diff --git a/.dockerignore b/.dockerignore
index 8b5c83ec..350a36a7 100644
--- a/.dockerignore
+++ b/.dockerignore
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# Aggressive .dockerignore for faster Docker builds
+# Most content is volume-mounted in docker-compose.yml for development
+
 _site
 node_modules
 .git
@@ -7,7 +10,50 @@ node_modules
 .mega-linter.yml
 .pre-commit-config.yaml
 .shellcheckrc
-docker-compose.yml
+docker-compose*.yml
 serve.Dockerfile
 README.md
+
+# Large directories that will be volume-mounted for development
+# These are the primary culprits for slow build context transfer
 _image_sources
+galleries
+content
+_drafts
+assets
+
+# Other directories that will be volume-mounted
+products
+navigation_and_indexes
+error_pages
+admin
+_posts
+_data
+_includes
+
+# Development and build artifacts
+dist
+*.log
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+
+# IDE files
+.vscode
+.idea
+*.swp
+*.swo
+
+# Temporary files
+.tmp
+tmp
+
+# Keep essential files for build
+!package.json
+!package-lock.json
+!.eleventy.js
+!_config.yml
+!webpack.config.js
+!src/
+!tests/
+!.github/scripts/staging/default.conf
+!htaccess
diff --git a/.eleventyignore b/.eleventyignore
index bc33ac15..54cbec1b 100644
--- a/.eleventyignore
+++ b/.eleventyignore
@@ -4,3 +4,4 @@
 ./tests
 ./.github
 Dockerfile
+DOCKER_OPTIMIZATION.md
diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 41aa1d2e..44d1f90a 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
+# Development build - minimal context needed since content is volume-mounted
 FROM node:24-bullseye AS base
 
 # Create app directory
 WORKDIR /app/src
 
-# Install dependencies
+# Copy package files and install dependencies
+# This is all that's needed for development since source is volume-mounted
 COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
 RUN npm ci
 
+# Development debug build 
 FROM base AS debug
 
 RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
@@ -14,11 +17,12 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
     iputils-ping \
     dnsutils
 
-# Copy app source for development
-COPY . /app/src
+# For development, source code is volume-mounted, not copied
 
+# Broken link checker stage
 FROM dcycle/broken-link-checker:3 AS broken_link_checker
 
+# Production HTTP server build - needs full content
 FROM httpd:2.4.64 AS httpd_serve
 
 # Install curl for healthcheck
@@ -45,6 +49,7 @@ RUN if [ -f /tmp/build_context/httpd.conf ]; then \
 # Copy site content to web directory
 COPY . /usr/local/apache2/htdocs/
 
+# Test build - needs some content for testing
 FROM base AS tests
 
 # Install necessary packages for Playwright
@@ -61,13 +66,11 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
 # Install Playwright browsers
 RUN npx playwright install chromium --with-deps
 
-# Copy app source for testing
-COPY . /app/src
+# Copy test files
+COPY tests/ ./tests/
 
 # Set default command to run BDD tests
 CMD ["npm", "run", "test:bdd"]
 
+# Default stage for development - just the base with npm dependencies
 FROM base
-
-# Copy app source for the final stage
-COPY . /app/src
diff --git a/dev.Dockerfile b/dev.Dockerfile
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7165dbff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev.Dockerfile
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+# Minimal development Dockerfile
+# Only installs npm dependencies since content is volume-mounted
+FROM node:24-bullseye AS base
+
+# Create app directory
+WORKDIR /app/src
+
+# Copy package files and install dependencies
+COPY package.json package-lock.json ./
+
+# Optimize npm ci for better performance in CI environments
+RUN npm ci --prefer-offline --no-audit --progress=false
+
+# Development debug build 
+FROM base AS debug
+
+RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y \
+    less \
+    iputils-ping \
+    dnsutils
+
+# Source code will be volume-mounted at runtime
+
+# Default stage - just npm dependencies installed
+FROM base
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 72359e43..6c3ac0a8 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ services:
   serve:
     build:
       context: .
-      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+      dockerfile: dev.Dockerfile
     command: ["npm", "run", "serve"]
     volumes:
       - .:/app/src
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ services:
   dist:
     build:
       context: .
-      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+      dockerfile: dev.Dockerfile
     command: ["npm", "run", "dist"]
     volumes:
       - .:/app/src
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ services:
   build:
     build:
       context: .
-      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+      dockerfile: dev.Dockerfile
     command: ["npm", "run", "11ty"]
     volumes:
       - .:/app/src
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ services:
   shell:
     build:
       context: .
-      dockerfile: Dockerfile
+      dockerfile: dev.Dockerfile
       target: debug
     command: ["bash"]
     volumes: