RGESN standard: SNCF Connect & Tech aims high and scores 82/100

SNCF Connect & Tech has chosen to adopt the General Policy Framework for the Ecodesign of Digital Services (RGESN) for its new corporate site. Published jointly by the Interministerial Digital Directorate (DINUM), the Ministry for Ecological Transition, ADEME and the Institut du Numérique Responsable, this standard is now the benchmark for digital eco-design in France.

Here's a look back at this rigorous, cross-disciplinary approach, which covered the website's entire life cycle.

Eco-design, a technical requirement... but also strategic

The objectives were clearly set from the outset of the project. Design an efficient, accessible and sustainable corporate website in line with the best practices in digital responsibility. Far from being confined to a cosmetic layer at the end of production, eco-design became the backbone of the site, influencing every layer - from the tree structure to the choice of technical architecture.

"Making the decision to develop a new website according to the RGESN standard may seem obvious or unavoidable in theory. But the reality is quite different. The effort required to meet RGESN expectations is considerable, and mobilises all project stakeholders. It requires teams to train, to challenge each other on technology and development choices, and so on. We must embrace new standards that are still largely untested and accept the unknown," explains Mathilde Lecompte, CSR Manager at SNCF Connect & Tech.

Although this choice is not mandatory, it reflects a clear determination to place the principles of digital sobriety at the heart of the company's digital transformation.

"Right from the start, we wanted to eco-design the website. It was an obvious choice. The website needed to reflect our values and our commitment to digital responsibility. This thought process permeated the entire project, from the design of the mock-ups to the coding by the tech teams to ensure the website's sobriety. We're very proud of the final result!" says Charlotte de La Ronde, Chief Communications Officer at SNCF Connect & Tech. 

A collective, demanding... and rewarding initiative

Above all, the success of this project rests on the collective commitment of all those involved: internal development for the technical aspects (front-end/back-end) and external development of the mock-ups with the La Netscouade agency.

"Each feature and visual element was questioned: does it really need to be there? Is its technical load proportionate to its usefulness? This ongoing, sometimes complex, analysis strengthened overall consistency and consolidated everyone's commitment to the project," explains Rémi Brissaud, Back-End Developer.

From a technical point of view, each sprint was studied and the code reviewed for greater sobriety. Special attention was paid to the front-end. React components - the framework used to build the interface - were factorised, rationalised and made as lightweight as possible.

"Although React is not, by default, the most virtuous in terms of energy performance, choosing to use it was taken on as an additional challenge. We needed to make it as energy-efficient a tool as possible, by accurately controlling the associated technical costs," details Sylvain Bousselier, Front-End Developer.

As a result, the number of HTTP requests was strictly limited, network requests were optimised using lazy loading techniques, and CSS styles were reduced to the essentials, without unnecessary overload. Each technical sprint was subject to concerted trade-offs between performance, maintainability and frugality.

"We challenged everything. For example, we removed a carousel because the tabs component was doing the same job for less load," recalls Rémi Brissaud, Back-End Developer.

Sobriety without austerity in the choice of visuals

Eco-design is not limited to technical considerations alone, and is also reflected in graphic choices and user experience. The website's design was conceived with a view to reducing the visual footprint, without sacrificing brand identity or quality of experience.

Images were systematically compressed, automatically resized according to screen size, and converted to modern formats such as the much lighter WebP. Where multiple variations were possible, the team opted to use CSS techniques rather than multiple files.

"Some images originally planned in several colours were replaced by a single greyscale version, recoloured on the fly using CSS. An elegant, resource-efficient solution that really makes a difference," says Sylvain Bousselier, Front-End Developer.

Lastly, the most energy-intensive elements, such as videos and complex animations, have been limited or even discarded to avoid any unnecessary overload.

A well-oiled contribution mechanism

Once the website is online, the eco-design work continues since initial performance cannot be sustained without constant vigilance in the operational phase. To this end, the project team has put in place a rigorous back-office organisation, integrating the principles of the RGESN standard into contributors' daily work.

The teams in charge of site administration have been trained in best practices, such as image compression, choice of file formats, page structuring, sobriety of uploaded documents, etc. The Drupal content management system, combined with analysis extensions and web developer tools, enables continuous technical monitoring: number of requests per page, cache management, GZIP compression, average page size, etc. These indicators are monitored in run mode, with action plans to correct any deviations.

A score of 82%, a reflection of how far we've come

Once the website had been finalised and put online, the second task was to formalise the RGESN process with a meticulous and detailed synthesis of the standard's 78 criteria. The aim was to explain the choices made, identify the strengths and areas for improvement. An external pre-audit conducted by the Temesis agency (experts in digital eco-design) helped to validate our application, making it more exhaustive and compliant with the expectations of the standard.

With a final score of 82/100 in General Policy Framework for the Ecodesign of Digital Services (RGESN), the SNCF Connect & Tech website ranks among the most exemplary in digital eco-design. This performance testifies to the rigour of the work carried out, which will continue to be regularly monitored by the in-house representative for eco-design. Regular updates will be made to maintain the score and strive to progress each year.