Web eco-design

My eco-design approach

Eco-design means building a site that does its job with the least resources. For me it is not an option or a selling point, it is the way I build by default. Here is what that means in practice.

Lean, and therefore solid

Eco-design is not a label you stick on at the end. It is a way of deciding, at every step, to load only what is truly useful. Today anyone can put out a site with a few prompts, but under the hood it is heavy. Excess code, dozens of scripts, images never optimised, several megabytes on every visit. The result: a slow, fragile site that is hard to evolve.

I approach it the other way round. I start from what your site needs, and I remove everything else. Less weight means less carbon, but above all more speed and a site you keep the keys to.

What I care about

Restraint first. I only load what serves the project, never the other way around.

No black box. Your code stays readable, documented and yours, so you are free to switch providers.

Proof rather than promises. I measure the impact and validate the scores before going live.

A web for everyone. Accessibility and respect for privacy, on principle.

Method
My approach, in 4 steps

Scope it right

We define what the site must achieve, and for whom. Anything that serves no goal is dropped before it is even built.

Build light

Custom theme, plugins kept to a strict minimum, no unnecessary scripts. Every kilobyte loaded has to earn its place.

Measure

Page weight, EcoIndex, Website Carbon, Lighthouse. I record the scores before going live, and you can check them.

Make it last

Documented code handed over to you, solar-powered European hosting, a site that is easy to maintain. You stay free, including to switch providers.

In practice
What I actually do

Optimised media

Images in the right format and size, lazy loading, controlled videos. Most of a site's weight comes from there.

Responsible hosting

Solar-powered European hosting, often cheaper. Your data stays close to you.

Accessible to everyone

Contrast, keyboard navigation, screen readers. A light site is a site that leaves no one out.

Minimised data

I only collect what is needed. If you need to measure your audience, I install a GDPR-compliant, lean and respectful tool.

Before going live
My eco-design checklist
Code and structure

Custom theme, no heavy page builder

Plugins limited to what is strictly useful

No JS framework loaded for nothing

Semantic HTML, minified CSS and JS

Media

Images in the right format, WebP or AVIF

Images resized to the right size

Lazy loading for off-screen content

Limited fonts, served locally

Performance

Target page weight under 1 MB

Caching configured

Few external requests

Lighthouse score checked before delivery

Accessibility

WCAG AA compliant contrast

Keyboard navigation, visible focus

Structured headings, alt text

Clear form labels

Tested with a screen reader

Measurement

EcoIndex score recorded

Website Carbon measurement

Scores validated before delivery

Hosting and data

Solar-powered European hosting

GDPR-compliant audience measurement if needed

GDPR respected, data minimised

Durability and ownership

Documented code, handed over

No opaque AI code

Free to switch providers

Go further

Want to learn more about responsible design best practices? The Responsible Design Index (ICR) brings them together.

Explore the Index

A site that lasts rather than a throwaway site

If this way of working speaks to you, let's talk about your project. We look together at what is feasible, no strings attached.