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For websites, size does matter

Someone on one of the lists I subscribe to advised people to make sure their sites download quickly. She punched one of my hot buttons. I hate slow-loading sites. The whole world doesn’t have cable. Even if everyone did, slow sites hog resources.

Ever notice how some days, cable or not, the Internet is slower? For dial-up access, the rated speed for a modem may be 56.6 Kbps. That’s the top speed. The actual connection speed can be anywhere from 24.4 to 32 to 44 Kbps — just like rush hour on the freeway.

Be courteous; do your part to keep traffic moving.

You can compress your images a considerable amount without losing any detail. Below are links to the same image exported from Photoshop with different compression levels. Each link opens in a new window so you can compare them. (Assuming you wait for the entire image to download!) The original file — not linked below — is 309 KB.

See for yourself (links open in new windows)

About Sandra K. Williams

Sandra K. Williams loves books, both printed and digital. Since 1996 she has worked with authors and independent publishers, editing and designing books for print. Since 1999 she has built easy-to-use, accessible websites, and she uses her HTML and CSS skills to design reader-friendly e-books.

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