Web Sustainability Guidelines 1.0
Summary Table & Checklist
2.1

Undertake Systemic Impacts Mapping
Success Criterion▢

Any negative external variables a ecting a product or service are displayed in a publicly available
resource, identifying where your product's sustainable impact can be diminished (systemic
design).
Impact & E ort
GRI

2.2

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMediumAssess and Research Visitor Needs
Success Criterion▢

Primary and secondary target visitors are identi ed, and their needs are de ned throughquantitative or qualitative research, testing, or analytics, ensuring your visitors and a ected
communities remain a close part of the research and testing process.

▢Potential visitor constraints like the device age, operating system version, browser, and connection
speeds are accounted for when designing user-experiences.

▢

The team has researched and identi ed whether a technical, material, or human constraint might
require an adapted version of the product or service that reduces barriers or improves access tocontent.

▢

Barriers to access (pain points or dark / deceptive design patterns) have been identi ed in theuser-research with visitors for removal.

▢

All stakeholders including your visitors have been assigned an equitable role in the decisionmaking process when undertaking research, identifying needs, or conducting iterative designwork.
Impact & E ort
GRI

2.3

MediumMediumHigh
MediumMediumMediumResearch Non-Visitor's Needs
Success Criterion▢

A plan of action has been established for non-users and other stakeholders who might bepassively impacted by a digital product or service, such as neighbors accepting parcels, tra c
jams due to deliveries, etc. Research their needs and understand how they might be a ected.
Impact & E ort
GRI

2.4

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMediumConsider Sustainability in Early Ideation
Success Criterion▢

Wireframes, and rapid prototyping are utilized to quickly build consensus, reduce risk, and lower
the number of resources needed to build features.

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Users are involved within the iteration and design process using participatory design, and when
conducting user-testing reach out to your community to help improve your product by allowing
them to apply their knowledge and experience to your product or service.
Impact & E ort
GRI

2.5

Low
Low

Low
Low

Low

Low

Account for Stakeholder Issues
Success Criterion▢

All stakeholders have been considered using a human-centered approach during thebrainstorming process.

▢The planetary needs and ecological boundaries of a project have been taken into account during
the brainstorming process.
Impact & E ort
GRI

2.6

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMediumCreate a Lightweight Experience by Default
Success Criterion▢

The path taken to access the service (the initial contact with the website or service) should be ase cient and as simple as possible (time required to complete an action displayed, reducing too
much choice, ensuring visitors know what's required at the start of a complex set of steps, etc).

▢

The users journey (when browsing an accessed website or service) should be as smooth as
possible. User-research is key, as is building on established design patterns that people alreadyunderstand.

▢

Visitors can complete tasks without distractions or non-essential features getting in the way.

▢

Visitors see only information that is relevant to their experience, without non-essential information
being displayed on the screen.

▢

Ensure that actionable information such as pop-up or modal windows can only be initiated by thevisitor.
Impact & E ort
GRI

2.7

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMediumAvoid Unnecessary or an Overabundance of Assets
Success Criterion▢

Decorative design is used only when it improves the user-experience, and unnecessary assets orones that fail to bene t the visitor or sustainability are removed (or rendered optional and disabled
by default).
Impact & E ort
GRI

2.8

High
High

Medium
High

High

High

Ensure Navigation and Way-Finding Are Well-Structured
Success Criterion▢

Provide an accessible, easy-to-use navigation menu with search features that help visitors easilynd what they need.

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Implement an e cient (human-readable) sitemap that is organized and is regularly updated. This
helps search engines better index website content, which helps visitors more quickly nd what
they are looking for.

▢

Implement a way for visitors to nd out about new content and services.
Impact & E ort
GRI

2.9

Low
MediumLow
Low

MediumLow

Respect the Visitor's Attention
Success Criterion▢

The visitor can easily control how (and when) they receive information to both improve attention
and respect with the visitor.

▢

Features that don't distract people or unnecessarily lengthen the time they spend using the
product or service have a higher priority than others.

▢

Avoid using in nite scroll or related attention-keeping tactics.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumLow
MediumMediumMedium2.10 Use Recognized Design Patterns
Success Criterion▢

Provide only essential components visible at the time they are needed. Where appropriate,interfaces should deploy visual styles (patterns) that are easily recognized and used.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumLow
Low

MediumLow

2.11 Avoid Manipulative Patterns
Success Criterion▢

Avoid what are commonly known as dark patterns, deceptive design, or unethical coding
techniques, which manipulate visitors into taking actions not necessarily in their best interest (antiright click, no-copy, requiring an account to purchase, etc).

▢

Advertisements and sponsorships are both ethical and clearly identi ed with the product orservice, only presenting them when they provide real economic and ethical value and don't
diminish a visitor's experience.

▢

Remove unused and unconsented page tracking.

▢

Optimization for search engines, social networks, and third-party services are organically led withgood coding practices with user-experience the focus, not manipulating the services to gain
greater priority through obfuscating content, pages, websites, or applications with redundancy or
non-useful and optimized (to the visitor) material.
Impact & E ort
GRI

High
Low

MediumLow

Low

2.12 Document and Share Project Outputs
Success Criterion

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Low

▢

The deliverables output, including documentation, are used upstream of the project and producedin ways that will allow it to be reused in subsequent projects.

▢

Design functionality and technical speci cations are documented so that deliverables arecomprehensible by the project team and transferable to the development team.

▢Developers have access to code comments and other View Source a ordances which can reducethe burden to access, understand, maintain, and utilize production-ready code as this will reduce
redundancy and foster an open source culture.
Impact & E ort

MediumGRI

MediumHigh
MediumMediumMedium2.13 Use a Design System To Prioritize Interface Consistency
Success Criterion▢

A design system is employed based on web standards and recognizable patterns to mutualizeinterface components and provide a consistent experience for visitors.
Impact & E ort

Low

GRI

MediumMediumLow

MediumLow

2.14 Write With Purpose, in an Accessible, Easy To Understand Format
Success Criterion▢

Content is written clearly, using plain, inclusive language delivered at an easy-to-understandreading level considering accessibility and internationalization inclusions as required (for example,
dyslexia).

▢

Content is formatted to support how people read online, including a clear document structure,visual hierarchy, headings, bulleted lists, line spacing, and so on.

▢

SEO has been prioritized from the early design stages and throughout a product or service's
lifecycle to improve content ndability.
Impact & E ort

Low

GRI

MediumLow
Low

MediumLow

2.15 Take a More Sustainable Approach to Image Assets
Success Criterion▢

The need for images has been determined considering the quantity, format, and size necessary for
implementation.

▢

Resize, optimize, and compress each image (outside the browser), o ering di erent sizes (for each
image) for di erent screen resolutions.

▢

Provide Lazy Loading to ensure image assets only load when they are required.

▢

Let the visitor select the display size, and provide the option to deactivate images.

▢

Set up a media management and use policy to reduce the overall impact of images, with criteria
for media compression and le formats.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI

High

Low
High

High

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High

2.16 Take a More Sustainable Approach to Media Assets
Success Criterion▢

The need for video or sound usage (including only when they add visitor value) has been
determined, and non-informative media (background media) including autoplaying functionality
has been banned or removed.

▢

Compress the media according to the visitor's requirements, select the appropriate format, ensure
it works across browsers, and avoid embedded player plugins.

▢

Any media requiring a lot of data to be downloaded on the client side (including the media itself)has been loaded behind a facade (a non-functional, static, representational element).

▢

Let the visitor control media deactivation, giving a choice of resolutions; all while providing
alternative resolutions and formats. Also increase visitor awareness by informing them of thelength, format, and weight of the media.

▢

Set up a media management and use policy to reduce the overall impact of audio and video, with
criteria for media compression and le formats.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI

High

Medium
High

High

High

2.17 Take a More Sustainable Approach to Animation
Success Criterion▢

Use animation only when it adds value to a visitor's experience, and not for decorative elements.

▢

Progressively display an appropriate quantity of animation so as not to overburden the visitor ordiminish expected device behavior.

▢

Allow visitors to start, stop, pause, or otherwise control animated content.
Impact & E ort

Medium

GRI

High

Low
High

High

High

2.18 Take a More Sustainable Approach to Typefaces
Success Criterion▢

Use standard system-level (web-safe / pre-installed) fonts as much as possible.

▢

The number of fonts, and the variants within typefaces (such as weight and characters) are limited
within a project, using the most performant le format available.
Impact & E ort

MediumGRI

MediumLow
MediumMediumMedium2.19 Provide Suitable Alternatives to Web Assets
Success Criterion▢

All proprietary le formats (such as PDF) are o ered in HTML for accessibility and to ensure futureavailability.

▢

All custom typefaces (using font-display) are subsetted and o ered as part of a font stack with asystem font as a backup.

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▢All images provide meaningful alternative text for screen reader users (or when images fail to load)
accessibility.

▢

Audio provides text transcripts of conversations as an alternative to playing the media.

▢

Video provides text transcripts (at minimum), subtitles (using WebVTT), and for accessibility bestpractice, o er closed captions and sign language options.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMedium2.20 Provide Accessible, Usable, Minimal Web Forms
Success Criterion▢

Remove unnecessary forms and reduce form content to the bare minimum necessary to meet thevisitor's needs and the organization's business goals. Clearly communicate why a form isnecessary, what its value proposition is, how many steps it will take to complete, and what anorganization will do with collected data (informed consent).

▢

Avoid auto-completion / auto-suggest if it would prove unhelpful (to conserve bandwidth) whilst
allowing auto ll for ease of repeat entry (including the use of helpful tooling such as password
managers).
Impact & E ort
GRI

Low
MediumLow
Low

MediumLow

2.21 Support Non-Graphic Ways To Interact With Content
Success Criterion
Support speech browsing and other non-graphical ways to interact with content that provide
alternatives to a visual interface.

▢

Impact & E ort
GRI

Low
MediumMediumLow

MediumLow

2.22 Provide Useful Noti cations To Improve the Visitor’s Journey
Success Criterion▢

Remove non-essential noti cations while justifying and reducing the practice of e-mailing or text
messaging to what is strictly necessary. Useful noti cations (such as alerts for new content) should
be used with care and restraint.

▢

Let the visitor control noti cations (for example through the browser, SMS, or by email) and adjust
messaging preferences, and the option to unsubscribe, logout, and close an account should beavailable and visible.

▢

Clearly explain the result of a potential input through helpful prompts and messages that explain
errors, next steps, and so on. This will help manage their expectations.
Impact & E ort
GRI

Low
MediumLow
Low

2.23 Reduce the Impact of Downloadable or Physical Documents
Success Criterion

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MediumLow▢

If the production of paper documents is essential, it should be designed to limit its impact to thelowest possible. Create a CSS Print stylesheet and test it with di erent types of content. Ensure
PDF printing is encouraged over paper-based storage.

▢

Provide all downloadable documents in a state of being optimized, compressed, and in a variety ofaccessible le formats.

▢

If a document is likely to be re-used, generate the document once on the server-side (preferably
on a cookie-free domain) rather than forcing the e ort to be duplicated.

▢

Clearly display the document name, a summary, the le size, and the format, allowing the visitor achoice if possible of both the format, and the language (if not the same as the web page).
Furthermore, be sure to avoid embedding the document within Web pages (provide a direct link to
download or view within the browser instead).
Impact & E ort

MediumGRI

Low

MediumLow

MediumLow

2.24 Create a Stakeholder-Focused Testing & Prototyping Policy
Success Criterion▢

The organization has outlined processes it uses to prototype and test new features, product ideas,
and user-interface components when applicable with real users who represent various stakeholder
perspectives, including people with slow connection, with disabilities, with di culties using digital
services, and so on.

▢

The organization has appropriately resourced these processes to support its long-term productviability.

▢

The organization has training materials to onboard new product team members to these practices.

▢

The organization regularly conducts extensive testing and user interviews to validate whether the
released features are meeting both business goals and visitor needs.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI

Medium

High

High

High

High

2.25 Conduct Regular Audits, Regression, and Non-Regression Tests
Success Criterion▢

The codebase has been checked for bugs, performance issues hav been identi ed, andaccessibility or security problems have been accounted for at either monthly or quarterly
timeframes (depending on your scheduling allowance).

▢

Non-regression tests are implemented for all important functionality.

▢

Regression testing has been incorporated into each release cycle to ensure that new features
don't introduce bugs or otherwise con ict with existing software functionality.
Impact & E ort

MediumGRI

MediumMediumMediumMedium2.26 Incorporate Performance Testing Into Each Major Release-Cycle
Success Criterion

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Medium▢

The performance of a website or application, to identify and resolve bottlenecks or issues in theunderlying code or infrastructure which could ultimately impact the sustainability of a website orapplication, are regularly measured with each release-cycle (using tooling or through research andauditing).

▢

Only data required to provide a streamlined and e ective user-journey, put policies in place toensure strict adherence, and comply with relevant accessibility policies and privacy laws, such as
the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are collected.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumLow
MediumMediumMedium2.27 Incorporate Value Testing Into Each Major Release-Cycle
Success Criterion▢

Visitor feedback, adoption, and churn rates are monitored of product or service features and theirinsights incorporated into future releases.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumLow
MediumMediumMedium2.28 Incorporate Usability Testing Into Each Minor Release-Cycle
Success Criterion▢

Usability testing has been incorporated into product cycles and the impact of these tests isroutinely measured for future releases.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMedium2.29 Incorporate Compatibility Testing Into Each Release-Cycle
Success Criterion▢

A compatibility policy with obsolete devices and software versions, listing the supported devices
brands, operating systems, and browsers (including versions) has been established.

▢

Planned obsolescence in software updates is routinely avoided, striving to maintain compatibility
for as long as possible and clearly communicating whether an update is evolutionary (large
updates that can signi cantly reduce performance) or corrective (smaller updates that x bugs or
improve security).

▢

The product or service regularly tests with weak connections, old browsers, and devices older
than ve years to ensure compatibility.

▢

Mobile- rst methods and interfaces are prototyped to ensure progressive enhancement, content
prioritization, and improved accessibility.

▢

A PWA has been either chosen or rejected based on whether it be more sustainable andcompatible over a native mobile application.
Impact & E ort
GRI

3.1

High
High

MediumHigh

High

Identify Relevant Technical Indicators
Success Criterion

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High

▢

Explicit goals that impact the environment and performance of the service, for example, HTTP
requests, or the amount of DOM elements that need to be rendered are both set and met.

▢

Because the payload being delivered may not always be equal in terms of energy intensity,
operators of websites and applications must ensure that consideration is given for the energy
intensity (or unit being evaluated) of each component. For example, non-rendering text is lesscomputational than CSS, which in turn is less process-heavy than JavaScript, which is lessresource-heavy than WebGL.
Impact & E ort
GRI

3.2

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMinify Your HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
Success Criterion▢

All source code is mini ed upon compilation (including inline code).
Impact & E ort
GRI

3.3

Low
Low

Low
Low

Low

Low

Use Code-Splitting Within Projects
Success Criterion▢

Breakdown bandwidth-heavy components into segments that can be loaded as required.
Impact & E ort
GRI

3.4

MediumMediumLow
MediumMediumMediumApply Tree Shaking To Code
Success Criterion▢

Identify and eliminate unused and dead code within CSS and JavaScript.
Impact & E ort
GRI

3.5

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMediumEnsure Your Solutions Are Accessible
Success Criterion▢Your website or application must conform to WCAG (at the necessary level), plus extend beyond
to obey relevant laws and meet additional visitor accessibility requirements. Building inclusively
means that people with permanent, temporary, or situational disabilities will be able to more
quickly nd what they are looking for, and not have to spend extra time searching for a way to use
your product or service.

▢

Enhance your website or application with Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) ONLY if
applicable or necessary, and accessibility enhancing features when useful or bene cial.

▢

Deploy solutions that ght against electronic inequalities in products and services.
Impact & E ort
GRI

3.6

High
MediumMediumMediumMediumAvoid Code Duplication

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MediumSuccess Criterion▢

Remove or simplify (through rewriting for performance) your code to focus on essential featuresand have a cleaner, less redundant product (and codebase).

▢

Improve (iterate) an existing creation rather than constantly redeveloping and redesigning products
from scratch (duplication of coding e ort) if possible to reduce visitor learning burden anddeveloper impact.

▢

Within CSS and JavaScript, use methodologies (like BEM) and systems like DRY and WET to
optimize the arrangement and output of your source code.
Impact & E ort

Medium

GRI
3.7

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumRigorously Assess Third-Party Services
Success Criterion▢

Third-party services (including plugins, widgets, feeds, maps, carousels, etc) have been assessed
as early in the ideation or creation process as possible and as few of them are used as possible toreduce the product or service's overall ecological impact, including Scope 3 emissions.

▢Third-party content (including plugins, widgets, feeds, maps, carousels, etc) should be placed
behind a click-to-load delay screen (using the "import on interaction" pattern), while alternatives toautomated solutions such as chatbots should be o ered.

▢

Large CSS libraries and JavaScript frameworks are only be used if a more performant alternativethat achieves the same goal cannot be used instead.

▢

Self-hosted content has been prioritized over embedded content from third-party services.

▢Your own clickable icons and widgets have been created, rather than relying on third-party
services to host or allow embedding within your product or service.

▢

Third-party products, services, libraries, and frameworks are often a source of sustainability issues
that cannot be controlled or managed by the rst-party provider of a service. While many doprovide bene ts to a website, the need to justify their inclusion must be made not only by thosecreating the product or service but also be able to be controlled by the consumer. As showcasedwith cookies, websites or applications can provide a similar mechanism of disabling or refusing
non- rst-party features (with explanations of their purpose) - unless such features can be provenas critical for functionality.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI
3.8

High

Medium
High

High

High

Use HTML Elements Correctly
Success Criterion▢

Content must be marked up semantically using the right HTML element for the right job.

