Why Sustainability and Accessibility in Websites Matter
- Perspektiv
- Mar 24
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 16
Did you know your website could be harming the planet? Every time someone visits your site, electricity is consumed by both the device loading the page and the servers hosting it. This process emits CO₂, adding to your business’s digital carbon footprint.
Two Key Areas to Focus On
Sustainable Websites: By reducing file sizes, optimizing images, and choosing green hosting providers, you can significantly cut down your website's carbon footprint.
Accessible Websites: Designing for accessibility improves usability for people with disabilities, those using assistive technologies, or anyone with a slower internet connection. Features like clean code, readable fonts, optimized images, and clear color contrast enhance the user experience—and also reduce page load times and emissions.
In short, sustainability and accessibility go hand in hand, delivering a better experience for users and the planet.
The Sustainability Audit: Our Website’s ‘Before’ Picture
When we audited our site, the results were shocking:
Carbon Rating: F
Performance Score: 47%
CO₂ Emissions: 2.14g per page visit
Our site was dirtier than 90% of all web pages globally
To put that in perspective: A site receiving 10,000 visits per month at 2.14g per visit emits 21.4kg of CO₂ monthly—the equivalent of driving a petrol car 90 kilometers.
How We Transformed Our Website's Carbon Footprint
Determined to reduce our digital footprint, we implemented several changes:
✅ Switched to Green Hosting
Our website now operates on servers powered by sustainable energy. Check if your site uses green hosting: *Green Web Check
✅ Optimized Website Performance
We simplified code, compressed images, and removed unnecessary data-heavy features. The result? Performance Score: 100% on Google Lighthouse.
✅ Improved Accessibility
We achieved a 100% accessibility rating, ensuring our site is usable by all. View our Accessibility Statement
✅ Reduced CO₂ Emissions
Our carbon output dropped to 0.10g per page visit—cleaner than 90% of global web pages, earning us an A carbon rating.
➡️ But We’re Not Done Yet
While we’ve reduced emissions by over 95%, the gold standard for lightweight, sustainable websites is around 0.02g – 0.05g per visit. We're proud of our progress—but committed to continually reviewing and refining our site to lower our footprint even further.
Why Small Websites Still Matter
You might assume that smaller businesses or lower-traffic sites have little impact. However, our experience shows that poorly optimized sites—even small ones—can emit unnecessarily high amounts of CO₂.
Understanding the Impact
| Website Type | CO₂ per Visit |
|----------------------------|------------------|
| Highly Optimised Site | 0.2g or less |
| Industry Average Site | 0.5g – 1.76g |
| Poorly Optimised Site | 3g+ |
Considering how many websites the average person visits daily, the cumulative effect of high-carbon websites becomes significant.
Take Action: Assess Your Website Today
At Perspektiv, our website overhaul has:
Lowered emissions by over 95%
Improved loading speeds and user experience
Increased accessibility for all users
Reduced our hosting costs
If you're serious about sustainability, your website is an inexpensive place to start.
Tools to Help You Assess:
🌎 Website Carbon Calculator – Measure your site’s carbon footprint
♻️ Green Hosting Check – Find out if your hosting provider uses renewable energy
Ready to Reduce Your Website’s Footprint?
It only takes a few small tweaks to make a big difference. We encourage every business—large or small—to take a look at their digital impact. Assess your site, implement improvements, and join us in creating a more sustainable, accessible web.
Need guidance? Contact the Perspektiv team to learn more about how we transformed our website.
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