with
specific
digital
expertise
and
provide
them
with
the
resources,
budget,
tools,
and
time
they
need
to
achieve
their
stated
goals.
In
some
organizations,
expanding
this
into
a
climate
working
group
comprising
motivated
individuals
can
add
further
benefits.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Having
someone
within
an
organization
who
represents
sustainability
as
a
core
agenda
makes
good
sense
due
to
the
accessibility,
performance,
financial,
and
other
benefits
that
can
occur
from
following
best
practices.
If
the
resources
are
available,
a
climate
Working
Group
with
willing
participants
could
also
be
established.
Accessibility:
Nominating
a
sustainability
representative
helps
the
organization
remove
barriers
to
access.
These
can
inherently
cost
bandwidth,
have
monetary
value,
and
carry
potential
legal
implications.
Environment:
Appointing
dedicated
sustainability
representatives
means
they
can
maintain
quality
assurance
and
guide
decisions
that
measurably
reduce
the
environmental
impact
of
your
digital
products
and
services.
Privacy:
Having
dedicated
sustainability
representatives
on
the
team
enables
them
to
maintain
intersectional
data
privacy
standards
and
watch
out
for
legal
compliance
issues
within
the
organization.
Social
Equity:
Ensuring
someone
on
the
team
is
dedicated
to
these
concerns
will
help
to
reduce
the
digital
divide
through
internal
awareness
raising
and
requesting
features
or
information
be
provided
to
support
those,
for
example
on
older
devices
or
in
low-bandwidth
areas.
Inform
and
deliver
training
to
all
affected
parties,
including
product
teams,
colleagues,
and
organizational
decision-makers
-
both
managers
and
clients
-
in
both
general
and
digital
climate
literacy,
as
well
as
your
own
sustainable
technology
policies.
Provide
active
and
routine
training
where
possible
to
develop,
establish,
and
refresh
skills
relating
to
sustainability.
This
can
be
delivered
as
in-house
training,
courses,
workshops,
events,
webinars,
meetups,
or
other
ongoing
or
on-demand
methods
that
support
your
team
in
achieving
sustainability
objectives.
Encourage
participants
to
reduce
their
environmental
impact.
Share
climate
and
sustainable
initiatives
and
ideas.
Provide
resources
on
sustainable
design,
best
practices,
and
concepts
to
assist
them.
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information
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guideline
and
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success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Businesses
should
not
only
reference
their
own
materials
showcasing
how
they
are
working
towards
becoming
sustainable
but
cite
existing
sustainability
best
practices
to
help
others
looking
to
make
similar
changes
within
their
own
work
or
personal
environments.
Environment:
Keeping
your
team
informed
and
educated
may
promote
systemic
change
in
the
way
they
build,
the
way
they
manage
their
work
and
technical
infrastructure,
and
even
the
way
they
do
business
or
live
their
day-to-day
lives
-
even
outside
the
workplace.
Operations:
Publishing
clear
sustainability
goals
and
sharing
resources
encourages
organizational
affected
parties
to
examine
their
own
current
status
quo
and
make
their
own
progress.
Clearly
communicate
the
environmental
impact
of
different
visitor
user
choices
and
allow
visitors
users
to
configure
settings
based
on
the
information
provided.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
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understand
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
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section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Allowing
the
visitor
user
to
take
action
to
reduce
their
emissions
is
key
to
helping
them
play
a
part
in
becoming
more
sustainable.
By
helping
them
identify
when
choices
they
make
could
have
an
environmental
impact
(and
by
how
much)
and
then
providing
them
with
the
tooling
choices
to
reduce
their
footprint,
you
can
empower
them
to
make
a
lasting
difference.
Conversion:
Communicating
the
impact
and
allowing
the
visitor
user
to
set
preferences
with
the
environmental
impact
in
mind
can
encourage
more
individuals
to
make
environmentally
friendly
choices
and
improve
your
image
among
ethical
consumers.
Environment:
Allowing
visitors
users
to
select
more
environmentally
friendly
settings
within
software
naturally
reduces
the
environmental
impact.
Performance:
Reducing
unnecessary
or
wasteful,
less
sustainable
behaviors
will
often
improve
performance
and
accessibility,
as
these
are
often
interlinked.
Include
the
impact
or
estimated
impact
of
any
tooling
or
third-party
solutions
used
at
any
stage
in
your
pipeline.
While
not
created
by
you,
the
emissions
generated
in
production,
maintenance,
and
use
are
also
integral
to
your
overall
solution.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
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understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Being
able
to
identify
key
issues
with
your
website
or
application
is
essential,
and
while
not
a
foolproof
method,
using
tooling
can
help
you
achieve
an
overall
idea
about
the
state
of
your
product
or
service's
environmental
state
(as
such
tools
can
do
for
accessibility).
Accessibility:
Auditing
for
accessibility
can
be
included
as
a
key
part
of
a
digital
Life-Cycle
Assessment
(
LCA
),
provided
the
key
parameters
are
defined
up
front
and
maintained
throughout
the
project
to
eliminate
barriers
to
access.
These
parameters
can
include
conformity
with
WCAG
guidance,
including
manual
checks.
Environment:
Conducting
a
rigorous
LCA
can
reveal
significant
opportunities
to
reduce
overall
environmental
impact
through
the
identification
and
elimination
of
variables
and
vectors
of
digital
emissions
such
as
water
and
e-waste.
Performance:
Including
a
detailed
overview
of
optimizations
in
your
LCA
provides
a
clear
direction
to
improve
sustainability
and
performance.
