Consent before load
No optional script runs until the visitor opts in. Not after the page loads, not while the banner is open, and not as a fallback.
Not legal advice. This is a plain definition of a design approach. What counts as valid consent depends on the law that applies to you. Ask your counsel.
Consent before load means a website runs no optional script until the visitor opts in. Analytics, ad pixels, chat widgets and session recording all wait. Strictly necessary code, the kind that runs the site and protects its forms, is the only exception.
It is different from a banner that loads every script and then asks. On those sites, the scripts have already sent their first requests by the time the visitor reads the question.
Consent before load usually comes with three other rules:
- Equal choices. Accept all and Reject all look the same and sit side by side.
- Nothing pre-ticked. Every optional category starts off.
- Easy to change. A link on every page reopens the choice, and withdrawing takes effect at once.
This website works this way. Consent Gateway does the same on yours: it holds every script until the visitor opts in.
Key takeaways
- Nothing optional loads until the visitor chooses.
- Accept and Reject carry equal weight, and nothing is pre-ticked.
- The choice can be changed at any time, and a withdrawal takes effect at once.