Many sites use one table to layout their entire page. This technique can force the browser to render the entire table before any content displays. The trick is to break up your table into layers, like a layer cake.
Year: 2004
XHTML: Use Structural Markup – contextual selectors descendant xhtml markup
Ah, the wonders of web standards The oft-cited separation, the lifting of your spirit knowing that you’re helping the semantic web evolve. The sheer joy of CSS. Adopting purely structural markup for your XHTML ensures a longer shelf life and faster pages. Written properly, structural markup can eliminate unnecessary classes by targeting content with CSS selectors.
Graphics: Use Weighted Optimization – regional compression for smaller photos and images
Weighted optimization or regional compression applies different degrees of compression to different areas of your image. You can use alpha masks to apply different JPEG quality and GIF/PNG lossy and dithering settings to different areas of your image. In many cases weighted optimization can squeeze more bytes out of your images destined for the Web.
Graphics: Choose the Right Image Format – jpeg gif png web image file formats
On average, images make up over 50 percent of the average web page, so it is important to minimize their impact on page speed (King 2003). Choosing the appropriate web-based format for your images is the first step towards optimized web graphics. GIFs, JPEGs, and PNGs are the formats used to display images on the Web. Each has its own strength and weaknesses.
Multimedia: Use a Stable Tripod – pro camera tripod review for sharper photos & solid video support
Ansel Adams once said that the ideal tripod “is a cubic yard of solid concrete with a 1/4″ X #20 bold head sticking out of the top.” While this certainly would give a nearly vibration-free support, for most photographers this is not a viable option. That’s where tripods come in handy.
Multimedia: Use Image Stabilization – gyro stabilizer lenses & gyroscopic stabilizer for sharper aerial photography & video cameras
Vibration is one of the photographer’s worst enemies. Slow shutter speeds and telephotos usually don’t mix well, often resulting in blurry shots. A stable tripod can help to ensure sharper photographs and videos destined for the Web. But what about situations where a tripod is not an option?
Remove Whitespace – whitespace removal optimizes html css javascript source code
You can safely remove most whitespace from your code with no change of appearance to your pages. Browsers don’t care how pretty your code it, they process the code between tags, real or implied. Formatting code with spaces, tabs, and returns makes it easy for humans to read, but slower for browsers to download.
CSS: Use Descendant Selectors – contextual selectors
Descendant selectors are an elegant way to apply styles to specific areas of your page while reducing the need to embed classes within elements. First introduced in CSS1 in 1996, descendant selectors (then called contextual selectors) match elements that are descendants of other elements in the document tree. Composed of two or more selectors separated by whitespace, descendant selectors apply styles to elements that are contained within other elements.
CSS: Use Type Selectors
By using simple, high-level selectors you can simplify your style sheets. Type selectors and the “universal” selector (*) match every instance of the element type in the document tree. You can use the pattern matching built into CSS to make your style sheets work for you.
JavaScript: Defer Execution – with the defer attribute of the script element
First introduced by Internet Explorer 4, the defer attribute of the script element is now part of the HTML 4 and XHTML specifications. The defer attribute gives a hint to the browser that the script does not create any content so the browser can optionally defer interpreting the script. This can improve performance by delaying execution of scripts until after the body content is parsed and rendered.