Member Avatar for cmills83

I would still like dialup users to see my site. I think when I am done all jpg/gif/text will equal 200-300k, this shouldn't take broadband users more than a couple seconds but what about dialup users? Should I even worry about it? I live in San Diego and most everyone out here is on high speed that I know of. It is going to be a web design site, I will build optimized sites but that is not really my goal with this site. I just want it to be dialup and somewhat search engine friendly...Thanks!

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Short answer: don’t assume every visitor has high‑speed. For a portfolio the best move is to make the first view feel fast for everyone and let large images be optional. Focus on perceived speed (what the user sees first) rather than a single “max KB” number.

Optimize images and assets before they reach the browser: resize photos to the actual display dimensions, export as optimized/progressive JPEGs, strip metadata, and use PNG‑8 or GIF for simple graphics. Keep decorative chrome out of images—use CSS where possible—and combine small icons into a sprite to cut HTTP requests. Serve CSS and common scripts as external files so browsers can cache them, enable gzip compression on the server, and set sensible Cache‑Control/Expires headers for static files.

Echoing points from and , caching and stylesheet-based design will reduce repeat-load pain. Take ’s testing tip seriously: try a real slow connection (or use your browser’s network throttling and an uncached/incognito run) to see the first‑visit experience. For SEO and accessibility, keep text as real HTML (not flattened into images) and use descriptive alt attributes on thumbnails so search engines and low‑bandwidth users still get value.

Quick checklist:

  • Landing page: light HTML + a few thumbnails (not full‑res photos).
  • Resize images to display size; export at lower quality until visually acceptable.
  • Use progressive JPEGs for perceived loading.
  • Combine/minify CSS and JS; enable gzip and long cache headers.
  • Reduce HTTP requests (sprites, inline critical CSS).
  • Test uncached on a throttled or real dial‑up connection and iterate.

These steps keep a portfolio pleasant for fast users while staying usable for slow connections.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for Zachery

300k? say good bye to any dail up user.

When its all said and done, the average webpage should attempt to be under 50k~ everything said and done, you could get away with up to 100K if you are using external CSS and the same images on every page, the browser will catch them.


I've personally haven't used this tool yet, but it said to be fairly good.

http://www.xk72.com/charles/throttle.html

Member Avatar for sarahk

I'd be a bit more generous than Zachery, but not much

I'd also look at your site closely and see just how much isn't needed. There may be gains through more intense use of styles, for instance.

Care to post a link?

Member Avatar for cmills83

No link yet...How many internet users are still using dialup in the US anyways?

Member Avatar for sarahk

Minstrel is! because he lives in the country

Who is the target market? If it's international then the dialup stats may be quite different.

We have adsl but it's only 256k, the fastest available for residential use - you really notice the difference when you're in a large corporate with proper broadband.

Sarah

Member Avatar for jewboy

Suggestion: sign up for a month with a low cost dialup ISP, ie NetZero, and evaluate your site from your own personal, hands on experience.

Member Avatar for cmills83

Minstrel is! because he lives in the country

Who is the target market? If it's international then the dialup stats may be quite different.

We have adsl but it's only 256k, the fastest available for residential use - you really notice the difference when you're in a large corporate with proper broadband.

Sarah

It will just be a portfolio site and the target market would be San Diego/Los Angeles. I would say a majority of internet users out here are high speed. I think if I keep it under 150k for all pics, etc. I would be okay.

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