▢

Remove optional HTML tags (which aren't required for rendering), attribute quotes, or attributes
that are set to their default value.

▢

Avoid using non-standard elements or attributes.

▢

Only use custom elements or Web Components if you cannot utilize native HTML elements or if
you need tightly regulated control over the implementation of design system components.
Impact & E ort

Medium

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MediumGRI
3.9

MediumMediumMediumMediumResolve Render Blocking Content
Success Criterion▢

All external assets have been deferred or set to async (unless required) to avoid Flash Of Unstyled
Content (FOUC).

▢

If external resources are required on load, their priorities (delivery route) are set correctly.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumLow

MediumMediumMediumMedium3.10 Provide Code-Based Way-Finding Mechanisms
Success Criterion▢

Metadata and microdata for search engines and social media have been optimized.

▢

Search engines are not obstructed, while ill-intentioned robots and scripts are blocked.

▢

Accessibility and usability aids are provided to nd content, such as skip links and signposts.
Impact & E ort

Low

GRI

Low

Low

Low

Low

Low

3.11 Validate Form Errors and External Input
Success Criterion▢

Errors are identi ed through live validation as well as upon submission.

▢

Required elements are clearly identi ed and labeled (for the bene t of voice tools such as screen
readers and virtual assistants), and optional elements (if unnecessary) removed.

▢

Always allow the pasting of content (including passwords) from external sources.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumLow

MediumMediumMediumMedium3.12 Use Metadata Correctly
Success Criterion▢

Include the required title element, plus any optional HTML head elements (such as link).

▢

Include necessary meta tag references that search engines and social networks recognize, using arecognized name scheme such as Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI), Friend Of A Friend(FOAF), or RDFa.

▢

Embed Microdata, Structured Data (Schema), or Microformats within your pages.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumLow

MediumMedium

3.13 Adapt to User Preferences
Success Criterion

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MediumMedium▢

Apply the monochrome, prefers-contrast, prefers-color-scheme, prefers-reduced-data, prefersreduced-transparency, and prefers-reduced-motion CSS preference queries if they will bene t
your website or application. Use the print & scripting CSS media queries if they will improve thesustainability of your website.
Impact & E ort

MediumGRI

MediumLow
MediumMediumMedium3.14 Develop a Mobile-First Layout
Success Criterion▢

Allow a website or app to work on mobile devices primarily (testing with various connection
speeds), expanding to accommodate larger displays thereafter (mobile- rst). It is much more
e ective to do the hard work to ensure that it works well on a mobile device and then scale it up tolarger interfaces.

▢

Utilize progressive enhancement and responsive web design to ensure that your work
accommodates a device's capabilities, di erent screen sizes, and will not fail if it meets anunsupported technology.

▢

To maximize the use of renewable energy, adapt your website or service to electricity availability
using carbon-aware design techniques. This should include using situational design to reduce thecodebase or functionality during high-intensity periods or adapting the user-interface to performbetter in situations where scaling hardware resources can be avoided to reduce emissions.

▢Support other indirect methods of interaction such as voice (speech), code (QR, etc), reader view
(browser, application, or RSS), or connected technology (watch, appliance, transport, etc).
Impact & E ort

MediumGRI

MediumLow
Low

MediumLow

3.15 Use Bene cial JavaScript and Its APIs
Success Criterion▢

Improve sustainability through accessible and performant code implementations.

▢

When using an API, make sure you only call it when necessary. On the other side, make sure no
unrequired data is sent by the API.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI

High

Medium
High

High

High

3.16 Ensure Your Scripts Are Secure
Success Criterion▢

Check the code for vulnerabilities, exploits, header issues, and code injection.
Impact & E ort

MediumGRI

MediumMediumMediumMedium3.17 Manage Dependencies Appropriately
Success Criterion

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Medium▢

Prevent developers from downloading and installing JavaScript libraries to run locally (client-side)
when they are not needed by checking for unused dependencies and uninstalling those that aren't
needed and removing them from your package.json le.

▢

Only use libraries where necessary as this will reduce the amount of JavaScript that has to be
downloaded and parsed by the browser. Consider whether you can use a native JavaScript API
instead. Check the package size, and whether individual modules can be installed and imported
rather than the whole library.

▢

Regularly check dependencies and keep them up-to-date.
Impact & E ort

Medium

GRI

Low

Low
Low

Low

Low

3.18 Include Files That Are Automatically Expected
Success Criterion▢

Include the favicon.ico, robots.txt, opensearch.xml, site.webmanifest, and sitemap.xml
documents.
Impact & E ort

Low

GRI

Low

Low
Low

Low

Low

3.19 Use Plaintext Formats When Appropriate
Success Criterion▢

Include standards such as ads.txt, carbon.txt, humans.txt, security.txt and robots.txt.
Impact & E ort

Low

GRI

MediumLow
Low

MediumLow

3.20 Avoid Using Deprecated or Proprietary Code
Success Criterion▢

Exclude deprecated formats and standards, the only exception being if consumer support
demands maintaining older standards to provide a functional product.

▢

Don't use an older standard if a newer recommendation will do the same job as / or more
e ectively.
Impact & E ort

Low

GRI

Low

Medium
Low

Low

Low

3.21 Align Technical Requirements With Sustainability Goals
Success Criterion▢

Identify the requirements and from this, choose the implementation of the product or service. A
simpler technological implementation may use more human resources but could have a smaller
footprint. A prebuilt solution may use more system resources (and thereby produce more
emissions upon render) but have a faster build-time (emitting less carbon during development).

▢

As a general rule, coding from scratch is the best-performing methodology (though if an existing
solution is actively maintained, it may be better optimized than what you could produce).
Therefore, use native components and le systems to a WYSIWYG editor or heavy framework, andbe considerate of the impact of third-party solutions.