Social
Equity:
Including
intersectional
social
metrics
in
your
LCA
can
provide
an
opportunity
to
simultaneously
consider
and
work
on
issues
such
as
inequality,
which
also
affect
sustainability.
Define
and
publish
a
clear
set
of
sustainability
goals.
Publicly
communicate
how
these
goals
can
be
met,
including
which
performance
metrics
can
be
measured
to
help
the
organization
and
its
various
affected
parties
act
more
sustainably.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
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guideline
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criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Define
sustainability
goals
for
the
organization
to
meet
and
incorporate
into
its
business
model.
Pair
each
goal
with
at
least
one
clear,
achievable
metric
or
Key
Performance
Indicator
(
KPI
).
Economic:
Aligning
with
existing
standards
or
frameworks
makes
it
easier
for
organizations
to
include
digital
impact
in
their
overall
sustainability
reporting.
Environment:
Setting,
measuring,
and
communicating
clear
sustainability
goals
aligns
an
organization's
impact
aspirations
with
ongoing
efforts
to
meet
these
goals.
Transparency:
Helping
affected
parties
such
as
employees,
clients,
and
partners
to
better
understand
how
the
organization
creates
shared
value
in
its
various
sustainability
policies
and
programs.
Maintains
sustainability
certifications
through
continuing
to
meet
their
criteria
and
evolving
policies
and
practices
over
time.
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information
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additional
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its
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criteria.
This
section
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Intent
Business
certifications
can
fill
the
gaps
left
by
incomplete
sustainability
legislation.
Ensuring
a
business
complies
with
third-party
certifications
will
help
verify
and
apply
an
objective
level
of
rigor
to
an
organization's
sustainability
efforts.
Economic:
Certifications,
vetted
for
conflicts
of
interest,
can
operationalize
sustainability
principles
and
verify
and
endorse
levels
of
social
and
environmental
performance,
accountability,
and
transparency.
Operations:
Obtaining
third-party
sustainability
certifications
can
make
it
easier
for
organizations
to
align
operational
practices
with
their
mission,
vision,
and
values,
and
communicate
this
to
their
affected
parties.
Create
and/or
deliver
dedicated
training
manuals,
workshops,
and
materials
to
outline
the
sustainability
policies
and
practices
adopted
and
how
to
implement
them.
Manage
and
maintain
these
materials
over
time,
adapting
them
as
new
policies
and
best
practices
arise.
Incentivize
leadership,
teams,
and
individuals
to
make
progress
toward
the
goals
outlined
in
their
training.
Examples
include
dedicating
time
for
sustainability-related
activities,
recognizing
completion,
and
other
benefits.
Anticipate
and
map
potential
negative
external
variables
and
act
to
minimize
their
overall
impact.
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information
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
organization
has
clear
onboarding
and
training
processes
that
include
PPP
policies
and
practices
with
explicit
references
to
digital
sustainability
and
responsibility.
Ensure
that
onboarding
utilizes
a
"green
by
default"
process
and
avoids
being
an
opt-in
procedure.
This
applies
equally
at
an
organizational
level
and
to
visitors
users
and
consumers
of
your
products
and
services.
Economic:
Providing
sustainability
training
and
onboarding
practices
has
been
shown
to
lead
to
higher
retention
rates,
improved
performance,
and
improved
systems
for
maintaining
business
continuity.
Create
and
publish
policies
and
practices
to
disclose
the
social
and
environmental
impacts
of
its
products,
programs,
and
services
in
line
with
existing
reporting
standards
such
as
GRI
,
SASB
,
etc.
Publicly
and
transparently
demonstrate
commitment
over
time
to
following
and
adopting
existing
and/or
emerging
environmental
standards
and
legislative
policy
that
promotes
mandatory
emissions
disclosures
and
reporting.
Clearly
identify
how
environmental
impact
is
being
reduced,
with
careful
avoidance
of
double
accounting,
greenwashing,
data
exclusion,
or
other
misleading
or
manipulative
techniques.
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information
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additional
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
organization
discloses
and
reports
its
PPP
impact
on
at
least
an
annual
basis.
Conversion:
Demonstrating
transparency
through
regular
reporting
and
showing
measurable
improvement
over
time
can
increase
an
organization's
appeal
to
potential
employees,
partners,
potential
customers,
investors,
and
suppliers
who
perceive
shared
values
and
an
aligned
mission.
Economic:
Being
ahead
of
the
curve
affords
businesses
greater
resilience
in
the
face
of
more
rigorous
standards.
Environment:
Adopting
reporting
standards
ahead
of
schedule
provides
more
immediate
environmental
benefits,
and
allows
you
to
mitigate
environmental
issues
before
they
build
into
more
complex
or
long-lasting
ones.
Complete
and
operationalize
a
theory
of
change
process
with
requisite
documentation
to
identify
the
impact
the
organization
aspires
to
achieve,
how
it
will
generate
revenue,
how
it
will
create
shared
or
added
value
from
these
activities,
and
how
it
will
measure
results
based
on
desired
outcomes.
In
the
case
of
projects
already
underway,
how
these
are
generating
revenue
and
actively
tracking
and
measuring
progress
against
desired
outcomes.
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
An
Impact
Business
Model
enables
an
organization
to
incorporate
specific
impact
initiatives
into
one
or
more
business
models
for
generating
revenue,
often
making
them
"green
by
default"
and
folding
impact
initiatives
into
the
organization's
operating
system.
Moreover,
being
able
to
calculate
the
return
on
investment
in
terms
of
sustainability
your
product
or
service
will
bring
is
important
to
identifying
whether
it
poses
a
net-positive
or
net-negative
effect
on
the
environment.
