Free Coronavirus Webperf Consultation

I think we can all agree we are living in interesting times. It’s going to be some time before the effect the COVID-19 outbreak is having on higher-ed will be fully realized. Many universities, including Notre Dame, have suspended in-person classes for the remainder of the semester. And during this time it’s incredibly important that our coronavirus informational sites be as helpful and available as possible.

Page Speed Benchmarks

A new performance visualiztion tool was just launched by @speedcurve which they describe as:

…an interactive dashboard that lets you explore and compare web performance data for leading websites across several industries – from retail to media.

I’d love so see a higher education category in the near future.

Preloading Fonts May Delay Start Render

This morning I learned that preloading custom fonts may have an adverse effect on load metrics, especially Start Render.

Our main site uses three custom fonts (four files). Up until this morning we were preloading them. The font display properties were already set to “swap”. By removing the preload, it cut an average of one second off Start Render on iPhone 8, 3G connection tests.

Web Almanac 2019

I’ve just started digging into the report, but so far it looks very informative.

Our mission is to combine the raw stats and trends of the HTTP Archive with the expertise of the web community. The Web Almanac is a comprehensive report on the state of the web, backed by real data and trusted web experts. It is comprised of 20 chapters spanning aspects of page content, user experience, publishing, and distribution.

ASPIRE

Over the weekend, Scott Jehl of the Filament Group workshopped an acronym that covers the “ideal qualities that I think we should… aspire to, when aiming to create excellent websites”.

Accessible, Secure, Performant, Inclusive, Responsive, and Ethical.