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▢If choosing a code generation tool, use a Static Site Generator in preference to a bulky content
management system. Because SSGs often start using a minimalist content entry format (likemarkdown) and all of the compilation is done before the website is uploaded, the emissions
bene t comes from the server not having to place as much e ort into serving pages (as they arestatic) for each visitor. In the case of a CMS, the dynamic nature of a site will involve additional
computation (server-side processing) and bulkier libraries.

▢

Plugins, extensions, and themes have been carefully reviewed and selected to maximize
interoperability, accessibility, and performance. They are regularly audited over time to ensure
continued compatibility.

▢

All the components of the user-interface are the subject of special attention in terms of its
sustainability impact while respecting accessibility and the performance of such components.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMedium3.22 Use the Latest Stable Language Version
Success Criterion▢

Use the latest build of your chosen syntax language and its coupled framework.

▢

Use the most appropriate programming language for a task. Many tools and programming
languages are optimized for performing particular tasks, and utilizing those most appropriate to
the problem, especially if there is a reasonable visitor base involved justi es the time and e ort, aslong as it doesn't impact PPP factors such as the well-being of those involved or become too costprohibitive.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMedium

3.23 Take Advantage of Native Features
Success Criterion▢

Use native functions, APIs, and features over writing your own.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumLow
MediumMediumMedium3.24 Run Fewer, Simpler Queries As Possible
Success Criterion▢

If you need information that is stored in a database, and you require it (or it's likely to berequested) more than once in your code, access the database only once, and store the data locallyfor subsequent processing. Also, avoid reliance on framework helpers that might defer ltering tolater on in the process.
Impact & E ort
GRI

4.1

Medium
Low

Low
Low

Low

Choose a Sustainable Hosting Provider
Success Criterion

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Low

▢

To assess the environmental impacts of hosting and detect overconsumption, some indicators aremonitored: energy / water usage, CPU / Memory usage, allocation of servers and CPU cores, etc.
These indicators are be used to calculate metrics directly related to environmental impacts, suchas Power Usage E ectiveness (PUE), Water Usage E ectiveness (WUE), and Carbon Usage
E ectiveness (CUE). They are displayed to visitors for transparency and monitoring reasons.

▢Equipment is managed responsibly by keeping it as long as possible, using it as e ciently as
possible, making sure it is certi ed, and purchasing long-lifespan products.

▢

Waste (including equipment) is recovered, recycled, and upcycled.

▢

Electricity comes entirely from sources with the lowest possible carbon intensity (ideally generated
by wind or solar rather than from non-renewable sources). For example, Renewable Energy Credits(RECs) can help verify the source, or, ideally, prove that electricity comes directly from renewablesources.

▢Remaining emissions are compensated, keeping in mind that the priority should be to avoid thenreduce them and only compensate for them if they cannot be avoided. Carbon credits may not besustainable, therefore the e ectiveness of an o set solution must be veri ed, shown to be both
environmentally viable and sustainable, and part of a longer-term strategy to eliminate emissions
entirely from a chain, bene tting the wider ecosystem.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI
4.2

Medium

Low

Low

Low

Low

Optimize Browser Caching
Success Criterion▢

If using a CMS, install an applicable plugin to enable on-the- y server-side caching. Otherwise,
use the provided server con guration les to include and tweak the le-type cache expiration
using expires, bfcache, or cache-control HTTP header. If using a language or framework thatgenerates pages on request, cache responses for static pages so that they can be reused for
future visitors.

▢

Client-side JavaScript uses a combination of ServiceWorkers, WebWorkers, storage Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs), or cookies (if necessary) to streamline the user-journey. For
example, through the use of a PWA (Progressive Web Application) to ensure that an o ine version
is available and accessible at all times to reduce inequality and improve accessibility.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI
4.3

High

MediumHigh

MediumHigh

Compress Your Files
Success Criterion▢

If using a CMS, install an applicable plugin to enable on-the- y server-side compression, such as
Brotli or GZIP. Otherwise, use the provided server con guration les to include and tweak the
performance-related features to the requirements.

▢

Compress your various images, fonts, audio, and video; by reducing the quality and o ering
di erent resolutions / dimensions (sizes) before uploading to a server or content management
system.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI
4.4

Low

Low

Low

Low

Use Error Pages and Redirects Carefully

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Low

Success Criterion▢

Maintain sites by ensuring links are correct, and if errors occur, provide suitable way- nding within
optimized pages for each error type to ensure resources can be identi ed to help visitors complete
the task they started.

▢

Redirect websites, subdomains, and pages only when necessary. Proactively seek broken or
outdated links and x them. A redirect or search will often help reduce the number of pages avisitor needs to load.
Impact & E ort

Low

GRI
4.5

Low

Low
Low

Low

Low

Limit Usage of Additional Environments
Success Criterion
Ensure no unused environment is available, balancing the cost of deploying an environment withthe cost of keeping it online while unused.

▢

Impact & E ort

Medium

GRI
4.6

Low

Low
Low

Low

Low

Automate To Fit the Needs
Success Criterion▢

Every recurring task, such as deployment, testing, or compilation, is run automatically, as
recommended by continuous integration / continuous delivery best practices.

▢

To reduce wasted processing cycles, every automated task is only run when needed.

▢

Automated scaling infrastructure is used to automatically increase the capacity of the web serverand bu ering / throttling is implemented to respond to visitor demand.

▢

Web browsing from bots has been steadily increasing in recent years. As such, it is a growing
concern for security, performance, and sustainability. Use security tools that automatically block
bad actors and minimize bad behavior. This results in substantially less load on the server, fewer
logs, less data, less e ect due to compromise, and more. The result of compromised websites is alarge increase in HTTP, email, and other tra c as malicious code attempts to in ltrate otherresources and ex ltrate data. Compromised websites are typically identi ed by anomalous
patterned behavior.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI
4.7

Low

Medium
Low

Low

Low

Maintain a Relevant Refresh Frequency
Success Criterion
The frequency for refresh (of both the cache, locally stored data, and the page) is de ned
depending on visitor needs.