Environment:
Business
models
focused
on
the
customer
and
the
wider
ecosystem
rather
than
just
financial
indicators
can
benefit
the
environment
such
as
through
reducing
overconsumption
of
resources
and
disencouraging
incentives
for
unethical
behavior,
leading
to
a
reduction
of
emissions.
Social
Equity:
Adding
social
indicators
(such
as
the
shared
value
within
digital
services)
can
reduce
negative
social
impacts
such
as
impoverishment
or
exploitation.
Appropriately
resource
products
over
time
via
staffing
and
budgeting
to
support
code
refactoring,
address
technical
debt,
introduce
new
product
features,
test
functionality,
and
produce
product
or
service
maintenance
plans
to
continue
supporting
customers,
visitors,
users,
and
other
affected
parties.
Economic:
Maintaining
performance
can
boost
customer
retention,
and
organizations
with
clear
product
maintenance
and
management
practices
tend
to
benefit
from
greater
resilience
in
the
face
of
digital
disruption.
Environment:
Implementing
product
management
and
maintenance
strategies
provides
another
opportunity
to
improve
climate
resilience
and
manage
and
reduce
emissions
over
time.
Performance:
Following
good
product
management
and
maintenance
strategies
means
affected
digital
products
and
services
benefit
from
better
security,
reduced
technical
debt,
and
improved
data
privacy.
Review
deliverables
and
update
frequency
to
ensure
project
teams
have
enough
time
to
conduct
user
research,
identify
technical
debt,
and
produce
high-quality
output
as
well
as
share
what
they
learned.
Display
a
track
record
of
continuous
improvement
(iteration)
processes
to
analyze
the
digital
product
or
service.
Simultaneously
address
any
potential
consequences
of
ongoing
experimentation,
such
as
technical
debt,
product
performance,
and
emissions.
Analytics
are
limited
to
strictly
necessary
features
that
aid
decision-making,
encouraging
visitor
user
feedback,
and
comparing
performance
against
business
goals
and
visitor
user
needs.
Justify
and
prioritize
the
retention
of
existing
features,
the
creation
of
new
functionality,
and
the
decommissioning
or
elimination
of
unused
functionality
or
low-traffic
content
throughout
the
product's
life
cycle
on
a
case-by-case
basis.
Provide
corrective
security
and
policy
updates
during
the
product
or
service
life
cycle.
These
should
be
distinguished
from
more
extensive
evolutionary
updates.
Develop
sustainable
product
and
data
strategies
using
appropriate
training
techniques.
These
should
help
your
team
build
capacity
and
learn
new
skills
to
manage
and
maintain
products
and
services
over
time.
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information
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additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
organization
has
policies
and
practices
in
place
to
embrace
experimentation,
foster
a
growth
mindset,
support
organizational
agility,
and
provide
continuous
improvement.
Product
creators
should
iterate,
regularly,
though
never
at
the
cost
of
getting
things
done
(such
as
working
on
larger,
long-term
features).
Accessibility:
Adopting
an
iterative
approach
supports
inclusive
design,
providing
the
agility
and
adaptability
for
organizations
to
expand
their
accessibility.
Conversion:
Providing
a
reliable
user
experience
boosts
user
trust,
encouraging
repeat
business.
Economic:
Ensuring
agility
and
continuous
improvement
helps
organizations
be
more
resilient
in
the
face
of
disruption
and
a
changing
climate.
Long-term,
these
practices
save
the
organization
time,
money,
and
resources.
Environment:
Focusing
on
continuous
improvement
reduces
waste
and
energy
use
by
iteratively
identifying
opportunities
to
improve
the
product
or
service.
Operations:
Fostering
a
culture
of
experimentation
encourages
innovation.
This
supports
team
building
and
improves
overall
organizational
resilience
and
efficiency.
Performance:
Establishing
good
review
processes
reduces
buildup
of
technical
debt.
Focusing
on
continuous
improvement
rather
than
large
single-scale
releases
means
bottlenecks
can
be
resolved,
and
they
become
apparent.
This
is
helpful
as
new
third-party
tools,
and
software
can
affect
performance
without
adaptation.
Privacy:
Having
a
high-quality,
regularly
updated
product
or
service
will
reduce
the
chances
of
a
data
breach,
which
improves
privacy.
Security:
Ensuring
products
or
services
are
maintained
and
updated
over
time
reduces
risk
and
improves
security.
When
a
feature
is
added,
updated,
or
removed
to
improve
user
experience,
clear
documentation
of
the
changes
is
provided
in
a
well
structured,
semantically
versioned
document.
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information
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information
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Products
or
services
are
updated
regularly.
Ensure
that
additions,
changes,
deprecations,
removals,
fixes,
or
security
patches
are
documented
in
an
easy-to-perceive
document
with
details
that
showcase
how
such
changes
affect
the
visitor
user
(or
how
they
can
take
advantage
of
new
features).
Economic:
Updating
digital
products
and
services
regularly
requires
less
development
time
and
reduces
the
risk
of
negative
consumer
impact
from
the
extended
downtime
that
can
result
from
needing
to
start
from
scratch
if
a
product
or
service
is
otherwise
left
to
become
outdated
beyond
repair.
Environment:
Maintaining
an
intuitive,
lightweight
user
experience
while
adding
new
features
or
updating
software
reduces
frustration,
churn,
and
the
energy
visitors
users
expend
when
the
interface
performs
in
ways
visitors
users
do
not
expect.
Performance:
Maintaining
an
optimized
user
experience
that
is
regularly
updated
in
line
with
best
practices
usually
means
content
and
assets
will
load
quickly
and
as
expected
by
visitors.
users.
