Concluding my series about making our work and products more sustainable and breaking out of our routine at least a little bit, here is an article I recently wrote on Hashnode using a collage of AI-generated images.
Sustainable Web Design and Development
While some people wonder what’s web development and whether it isn’t the same as web design, web developers have tried and struggled to define and coin their specific expertise and experience: frontend web development, full-stack web development, e-commerce, UX engineering, or creative web development - I have also been called a technical consultant, a software developer, or a web designer, an advocate for sustainable web development, emotion-driven development and devUX collaboration. But what about accessibility?
Underrated Aspects and Overlooked Synergies
Accessibility, usability, page speed, and ecological efficiency (or “sustainable web development”) are all underrated but very significant aspects of creating a future-proof website.
While in the US, companies have been obliged to make their online shops and websites more inclusive and accessible - obliged by law or by their sales department - many German and other European merchants and service providers haven’t caught up yet, despite the imminent EU regulations (European Accessibility Act, EAA, and the German Barrierefreiheitsstärkungsgesetz) and despite losing potential customers if they fail to make sure that everyone can use their offer.
The underrated aspects of impactful web development have the potential to open up to new customers and become more efficient, thus saving costs instead of wasting energy and money! Many existing websites have optimization opportunities like improving images and web video, increasing color contrast and readability, or focusing more on the crucial parts of the content.
Ignorance, Pragmatism, and Constant Learning
As a web developer, I have technical tools to measure and improve an existing website. As an experienced web developer, I also have a gut feeling that helps me reach our goals quite quickly after reviewing your existing website or when planning a new web project that has yet to be started.
But as an abled and privileged person, I can hardly imagine how it feels to rely on assistive technology and maybe some users get frustrated trying to use what I have built with the best of intentions. Still, I keep pushing, prioritizing the topic, learning, and getting feedback.
Contact me
If you have feedback, if you’re looking for collaboration partners, or if you want to learn more about what I can do for you and your business, contact me via my website at ingo-steinke.com!
Acknowledgments
The poster image has been created using AI (DALL·E 3 via ChatGPT) to illustrate the two sides of working sustainably and looking beyond my bubble while risking failure and frustrating real users. The person on the left side of the image is shown as an older guy with a greyish beard, wearing sunglasses and a shirt, typing something into his laptop, while on the right side, a person with headphones and glasses, using a braille reader, sweating while trying to read the text.
The crazy font used for the captions is Climate Crisis / Climate Font, designed by Daniel Coull and Eino Korkala, a "free font for visualizing the urgency of the climate crisis".
Further Reading
Blog posts tagged with “sustainability” at Open-Mind-Culture.org:
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