RGESN

The Référentiel Général d'Écoconception des Services Numériques (RGESN, the general framework for the eco-design of digital services) is a framework published by ARCEP, ADEME and the interministerial digital directorate. It offers concrete criteria to reduce the environmental footprint of digital services, organised into 8 themes: strategy, specifications, architecture, UX/UI, content, frontend, backend, hosting. It is aimed at design and development teams.

In part. The REEN law of 2021 imposes eco-design obligations on audiovisual communication services (above certain audience thresholds) and provides for a gradual extension to other public digital services. For private companies outside the legal scope, the RGESN remains voluntary. But it is increasingly built into the specifications of large organisations that have CSR commitments or respond to public tenders.

The RGAA (Référentiel Général d'Amélioration de l'Accessibilité, the general framework for improving accessibility) aims to make public digital services accessible to people with disabilities. The RGESN aims to reduce their environmental impact. Both are complementary French regulatory frameworks: a service can be RGAA compliant and not RGESN compliant, and vice versa. In practice, applying both often leads to interfaces that are simpler, lighter and better received by all users.

The RGESN v1 contains 79 criteria. They are not all applicable to every project: some concern server architecture, others the UX or the content. A pragmatic approach is to start with the UX/UI and content criteria (directly within the reach of design teams) before tackling the technical and hosting criteria. Audit tools exist to assess compliance, and specialised training makes it possible to build the framework into team practices.

It prompts you to question every feature and every resource. Is this autoplay video really necessary? Does this carousel load images that the user will never see? Can this complex JavaScript component be replaced by pure CSS? These questions often lead to interfaces that are simpler, faster and better appreciated by users. The RGESN formalises a discipline that performance-conscious teams were already applying intuitively.