Security:
Maintaining
evergreen
status
often
means
fewer
issues
due
to
a
strong
release
cycle.
This
involves
making
necessary
changes
and
keeping
visitors
users
informed
while
maintaining
transparency.
Remove
or
alleviate
any
obstacles
to
using
a
product
or
service,
such
as
accessibility,
equality,
technical,
or
territorial.
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information
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additional
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Ensure
that
the
product
or
service
you
are
creating
offers
value
to
visitors
users
and
doesn't
duplicate
existing
functionality
(without
bringing
something
new
to
the
table)
as
this
redundancy
wastes
digital
and
physical
resources.
Accessibility:
Preventing
unnecessary
digital
products
or
services
from
being
created
can
make
it
easier
to
find
and
access
existing
information,
provided
an
accessible
replacement
is
available.
Economic:
Reducing
unnecessary
research
and
development
allows
organizations
to
cut
costs.
Environment:
Determining
that
a
digital
product
or
service
is
not
necessary
means
the
potential
environmental
impacts
associated
with
its
creation
and
use
can
be
avoided.
Operations:
Avoiding
creating
unnecessary
products
or
services
prevents
organizations
from
wasting
time
or
resources
on
their
creation
and
maintenance.
Conduct
a
life-cycle
assessment
(
LCA
)
to
define
sustainability-related
functional
impacts
throughout
a
product's
lifetime.
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information
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its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
functional
unit
of
a
product
is
a
quantified
description
of
the
performance
requirements
that
the
product
fulfills.
Ensure
you
identify
the
requirements
of
your
product
before
development.
Promote
and
disclose
partnerships
in
a
publicly
available
place,
along
with
information
on
how
the
partnership
creates
a
collective
impact.
Additional
information
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/
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additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
organization
collaborates
with
suppliers,
authors,
clients,
and
other
partners
on
initiatives
that
are
both
mutually
beneficial
and
create
positive
social
and
environmental
outcomes.
Economic:
Applying
standards
of
practice
can
help
an
organization
better
align
affected
party
needs
with
its
mission,
vision,
and
values,
which
builds
trust
and
improves
relationships.
Environment:
Vetting
suppliers
and
partners
can
help
an
organization
define,
track,
and
reduce
its
scope
3
emissions.
Operations:
Examining
suppliers
and
partners
more
closely
can
increase
diversity
within
the
technology
sector.
Provide
benefits
to
employees
in
accordance
with
resources,
including,
where
relevant,
healthcare,
retirement
planning,
flex
time,
profit
sharing,
and
more.
Align
the
project
team's
goals
with
key
business
objectives,
and
affected
parties
(for
example,
project
managers)
have
the
power
and
autonomy
to
make
key
decisions
on
the
organization's
behalf.
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information
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information
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guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Ensuring
that
everyone
has
a
seat
at
the
table
is
important
to
promoting
voices
who
may
not
otherwise
have
their
voices
heard,
and
potentially
getting
useful
ideas
from
fresh
sources.
Environment:
Emissions
can
be
reduced
through
group
action
and
commitments
at
an
organizational
level.
Operations:
Incentivizing
project
teams
with
key
sustainability
goals
and
granting
the
authority
to
make
decisions
based
on
these
criteria
enables
them
to
measurably
improve
a
range
of
metrics
within
the
business,
design,
development,
and
infrastructure
categories.
Provide
JEDI
-related
training
materials
and
schedule
regular
workshops
related
to
how
this
topic
manifests
itself
in
digital
products
and
services,
covering
topics
such
as
algorithmic
bias,
digital
divide,
employment,
mis-
and
disinformation.
Accessibility:
Incorporating
more
diverse
affected
party
perspectives
leads
to
enacting
more
inclusive
policies,
often
resulting
in
better
products,
services,
and
programs.
JEDI
practices
boost
an
organization's
resilience
and
ability
to
collaborate.
This
improves
diversity
in
the
tech
sector
and
the
overall
accessibility
of
the
web.
Economic:
Having
clear
policies
and
practices
reduces
the
risk
of
legal
issues.
Maintain
a
publicly
accessible
privacy
policy,
terms
and
conditions,
and
any
other
documents
as
required
by
law
in
the
jurisdictions
in
which
the
product
or
service
operates.
Adhere
to
the
most
restrictive
data
protection
regulations,
especially
when
providing
services
outside
the
organization's
country.
Provide
documents
in
accessible
formats
and
use
clear,
user-friendly
language
to
ensure
comprehension
by
all
visitors.
users.
Avoid
unnecessary
jargon,
technical
language,
and
legalese.
Support
emerging
legislation
and
implement
best
practices
related
to
data
privacy,
sustainability,
and
responsible
data
management.
Demonstrate
measurable
progress
over
time
in
regard
to
respecting
data
privacy
and
ownership.
Specify
how
data
disposal
and
a
visitor's
user's
"right
to
be
forgotten"
will
be
handled,
along
with
ownership
rights.
Also,
provide
the
ability
to
download
or
export
data
they
have
contributed
into
a
non-proprietary
format.
Additional
information
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additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
organization
commits
to
responsible
data
practices,
prioritizing
data
privacy,
security,
and
ethical
use.
This
includes
data
minimization,
purpose
limitation,
accuracy,
storage
limitation,
integrity,
confidentiality,
and
accountability.
Publicly
accessible
documentation,
such
as
Privacy
Policies
and
Terms
and
Conditions,
follows
best
practices
for
clarity
and
accessibility,
avoiding
technical
jargon
and
complex
legal
language
to
ensure
inclusivity
for
diverse
users.
