The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance

#1

Post by kevinak » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 9:17 AM UTC

The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance
insidegovuk.blog.gov.uk

Re: The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance

#2

Post by iopq » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 9:46 AM UTC

When I did web development, I specifically loaded JS lazily so first you got a pure HTML page with just a few lines of code. Those lines of code are normal (not jQuery) JS that loads the rest of the JS lazily in a progressive enhancement. This means the page can start being rendered before the jQuery code loads.

But in fact, jQuery is largely not needed since Internet Explorer lost market share and there's less of a need to have lots of workarounds for it.

Re: The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance

#3

Post by 3np » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 9:50 AM UTC

iopq wrote: post #2

When I did web development, I specifically loaded JS lazily so first you got a pure HTML page with just a few lines of code. Those lines of code are normal (not jQuery) JS that loads the rest of the JS lazily in a progressive enhancement. This means the page can start being rendered before the jQuery code loads. But in fact, jQuery is largely not needed since Internet Explorer lost market share and there's less of a…

If done properly this can be nice but a common grief is when interactive elements (input fields/buttons/links, including in flowing text) move around after first becoming visible. The worst is input fields that get cleared or grabbing focus (this is way too common; not stellar to have to password reset due to typing half a password in an auto-complete search field) as part of this process after the user has already started inputting data.

Re: The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance

#4

Post by ctrlmeta » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 9:54 AM UTC

Has anyone noticed how all UK government websites like https://www.gov.uk/, https://www.nhs.uk/, https://tfl.gov.uk/, https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ have the same look-and-feel and the same UX? Are there more such examples of countries that have uniform UX for their government websites?

Re: The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance

#5

Post by samwillis » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 9:56 AM UTC

ctrlmeta wrote: post #4

Has anyone noticed how all UK government websites like https://www.gov.uk/ , https://www.nhs.uk/ , https://tfl.gov.uk/ , https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ have the same look-and-feel and the same UX? Are there more such examples of countries that have uniform UX for their government websites?

They all use this design system: https://design-system.service.gov.uk. It's much more than just a CSS framework, it's full specifications on how to implement easy to follow and sensible UX.

I wish there was more buy in by local councils of this system, there are some incredibly poor local government sites.

Re: The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance

#6

Post by coob » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 9:57 AM UTC

ctrlmeta wrote: post #4

Has anyone noticed how all UK government websites like https://www.gov.uk/ , https://www.nhs.uk/ , https://tfl.gov.uk/ , https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ have the same look-and-feel and the same UX? Are there more such examples of countries that have uniform UX for their government websites?

Yes, the GDS has a design system: https://design-system.service.gov.uk/

Re: The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance

#7

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 9:57 AM UTC

ctrlmeta wrote: post #4

Has anyone noticed how all UK government websites like https://www.gov.uk/ , https://www.nhs.uk/ , https://tfl.gov.uk/ , https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ have the same look-and-feel and the same UX? Are there more such examples of countries that have uniform UX for their government websites?

[deleted]

Re: The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance

#8

Post by matthews2 » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 9:57 AM UTC

ctrlmeta wrote: post #4

Has anyone noticed how all UK government websites like https://www.gov.uk/ , https://www.nhs.uk/ , https://tfl.gov.uk/ , https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ have the same look-and-feel and the same UX? Are there more such examples of countries that have uniform UX for their government websites?

They're built using the gov.uk design system[0], which is not just a CSS framework! It also has a lot of guidelines and requirements to make sure that the pages you're building are accessible to everyone

https://design-system.service.gov.uk/

Re: The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance

#9

Post by tizzy » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 9:57 AM UTC

ctrlmeta wrote: post #4

Has anyone noticed how all UK government websites like https://www.gov.uk/ , https://www.nhs.uk/ , https://tfl.gov.uk/ , https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ have the same look-and-feel and the same UX? Are there more such examples of countries that have uniform UX for their government websites?

Honestly, I used to think they were the same website but they all have different logins. Super cool and uniform UI/UX.

Re: The impact of removing jQuery on our web performance

#10

Post by was_a_dev » Tue, Aug 16, 2022, 9:58 AM UTC

samwillis wrote: post #5

ctrlmeta wrote: post #4

Has anyone noticed how all UK government websites like https://www.gov.uk/ , https://www.nhs.uk/ , https://tfl.gov.uk/ , https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/ have the same look-and-feel and the same UX? Are there more such examples of countries that have uniform UX for their government websites?

They all use this design system: https://design-system.service.gov.uk . It's much more than just a CSS framework, it's full specifications on how to implement easy to follow and sensible UX. I wish there was more buy in by local councils of this system, there are some incredibly poor local government sites.

I imagine a buy-in by local councils is just that - a cost. And most councils are either poorly funded, poorly managed financially or both!