▢

Impact & E ort

Medium

GRI
4.8

MediumLow
MediumMediumBe Mindful of Duplicate Data
Success Criterion

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Medium▢

Backups of system and user data are both incremental and secure.
Impact & E ort

Low

GRI
4.9

Low

Low
Low

Low

Low

Enable Asynchronous Processing and Communication
Success Criterion▢

By default, non-critical processes and communications are batched and launched only whencarbon intensity is under a given threshold.

▢

The communication protocols used are relevant to the visitor's needs and data transferred. Avoid
using insecure protocols (HTTP, FTP), and prioritize more e cient and privacy-aware data routes
for visitors (HTTPS, SSH).

▢

When creating products or services that utilize state changes (without triggering a complete
refresh), if the utilization of Event-Driven Architecture and Microservices will be moreenvironmentally friendly (based on the PPP variables involved) than traditional APIs in handling theserver-side workload of your solution, use it.
Impact & E ort

MediumGRI

Low

Medium
Low

Low

Low

4.10 Consider CDNs and Edge Caching
Success Criterion▢

When building for a globally distributed audience, use a CDN to store and serve simple read-only,
pre-generated resources in a fast and e cient manner. Although they de nitely can increase
performance, it is also another layer of infrastructure that needs to be considered for sustainability.

▢

Verify that the CDN provides a commitment to sustainability.

▢

A hosting provider was chosen with servers located close to the visitor.

▢

Don't use the service to host dynamic resources or JavaScript (unless through a rst-party host) as
due to cache partitioning, cross-origin resource sharing (CORS), and other browser mechanics,
any bene ts are negated by weaker performance, the inability to cache or interact, and thepotential introduction of security and privacy issues to be introduced. This doesn't a ect JSON orother static assets.

▢

All information passed between the layers of an application incurs a cost, both in terms of datatransferred, and CPU cycles for (de)serialization. Wherever possible, data transformations must be
performed close to the source to reduce these costs and avoid processing data that will later bediscarded.
Impact & E ort

Medium

GRI

Low

Low
MediumLow

Medium

4.11 Use the Lowest Infrastructure Tier Meeting Business Requirements
Success Criterion▢

Select infrastructure elements with the lowest requirements tier, meeting your service-levelagreements. Avoid over-provisioning multi-datacenter, multi-zone, or distributed deployments if
standalone instances meet the requirements. Also avoid provisioning infrastructure that will be
under-utilized by provisioning for established average loads, ensuring reasonable resource
utilization and autoscaling occurs as needed. Avoid provisioning for peak loads.

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Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumLow

Medium
Low

Low

Low

4.12 Store Data According to Visitor Needs
Success Criterion▢

Remove unnecessary and redundant data from your servers, whether it is single-use (dark data) or
abandoned.

▢

Create data with an expiration date. Excess data is a form of technical debt, and routinely cleaning
up old data needs to be normalized.

▢

Use a data classi cation / tagging policy to make it easier to nd, handle, and remove.

▢

Store data only when it is di cult to recreate.

▢

Optimize log collection, storage (o -site), and rotation; scheduling during low-activity hours andusing carbon-neutral backup providers.

▢

Ensure long-term assets, especially those of a large size, are made available for download.
Impact & E ort
GRI

5.1

Low

Low

Low

Low

Low

Low

Have an Ethical and Sustainability Product Strategy
Success Criterion▢

The organization has published a publicly available Code of Ethics, Product Guidelines,
Sustainability, or PPP Statement that includes language speci c to digital products, services,
policies, and programs.

▢

Achievements, features, compliance, and anything beyond the scope of these guidelines are
published within a sustainability section of your product or service.

▢

Evidence is provided by the organization showing how it e ectively governs implemented digitalsustainability, climate policies, and related PPP practices over time.

▢

Training decks and workshops are provided by the organization for onboarding new teammembers on how it implements more sustainable product strategies.

▢

Your methodology has been documented through impact storytelling, documentation, and helping
individuals make more informed decisions in order to raise awareness with your visitors.

▢

The organization can show how it powers digital products and services with renewable energy.
Impact & E ort
GRI

5.2

High
High

High
High

High

High

Assign a Sustainability Representative
Success Criterion
An ecological referee (with speci c digital expertise) for the product or service within yourorganization has been assigned.

▢

Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumLow
Medium

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MediumMedium5.3

Raise Awareness and Inform
Success Criterion▢

All project stakeholders, including product teams, colleagues, and organizational decision-makers(managers and clients) are informed about and trained in your business's use of sustainable
technology.

▢

Stakeholders have been actively encouraged to reduce their environmental impact and resourceson sustainable design, practices, and concepts are provided to assist with this task.
Impact & E ort
GRI

5.4

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMediumCommunicate the Ecological Impact of User Choices
Success Criterion▢

The ecological implications of visitor choices have been clearly communicated and visitors cancon gure settings based on those choices.
Impact & E ort
GRI

5.5

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMediumEstimate a Product or Service's Environmental Impact
Success Criterion▢

A full life-cycle Analysis based on the functional unit de ned in Guideline 5.15 has been
conducted.

▢

The environmental impact of your or your competitor's current service to inform decision-making(as a potential target goal) has been calculated.

▢

When identifying the environmental impact of your product or service, you must include the impact(or estimates of) of any tooling used to create the product or service along with any third-party
solutions utilized in the pipeline. While not created by you, the emissions they generate fromproduction to maintenance are considered integral to your overall solution.
Impact & E ort
GRI

5.6

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMediumDe ne Clear Organizational Sustainability Goals and Metrics
Success Criterion▢

The organization has de ned and published a clear set of sustainability goals. It publicly
communicates how it will meet these goals, including which performance metrics are important tohelp the organization and its various stakeholders thrive.
Impact & E ort
GRI

5.7

Low

Medium

Low

Low

Low

Low

Verify Your E orts Using Established Third-Party Business Certi cations
Success Criterion▢

The organization has achieved one or more business sustainability certi cations and incorporated
operational policies and practices to support them.