Economic:
Prioritizing
data
privacy
and
other
responsible
data
practices
reduces
associated
risk
and
costs,
increases
resilience,
and
often
fosters
better
relationships
with
customers
and
other
affected
parties.
Archive
and
delete
outdated
or
otherwise
expired
product
content
and
data
via
automated
expiration
dates
and
scheduled
product
audits.
Publish
the
archiving
schedule,
ensuring
a
lightweight
version
of
the
old
searchable
content
is
maintained
for
those
that
may
require
it.
Allow
users
to
control,
manage,
and
delete
their
data,
subscriptions,
and
accounts.
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information
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/
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additional
information
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this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Expired
or
unused
data
has
a
cost,
takes
up
space,
and
requires
maintenance.
As
such,
the
ability
for
customers
to
manage
their
own
data
and
for
service
providers
to
manage
older
website
material
which
no
longer
applies
but
might
still
have
use
will
be
a
carbon
benefit.
Economic:
Requiring
less
data
reduces
storage
requirements,
allowing
organizations
to
scale
down
their
hosting
package
or
be
charged
less
for
pay-by-use
infrastructure
costs.
Environment:
Storing
less
data
reduces
the
computing
power
required
to
maintain
a
service,
reducing
energy
and
infrastructure-related
emissions.
Performance:
Moving
older
and
less
relevant
content
onto
a
smaller
scaled-down
version
of
your
digital
product
or
service
will
reduce
your
bandwidth
usage.
Archived
information
will
have
significantly
fewer
visitors,
users,
meaning
this
is
unlikely
to
have
a
negative
impact
on
their
experience.
Privacy:
Improving
data
management
supports
better
data
protection
practices.
Establish
public-facing
policies
for
emerging
technologies.
Ensure
all
such
technologies
and
their
datasets
are
ethically
sourced,
screened,
validated,
and
implemented
in
a
non-discriminatory,
responsible
manner.
Audit
and
account
for
any
environmental
considerations
that
may
derive
from
the
use
of
emerging
technologies
wishing
to
be
promoted
or
implemented.
This
should
include
third-party
choices,
the
expense
in
terms
of
waste
or
emissions
of
using
the
technology
to
create
a
desired
result,
and
consequences
that
may
arise
from
its
deployment.
Ensure
all
automated
tooling,
scrapers,
spiders,
bots,
artificial
intelligence,
and
other
forms
of
machine-assisted
data
gathering
abides
by
requests
to
opt
out
at
the
host,
server,
or
website
level.
Providers
must
declare
themselves
as
non-human
within
the
user-agent/
HTTP
header.
Providers
must
also
publish
impact
reports
relating
to
their
gathering
activities.
Do
not
roll
out
post-quantum
encryption
for
high-traffic
services
that
do
not
need
resilience
against
harvest
now,
decrypt
later
attacks,
where
attackers
steal
encrypted
data,
anticipating
that
future
quantum
computers
will
be
powerful
enough
to
break
the
encryption
and
make
the
data
readable
at
a
later
date.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
organization
has
devised
and
implemented
responsible
policies
related
to
artificial
intelligence,
the
Internet
of
Things
(
IoT
),
Web3
(Decentralized
Web,
blockchain,
etc),
and
related
emerging
technologies.
Economic:
Establishing
clear
policies
related
to
digital
disruption
and
emerging
technologies
makes
organizations
more
resilient
and
better
able
to
pivot
quickly,
and
face
less
risk
from
various
threats,
including
legal
action.
Operations:
Prioritizing
ongoing
learning
and
continuous
improvement
builds
stronger
teams
that
can
adapt
more
quickly.
Engage
in
flexible
financing
and
responsible
budgeting
to
accommodate
long-term
care
and
maintenance.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
organization
implements
responsible
finance
strategies,
including
divesting
from
fossil
fuels
and
appropriately
resourcing
digital
products
and
services
to
account
for
long-term
care
and
maintenance.
Economic:
Sourcing
responsible
financing
for
digital
products
and
services
improves
their
resilience
and
saves
the
organization
time,
money,
and
resources
over
time.
Environment:
Divesting
from
fossil
fuels
moves
us
more
quickly
to
an
economy
that
is
powered
by
carbon-free
energy,
which
can
reduce
the
catastrophic
impacts
of
climate
change.
Engage
in
free
or
volunteer
projects
to
help
teams
learn
new
tools
and
tactics,
while
also
helping
charities
and
non-profit
organizations
to
build
capacity.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
For-profit
organizations
have
clear
philanthropy
policies
and
practices
in
place
to
help
non-profit
organizations
build
digital
capacity
and
acumen
while
also
engaging
their
own
teams
in
meaningful
work
that
promotes
shared
learning
and
stretch
goals.
Economic:
Following
clear
philanthropic
strategies
means
there
is
usually
a
system
of
checks
and
balances
in
place
to
support
better
financial
practices
overall.
Operations:
Having
clear
philanthropy
strategies
that
include
volunteer
or
free
projects
with
team
stretch
goals
can
boost
employee
engagement
and
retention.
Provide
clear,
documented
end-of-life
guidelines
that
include
data
disposal,
archiving,
file
deletion,
and
other
relevant
guidance.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Everything
ends
at
some
point,
planning
for
if
and
when
a
product
or
service
is
finalized
makes
good
ethical
sense
to
ensure
customers
can
be
transitioned
toward
a
replacement
rather
than
losing
access
to
their
data.
Economic:
Removing
redundancy
in
the
product
or
service
can
generate
savings
in
hosting,
security
costs,
and
other
third-party
subscriptions.
