Writing

My most recent writing on sustainable web development, performance tips for websites and apps, as well as a few other musings.

Green summer trees overhead with blue sky
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A carbon aware internet

Knowing the carbon intensity of the electricity grids in which code runs can allow developers to make informed decisions about where/when to run their code.

Screenshot of the Performance Insights site.
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Testing a page with Performance Insights

Performance Insights is a tool by Builder.io (http://builder.io/) which, in their words, allows you to learn what improvements can have the greatest impact on your site's performance.

Worms-eye view of building in the daytime.
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YouTube facades with Cloudflare Workers

YouTube embeds can added megabytes of data to a website, even if they are not watched by the user. This post looks at a way to use Cloudflare Workers plus a facade to reduce that initial data load.

Man peeking out from behind a wall with a quizzical look on his face.
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Hidden in plain sight

I was recently shown a code snippet that that a designer friend implemented on a website to combat flash of unstyled text (FOUT). It did so in a way that could possibly have negative impacts on a visitor’s page loading experience.

Hard gradient from pink to dark purple.
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Take it easy with transitions

I’ve been doing a few audits of late, and one thing that keeps coming up is the use of transition effects on page load (or above the fold content). This post looks at some of the performance pitfalls that can arise from this practice, as well as what you should keep in mind.

Cartoon illustration of an astronaut floating against a black background. Text read: Flowty - Webflow optimisations for carbon conscious designers.
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Introducing Flowty - Build low carbon, self-hosted Webflow sites

Webflow is a great service for designers who want to create amazing websites for clients. It does leave a few things on the table when it comes to web sustainability though. Flowty gives designers who build with Weblow the power to create fast, low-carbon, self-hosted sites in minutes.

Multi-coloured pens against a black background
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Creating user personas for website performance testing

The web makes it possible for businesses to reach audiences well outside of their immediate geographic area. This presents its own set of challenges to ensure online content and experiences remain fast for potential customers around the world.