Norfolk web design with a load limit.

Most design briefs ask how a page should look. For Norfolk we'd add a line about what it may weigh. Only 7 of the 42 homepages we measured came in under 2 MB, 17% against 31% in our 31-city sample. Main content took a median 9.4 seconds on a simulated mid-range phone, and the slowest quarter took 15.7 seconds or more. Picture that page on a phone in the Harborfest crowd, where our guess is the signal isn't at its best. A designer who has to say what each picture costs tends to choose fewer and better ones, in our experience.

Other design basics are in decent order, so a new look isn't the urgent thing. Pages with some faint text run 50% against 62%, a modest edge on a sample of 42. Tap-target failures run 26% and 22%, about the same. Images stretched out of shape show up on 4, too few to say much. The accessibility median is 93.5 against 90. A failed check means some element fell short, and the list is usually short enough to fix without starting over. That's money you can spend on photographs that earn their weight.

The mix here leans toward people who sell in pictures. 22 of the 42 sites are food and drink. We measured the weight and not what it's made of, so pictures are our guess at the load. A restaurant needs one good dish, the menu as a real page, and hours you can read before the picture loads. A shop needs product images sized for where they sit. A home service firm in a city where most homes are rented needs to say whether it works with landlords. Websites run $1,500 to $5,750 at a fixed price, up to 70 pages. If the site's sound, start with a design upgrade. Figures are in the Norfolk report.