Environment:
Planning
for
end-of-life
reduces
long-term
environmental
impacts
after
a
digital
product
or
service
is
no
longer
needed.
This
eliminates
waste
and
frees
up
resources.
Performance:
Removing
unnecessary
features,
functions,
and
data
of
a
service
improves
performance
and
resilience
as
the
resources
which
were
utilizing
data
will
be
better
spent
on
more
popular
functionality,
and
the
gains
made
from
their
elimination
will
be
felt
in
terms
of
emissions
through
saved
development
time.
Privacy:
Incorporating
clear
end-of-life
policies
that
include
a
visitor's
user's
right
to
be
forgotten
will
benefit
the
visitor
user
by
explaining
how
you
enforce
data
protection
and
comply
with
legislation.
Security:
Providing
regular
maintenance,
updates,
and
care
on
outdated
software
and
data
can
significantly
reduce
security
risks.
Allow
consumers
to
repair
the
consumables
they
purchase
to
the
best
of
their
ability,
offering
replacement
components
if
possible
at
cost,
and
provide
clear
instructions
to
help
resolve
faults
that
occur.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
organization
addresses
e-waste,
right-to-repair,
recycling,
and
related
practices
in
its
operations.
Economic:
Extending
the
shelf-life
of
hardware
and
clear
e-waste
and
recycling
policies
reduce
costs.
Environment:
Following
clear
e-waste
and
recycling
policies
reduces
environmental
impact
and
promotes
circularity,
while
also
extending
the
shelf
life
of
hardware.
When
coupled
with
clear
philanthropic
policies,
donated
hardware
can
also
support
resource-constrained
charities.
Use
a
performance
budget
to
set
a
target
maximum
size
of
your
digital
product
or
service
to
monitor
and
reduce
impact
of
data
transfer,
file
type
size,
and
more.
Define
KPIs
around
engineering
hours,
development
time,
or
sprints
while
keeping
the
health
and
well-being
of
your
workers
paramount.
Sustainably
optimize
workflows
to
allow
all
tasks
to
be
performed
with
care.
Invest
in
resources
to
build
capacity
and
maintain
budgets
over
time.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
Setting
targets
and
limits
regarding
your
product
or
service
is
important
for
keeping
a
sustainable
mindset.
Using
budgets,
you
can
declare
the
remits
of
which
you
will
work
within
to
ensure
your
emissions
do
not
fall
outside
(and
monitor
your
progress
through
development).
Conversion:
Improving
performance
will
reduce
churn
and
page
abandonment.
A
website
may
also
rank
better
on
search
engines
thanks
to
performance
being
a
key
indicator
in
ranking
algorithms.
Economic:
Reducing
resource
requirements
means
visitors
users
will
not
have
to
keep
upgrading
devices
to
match
the
needs
of
digital
products
and
services
that
are
otherwise
growing
unchecked
over
time.
Environment:
Setting
a
strict
sustainability
or
performance
budget
will
reduce
the
chance
of
a
digital
product
or
service
getting
too
large
or
resulting
in
pollution
transfers,
which
will
also
ensure
it
has
a
minimal
impact
on
a
visitor's
user's
device.
This
has
a
direct
impact
on
emissions
by
forcing
businesses
to
choose
where
to
make
reductions
and
efficiency
savings.
Visitors
Users
not
having
to
upgrade
devices
as
frequently
will
also
reduce
e-waste
from
discarded
devices.
Performance:
Keeping
realistic
goals
regarding
delivery
size
will
push
developers
to
optimize
resource-heavy
projects
and
reconsider
using
large
tooling
in
place
of
lightweight
alternatives.
A
lower
target
budget
for
a
product
or
service
will
also
decrease
the
amount
of
time
spent
transferring
and
rendering
data.
Social
Equity:
By
having
a
human
or
planetary
budget,
you
can
assign
targets
to
improve
services
for
impacted
groups
or
those
affected
directly
by
your
project.
Contribute
regularly
in
terms
of
code,
human-time,
and/or
financially,
to
open-source
community-based
projects.
Additional
information
Show
/
Hide
additional
information
to
understand
this
guideline
and
its
success
criteria.
This
section
is
non-normative.
Intent
The
organization
has
clear
policies
about
using
open
source
tools,
including
how
it
gives
back
to
the
community
and
responsibly
manages
code
repositories
to
reduce
waste.
Create,
regularly
review,
and
occasionally
test
a
plan
of
action
to
determine
readiness
in
case
of
an
incident
and
establish
procedures
to
quickly
recover
from
any
incident.
Economic:
Limiting
the
extent
of
the
disruption
has
obvious
economic
benefits.
Operations:
Creating
transparency
around
digital
resilience
procedures
encourages
trust
that
a
product
or
service
can
be
depended
upon
for
critical
use.
Social
Equity:
Providing
uninterrupted
access
to
potentially
vital
online
services
in
case
of
a
disaster
or
emergency
benefits
users.
Guidelines
within
this
specification
which
the
Interest
Group
has
identified
possible
implications
for
accessibility,
privacy,
or
security,
either
by
providing
protections
for
end
users
or
which
are
important
for
website
providers
to
take
in
to
consideration
when
implementing
features
designed
to
implement
digital
sustainability,
are
listed
below.
This
list
reflects
the
current
understanding
of
the
Interest
Group
but
other
guidelines
may
have
implications
that
the
Interest
Group
is
not
aware
of
at
the
time
of
publishing.
Individuals
or
organizations
wishing
to
understand
more
about
best
practices
relating
to
these
objectives
should
read
the
relevant
materials
provided
by
W3C
Working
and
Interest
Groups
in
this
area,
as
the
result
of
good
accessibility,
privacy,
and
security,
can
benefit
both
people
and
the
planet
in
measurable
ways.