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▢The organization maintains its certi cation through evolving policies and practices over time.
Impact & E ort
GRI

5.8

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMedium

Implement Sustainability Onboarding Guidelines
Success Criterion▢

The organization has dedicated training manuals, workshops, and materials that outline the PPP
policies and practices it follows and how to implement them. While managing and maintaining
these materials over time, adapting them as new policies and practices arise.

▢

The organization incentivizes leadership, teams, and stakeholders to make progress toward thegoals outlined in their training, including time for sustainability activities, recognition forcompletion, and so on.

▢

The organization anticipates and maps potential negative external variables on the service, andacts to minimize their overall impact.
Impact & E ort
GRI

5.9

High

Medium

High

High

High

High

Support Mandatory Disclosures and Reporting
Success Criterion▢

The organization has created and published policies and practices for disclosing the human andenvironmental impacts of its products, services, policies, and programs in line with existing
reporting standards such as GRI Performance, SASB, etc.

▢

The organization produces a publicly available impact report outlining its progress against previous
reports on human and environmental goals at least once per year.

▢

The organization publicly and transparently follows existing or emerging environmental standards
and legislative policy that promotes mandatory disclosures and reporting for emissions. This isdone alongside other human and environmental criteria in its impact reporting, maintaining thesepractices over time for future reports.

▢

The organization clearly identi es how it reduces its environmental impact, avoiding double
accounting, greenwashing, excluded data, or other manipulative techniques.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMedium

5.10 Create One or More Impact Business Models
Success Criterion▢

The organization has completed (and operationalized) a Theory of Change process with requisite
documentation to identify the impact it hopes to create, how it will generate revenue, shared, oradded value from these activities, how it will measure results based on desired outcomes; or in thecase of launched projects, is generating revenue, actively tracking and measuring progress against
any desired outcomes.
Impact & E ort
GRI

High
High

MediumHigh

5.11 Follow a Product Management and Maintenance Strategy

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High

High

Success Criterion▢

The organization has documented policies outlining how it approaches product management andmaintenance.

▢

The organization has maintenance / security plans in place for all the digital products and services
it manages.

▢

The organization appropriately resources products over time via sta ng and budgeting to support
refactoring code, addressing technical debt, new product features, ongoing testing, and productor service maintenance plans to continue supporting its customers, visitors, and otherstakeholders.

▢

The organization incorporates carbon and resource measurement into maintenance programs andcan show measurable improvement over time.
Impact & E ort
GRI

High
High

Low
High

High

High

5.12 Implement Continuous Improvement Procedures
Success Criterion▢

The organization has created policies and practices to enable continuous improvement and has
resourced the organization appropriately to support these e orts over time.

▢

Agile sprints and update frequency have gone through a review process to ensure project teams
have enough time to conduct user-research, identify technical debt, and produce quality output.

▢

A track record of continuous improvement (iteration) usage to analyze your website or application
while also addressing the by-products and potential consequences of ongoing experimentation,such as technical debt, product performance, emissions, and related issues is clearly visible.
Analytics are limited to only necessary features to aid with decision-making, encouraging visitor
feedback, and comparing performance against business goals and visitor needs.

▢

The retention of existing features, the creation of new functionality, and the decommission or
elimination of unused functionality, and unvisited pages through the product's life cycle have been
justi ed and prioritized on a case by case basis.

▢

Corrective security and policy updates during the product or service lifecycle are provided, while
such improvements are distinguished from more extensive evolutionary updates.

▢

Sustainable product and data strategies have been developed with appropriate training
techniques. These should help your team (managers, colleagues, etc) build capacity and learn new
skills to manage and maintain products and services over time.
Impact & E ort
GRI

High
High

High
High

High

High

5.13 Document Future Updates and Evolutions
Success Criterion▢

Adding, updating, or removing features are considered where appropriate to the user-experienceof the product or service.
Impact & E ort
GRI

Low
Low

Low
Low

5.14 Establish if a Digital Product or Service Is Necessary

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Low

Low

Success Criterion▢

The product or service identi es within a sustainability statement where it aligns with one of the
U.N. (SDGs) and its appropriate targets.

▢

The product or service has been determined as necessary based upon desirability, feasibility, andviability factors.

▢

No existing digital product or service o ers the same value. An analysis has been conducted if
necessary to understand the market for this requirement.

▢

Any obstacles to using a product or service, such as accessibility, equality, technical, or territorial
have been overcome.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI

Low

High

High

High

High

5.15 Determine the Functional Unit
Success Criterion▢

A life-cycle Assessment (LCA) has been conducted to de ne the requirements of your product'sfunction throughout its lifecycle.
Impact & E ort

MediumGRI

MediumMediumMediumMediumMedium

5.16 Create a Supplier Standards of PracticeSuccess Criterion▢

The organization has created speci c policies to vet potential partners in its supply chain based on
PPP principles.

▢

The organization has partnered with suppliers to create, track, and measure collective impact on
issues that impact their stakeholders.

▢

The organization has promoted its partnerships in a publicly available place, along with information
on how the partnership creates a collective impact.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI

High

High

High

High

High

5.17 Share Economic Bene ts
Success Criterion▢

The organization is publicly committed to paying employees, contractors, and other stakeholders aliving wage.

▢

The organization has policies and practices in place to incentivize stakeholders, such as workers
and contractors, to meet its impact goals.

▢

The organization provides bene ts to employees in accordance with its resources, including,where relevant, healthcare, retirement planning, ex time, pro t sharing, and so on.

