Abstract: A system and method provide an image data file encoding said image in accordance with a standard image format and a page of content in a markup language, said page of content being intended for transmission over a telecommunications network from a server to a client for display by a browser running on the client, said page of content including a link or reference to the image data file for incorporating the image within the page of content. The image is converted from said standard image format into a format in which the image is encoded using said markup language, and the image encoded using said markup language is incorporated into the page of content to replace said link or reference to the image data file prior to transmission of the page of content.