It
is
relevant
to
note
that
groups
working
on
accessibility,
privacy,
and
security
may
identify
sustainability
impacts
within
their
work
and
may
provide
relevant
guidance
where
appropriate
on
best
practices
to
limit
the
scope
of
these
concerns.
Any
such
guidance
should
be
considered
as
complementary
to
that
provided
within
the
WSG
.
A.1
Accessibility
Guidelines
within
this
specification
that
may
relate
to
accessibility
are:
Web
accessibility
(within
the
context
of
inclusive
design)
means
that
websites,
tools,
and
technologies
are
designed
and
developed
so
that
people
with
disabilities
(and
those
without)
can
use
them,
free
of
barriers.
Note
Types
of
accessibility
barriers
can
include
auditory,
cognitive,
neurological,
physical,
speech,
and
visual.
They
can
also
be
permanent,
temporary,
or
situational
(depending
on
the
situation).
PPP
Planet,
People,
and
Prosperity
(
PPP
)
is
a
set
of
principles
that
recommends
considering
each
of
these
factors
during
the
sustainability
process.
This
method
of
considering
both
people
and
the
planet
(alongside
the
needs
of
business)
is
known
under
other
abbreviations
with
similar
objectives
such
as
Environmental,
Social,
and
(corporate)
Governance
(
ESG
),
which
considers
economic
variables
alongside;
there
is
also
Environment,
Equity,
and
Economy
(
EEE
)
that
follow
a
similar
pattern.
Note
Such
work
is
grounded
within
the
three
pillars
of
sustainability:
Planet:
We
prioritize
the
health
of
the
environment,
ecosystems,
and
the
planet
overall.
People:
People
should
have
access
to
resources,
information,
and
opportunities
necessary
for
their
well-being.
Prosperity:
Financial
stability
and
equitable
economic
development—in
this
case,
through
the
digital
economy—ensures
shared
prosperity
for
the
planet
and
its
inhabitants.
Informative
For
information
purposes
and
not
required
for
compliance.
Note
Content
identified
as
"informative"
or
"non-normative"
is
never
required
for
compliance.
Aiming
for
a
clean
(hosted
using
carbon-free
energy),
efficient
(using
the
fewest
resources
possible),
open
(accessible
and
user-controlled
data),
honest
(avoiding
misleading
or
exploiting
visitors),
users),
regenerative
(support
people
and
the
planet),
and
resilient
(function
under
any
circumstances)
service
or
product.
Visitors
Within
the
context
of
this
specification:
A
visitor
is
an
individual
who
may
visit
a
website
but
not
necessarily
use
or
interact
with
(in
a
measurable
way)
the
products
or
services
provided
by
the
provider.
A
user
is
an
individual
who
visits
a
website
or
application
but
also
uses
and
interacts
with
the
features
provided
(whether
or
not
information
is
exchanged).
Note
In
many
cases,
visitor
and
user
on
the
web
are
used
interchangeably
(and
this
is
perfectly
acceptable),
but
we
have
chosen
to
make
this
distinction
to
provide
context
that
in
certain
cases,
individuals
(for
privacy
reasons
or
simply
because
certain
users
just
glancing
or
certain
websites
having
static
content)
may
not
be
classified
as
a
user
(in
the
sense
of
a
customer)
as
they
are
a
window
shopper
(visitor).
Additional
information
about
participation
in
the
Sustainable
Web
Interest
Group
can
be
found
within
the
GitHub
repository
of
the
Interest
Group.
C.1
Participants
active
in
the
development
of
this
document
Alexander
Dawson,
Andrea
Davanzo,
Andrew
Wright,
Andy
Blum,
Anne
Faubry,
Arnaud
Levy,
Ben
Clifford,
Berwyn
Powell,
Brett
Tackaberry,
Brian
Louis
Ramirez,
Chris
Adams,
Chris
Augier,
Chris
Butterworth,
Chris
Needham,
Chris
Sater,
Chris
Wilson,
Claire
Thornewill,
Daniel
Appelquist,
David
Jeanmonod,
Dennis
Lemm,
Diogo
Abrantes
Da
Silva,
Dom
Robinson,
Dominique
Hazael-Massieux,
Emily
Trotter,
Fershad
Irani,
Francesco
Fullone,
François
Burra,
Gaël
Duez,
Hidde
De
Vries,
Iain
McClenaghan,
Ian
Jacobs,
Ines
Akrap,
Ismael
Velasco,
Iulia
Raluca
Ionita,
James
Christie,
Jeffrey
Yasskin,
Jennifer
Strickland,
Jens
Oliver
Meiert,
Jim
McCool,
Josh
Kim,
Julien
Wilhelm,
Kazuhito
Kidachi,
Laurent
Devernay
Satyagraha,
Len
Dierickx,
Leon
Brocard,
Łukasz
Mastalerz,
Marie
Ototoi,
Michelle
Barker,
Mike
Gifford,
Morgan
Murrah,
Nahuai
Badiola,
Neil
Clark,
Nick
Doty,
Nicola
Bonotto,
Nick
Lewis,
Orie
Steele,
Owen
Barton,
Owen
Rogers,
Peter
Krautzberger,
Philippe
Le
Hégaret,
Romuald
Priol,
Rose
Newell,
Rudolf
Van
Der
Berg,
Ryan
Sholin,
Sandy
Dähnert,
Sarah
Zama,
Shane
Herath,
Simon
Perdrisat,
Susannah
Hill,
Tantek
Çelik,
Thibaud
Colas,
Thorsten
Jonas,
Tim
Frick,
Tzviya
Siegman,
Youen
Chéné,
Yuna
Orsini,
Zoe
Lopez-Latorre.
