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Clarifying Complex Ideas, LLC

Web Sustainability Guidelines | Sustainable Content #52

Published 2 months ago • 2 min read

How do we create a greener web?

A funny thing happened after the last issue when I spoke about hope: I lost nearly 1/3 of my readers. I'm befuddled by this. Did those people previously think that a newsletter about sustainability would be pro-colonialism? Pro-authoritarianism?* Did they think that I was in favor of net zero accounting instead of actual reductions? If so, I've been doing a terrible job communicating in this newsletter.

With that said, I'm going to try to bridge the massive disconnect between the world out there and the work that needs to be done here. So today, I'm going to avoid the news and talk about the Web Sustainability Guidelines.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is working towards building a better web. The group "develops standards and guidelines to help everyone build and enjoy a web based on the principles of accessibility, internationalization, privacy and security." And also, sustainability.

I'm an invited expert (ooh, that sounds fancy) contributing to the sustainability guidelines. These guidelines "cover the planetary, people, and prosperity (PPP) principles of digital products and services that organizations create and manage. These cross-functional guidelines aim to improve the web overall, including initiatives that leverage artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies delivered via the web."

Now, if you look at the guidelines, there's a lot in there. But one of my collaborators, Mike Gifford, has put together a MOOC that does a really good job of walking through the various elements of the guidelines as they apply to different jobs. I'm assuming that most of my readers would be most interested in the Content Author category, but you might find it helpful to run through other job titles to see where you can find common ground.

You'll also notice that a lot of the sustainable content principles align with other best practices in the world of content design. This is not a coincidence. Good content is good content.

Hopefully Mike's MOOC will help you to find new ways to integrate sustainability into your web work.

* Lest there be any question, I absolutely stand with the people of Minnesota. Your bravery, community, and strength are a model for all of us.

"For many people, an awareness of the scope and scale of sustainability is relatively new. The pandemic era revealed just how brittle and intertwined our world can be. Concerns about health, poverty, climate, social justice, food supply, and education have all been pushed to the forefront of our minds since 2020. We saw that, much like in the game of Jenga, if you destabilize one area, everything else can come tumbling down."

 

Alisa Bonsignore
​Sustainable Content: How to Measure and Mitigate the Carbon Footprint of Digital Data ​
​Now available​

What I've been reading

Congress hasn't given up on science. Yet. The U.S. Congress passed a bill to restore funding to science agencies, including those that monitor climate. This was a pleasant surprise.

AI ensures that we're primed to distrust everything. Whether we're talking about Iran or Minnesota or basically anything these days, we have to second guess whether we believe what we see. And that's the point.

​Which cities saw record heat last year? Many. Yours might be on the list.

Shameless and unsolicited cross-promotion of good stuff!

If you've known me for a while, you know that I'm a huge fan of Button and the Brain Traffic team behind it. If you're considering pitching a talk, go for it! This is the best team to do it with. Hit me up if you have specific questions or just want a second set of eyes on the proposal.

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Sustainable Content

​Buy the book​

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Speaking Engagements

​Book Alisa for your event​

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Consulting

​Reduce your Scope 3 emissions​

People are saying good things about Sustainable Content

In spite of the fact that some people feel like sustainability is "too political," I got a lovely note from someone this week thanking me for talking about things that "I feel like can only be said in whispers these days." I'll keep talking if you keep listening!

Alisa Bonsignore

Founder, Strategist, and Author

Clarifying Complex Ideas, LLC

Talking about sustainable content: how to measure and mitigate the carbon footprint of digital data.

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