Basic Webpage down load time

I new to this forum and to webdesign. I've never taken web design classes, so I don't know all the rules. My question is what are the basic download criteria for a webpage.

I have been given a website to put together. The main page was given to me and I am not allowed to make any cosmetic changes. The download time for 56k is 72 sec. I know that is too long. So far by manipulating graphics I have lowered that to 50 sec. I know there are a few places I can make further cuts but how low should I go? Also, should I make 56k as my design point?

These people have t1 or dsl lines so they load immediatly and they can't see the problem. Their answer is: Those people are use to waiting.

Any help?

Thanks
Fishbait

If the people who want the website are happy with it's size, and you've informed them that people on dialup will have a slow load, then there's no need to change it.

But that's not to say that it's a smart thing to do. Most people online are still on dialup. You don't want to anger half your customer base. Now if your site will only be viewed by businesses, then it's less of a problem since most businesses have broadband, if any internet connection.

Of course, your best chance of speeding up the site is the graphics, as you seem to know. Using the original images, (so you don't get artifacts) try saving them in different image formats. GIFs, JPGs, and PNGs all work differently with different images. If an image is on a solid background, try coding in the background color into the HTML, then make the overlaying image partialy transparent.

Some don't realize this, but the HTML code can also take up quite a bit of bandwidth. Maybe it's just that it renders slow on older machines, but I've found that tightening up your HTML output can make a page load quite a bit faster on some machines.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the advice. I'll keep working on it.

Fishbait