C.2
Other
active
participants,
or
contributors
to
supporting
resources
Adam
Newman,
Aiste
Rugeviciute,
Alekh
Gupta,
Alicia
Pritchett,
Alisa
Bonsignore,
Anthony
Vallée-Dubois,
Antoine
Abélard,
Asim
Hussain,
Bee
Flaherty,
Boris
Schapira,
Brian
Sharpe,
Carine
Bournez,
Christian
H
Brown,
Christophe
Clouzeau,
Christos
Bacharakis,
Crystal
Preston-Watson,
Danielle
Subject,
Denis
Didier,
Edward
Bender,
Elise
West,
Eloisa
Guerrero,
Emma
Horrell,
Florence
Maurice,
Gerry
McGovern,
Greg
McDonald,
Hannah
Smith,
Ignacio
Rondini,
Ivano
Malavolta,
James
Cannings,
James
Gallagher,
Jan
Henckens,
Jean
Rigotti,
Jeroen
Hulscher,
Jon
Gibbins,
Juan
Sotés,
Julien
Robitaille,
Kate
Mroczkowski,
Katya
Dreyer-Oren,
Kimi
Wei,
Laila
Tamani,
Leah
Goldfarb,
Lenchi
Danch,
Loren
Velasquez,
Louise
Towler,
Luciene
Bulhões
Mattos,
Luis
Tiago,
Manfred
Jurgovsky,
Marie
Koesnodihardjo,
Mark
Butcher,
Marketa
Benisek,
Mert
Altinöz,
Michelle
Sanver,
Moritz
Guth,
Nick
Oliveira,
Nick
Sollecito,
Nicolas
Lanthemann,
Nicholas
Oliveira,
Nicolas
Oren,
Oliver
Winks,
Patrick
Hypscher,
Pietro
Jarre,
Radu
Micu,
Rafael
Lebre,
Rebecca
Brocton,
Rick
Butterfield,
Rick
Viscomi,
Robin
Whittleton,
Samuel
Pitoňák,
Sandra
Pallier,
Sarven
Capadisli,
Sebastien
Solere,
Sylvain
Tenier,
Thierry
Leboucq,
Thomas
Alexander
Munch-Woolff,
Tom
Greenwood,
Tom
Howells,
Torsten
Beyer,
Tristan
Nitot,
Yelle
Lieder,
Youcef
Bekhti.
[
#70
]
&
[
#117
]
Global
editorial
improvements
and
bug
fixes
have
been
applied
to
the
WSG
.
@AlexDawsonUK,
@codewordcreative,
@jenstrickland,
@mrchrisadams,
&
@ryansholin
[
#89
]
&
[
#90
]
Structure
of
the
crossover
links
has
been
improved
for
accessibility.
@jenstrickland,
@pkra,
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#90
]
Attribution
for
authors
now
conforms
to
pubRules
with
acknowledgements
link.
@AlexDawsonUK
&
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#93
],
[
#102
],
&
[
#104
]
Editorial
improvements
have
been
provided
for
the
web
dev
success
criteria.
@airbr,
@AlexDawsonUK,
@codewordcreative,
@fershad,
@hidde,
@ryansholin,
&
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#100
]
Editorial
improvements
have
been
provided
for
the
category
introductions.
@AlexDawsonUK,
@awright1979-alt,
@codewordcreative,
@fershad,
@hidde,
@ines-akrap,
@jenstrickland,
@ryansholin,
@susannah-hill,
@timfrick,
&
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#101
]
Editorial
improvements
have
been
provided
for
the
UX
success
criteria.
@AlexDawsonUK,
@awright1979-alt,
@ChrisButterworth,
@codewordcreative,
@fershad,
@jenstrickland,
@the-sustainabledev,
Sarah
Zama,
@thorstenjonas,
&
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#105
]
Editorial
improvements
have
been
provided
for
the
hosting
success
criteria.
@AlexDawsonUK,
@codewordcreative,
@fershad,
@susannah-hill,
@ryansholin,
&
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#107
]
Editorial
improvements
have
been
provided
for
the
business
success
criteria.
@AlexDawsonUK,
@codewordcreative,
@fershad,
@timfrick,
&
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#108
]
Editorial
improvements
have
been
provided
for
the
UX
benefits.
@awright1979-alt,
@codewordcreative,
@jenstrickland,
Sarah
Zama,
@thorstenjonas,
&
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#109
]
Editorial
improvements
have
been
provided
for
the
web
dev
benefits.
@codewordcreative,
@ryansholin,
&
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#110
]
Editorial
improvements
have
been
provided
for
the
hosting
benefits.
@codewordcreative,
@susannah-hill,
@ryansholin,
&
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#112
]
&
[
#118
]
Broken
links
and
redirects
have
been
resolved
or
removed.
@AlexDawsonUK
&
@ldevernay
[
#113
]
Editorial
improvements
have
been
provided
for
the
business
benefits.
@codewordcreative,
@timfrick,
&
@TzviyaSiegman
[
#114
]
Editorial
improvements
have
been
provided
for
the
examples.
@AlexDawsonUK,
@codewordcreative,
&
@timfrick
[
#118
]
Broken
links
and
redirects
have
been
resolved
or
removed.
@AlexDawsonUK
Q2
2025
Release
Notes
(30
th
June
2025)
Additions:
[
#6
]
New
resources
supplement
that
will
serve
as
the
repository
for
sustainability
links.
@AlexDawsonUK