▢

The organization advocates for responsible legislation that supports employment rights,
transparency, and accountability related to sharing economic bene ts.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI

High

High

High

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High

High

5.18 Share Decision-Making Power With Appropriate Stakeholders
Success Criterion▢

The project team's goals are aligned with key business objectives, and project stakeholders (forexample, project managers) have the power and autonomy to make key decisions on theorganization's behalf.
Impact & E ort
GRI

Low
Low

High
Low

Low

Low

5.19 Use Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (JEDI) Practices
Success Criterion▢

The organization has documented its commitment to JEDI practices with clear policies on how itprioritizes marginalized or otherwise underserved communities, including Black, Indigenous,
People of Color, LGBTQIA+, Women, Disabled, Veterans, Seniors, and so on.

▢

The organization has an accessibility policy for digital products and services and can show this via
a veri ed accessible website, application, product, or service.

▢

The organization has JEDI-related training materials and schedules ongoing workshops related to
how this topic manifests itself in digital products and services (algorithmic bias, digital divide, gig
economy work, mis / disinformation, etc).

▢

The organization can show measurable JEDI improvement over time in its hiring, leadership, andoperations.

▢

The organization advocates for responsible legislation relating to JEDI practices, especially as
related to digital products and services.
Impact & E ort
GRI

High
High

High
High

High

High

5.20 Promote Responsible Data Practices
Success Criterion▢

The organization has a public-facing privacy policy in place and supports existing privacy laws
such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA),
and so on. This policy must be accessible for all visitors, including those with accessibility andreading comprehension needs, and abide by plain English best practices to avoid jargon, technicallanguage, and legalese.

▢

The organization can show measurable progress over time on how it respects data privacy andownership, including a visitor's "right to be forgotten" and provides the ability to export data.

▢

The organization supports new and emerging legislation related to data privacy, data sustainability,
and responsible data practices.
Impact & E ort
GRI

High
High

Medium
High

High

High

5.21 Implement Appropriate Data Management Procedures
Success Criterion▢

Outdated or otherwise expired product content and data are archived and deleted via automatedexpiration dates and scheduled product audits. An archiving schedule with a lighter version of theold searchable content is made available.

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▢Users can control, manage, and delete their data, subscriptions, and accounts.
Impact & E ort

Low

GRI

Low

High
Low

Low

Low

5.22 Promote and Implement Responsible Emerging Technology Practices
Success Criterion▢

The organization has public-facing policies in place for emerging technologies, and all suchtechnologies are ethically sourced, screened, validated, and implemented in a non-discriminatory,
responsible manner.

▢

The organization shows how it up-skills workers as new technologies and practices potentiallydisrupt its business model.

▢

The organization supports and complies with responsible legislation related to automation andemerging technologies (such as the EU AI Act)▢

Organizations must consider, audit, and account for any environmental considerations that may
derive from the use of emerging technologies they wish to either promote or implement within achosen setting. Also note that this should include third-party choices, the "expense" (in terms ofwaste or emissions) of the utilization of the technology to create a desired result and consequential
issues to the environment that may arise from its deployment.

▢

Don't roll out post-quantum encryption for high-tra c services that don't need resilience against
harvest now, decrypt later.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI

High

Medium
High

High

High

5.23 Include Responsible Financial Policies
Success Criterion▢

The organization has divested from fossil fuels and moved its banking, sponsorship, and othera liations to more responsible partners.

▢

The organization engages in exible nancing and responsible budgeting for its digital products
and services to accommodate long-term care and maintenance.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI

High

High
High

High

High

5.24 Include Organizational Philanthropy Policies
Success Criterion▢

The organization has a clear corporate giving policy and creates philanthropic partnerships withstrategically aligned organizations.

▢

The organization engages in free or volunteer projects, which help its team learn new tools andtactics, while also helping charities and non-pro t organizations build capacity.
Impact & E ort

High

GRI

High

MediumHigh

5.25 Plan for a Digital Product or Service’s Care and End-of-Life
Success Criterion

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High

High

▢

Clear, documented end-of-life guidelines exist that include data disposal, archiving, le deletion,
etc guidance.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMedium

5.26 Include E-Waste, Right-To-Repair, and Recycling Policies
Success Criterion▢

The organization has speci c policies in place to recycle e-waste and repair owned technology
products whenever possible.

▢

The organization has formed relationships with local partners for e-waste recycling and repair.

▢The organization buys refurbished equipment whenever possible.

▢

The organization allows consumers to repair (to the best of their ability) the consumables theypurchase, o ering (if possible at cost) replacement components and provides clear instructions toresolve faults that occur.
Impact & E ort
GRI

High
High

Medium
High

High

High

5.27 De ne Performance and Environmental Budgets
Success Criterion▢

The product team has de ned, baselined, and documented clear sustainability and environmental
budget criteria that cover the page, user-journey, and digital service levels and metrics (such as a
CO2.js score) that are approved by relevant product stakeholders.

▢

Tools such as a performance budget exist to determine the maximum size (goals) your app or
website can weigh to reduce the data transfer and HTTP request impact (using metrics like Google
Lighthouse).

▢

KPIs are de ned around engineering hours, development time, or sprints keeping the health andwellbeing of your workers paramount. Consideration has been taken around optimizing yourwork ow sustainably to allow all tasks to be performed with care.

▢

The product team can measurably show how much the budgeting process improved performanceand reduced emissions.

▢

The product team invests in resources to build capacity and maintain the budgets over time.
Impact & E ort
GRI

MediumMediumMediumMediumMediumMedium5.28 Use Open Source Tools
Success Criterion▢

The organization has a clear open source policy in place that outlines how it uses open source
tools and the practices it supports surrounding open source development.

▢

The organization has a track record of collaboration and community-building around open source
principles.

▢

The organization regularly contributes to open source community-based projects.
Impact & E ort

High

High

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GRI

MediumMediumMediumMedium

5.29 Create a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan
Success Criterion▢

The organization has created a plan of action that is regularly reviewed and occasionally tested todetermine readiness in case of an incident and has procedures to quickly recover from such
issues.

▢The organization regularly maintains transparent communication with its audience regarding issues
that may a ect service delivery or user data.
Impact & E ort
GRI

Low
Low

MediumLow

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Low

Low