Is it possible to use CSS sprites for the list background image? Normally, I render my sprites with CSS like this:
.sprite { background: url(sprite.png) no-r
You can also use
li:before { background:url(..) no-repeat -##px -##px; width:##px; height:##px; display:block; position:absolute; content: " "; top:##px; left:##px; }
and thus get an additional element added to the DOM and give that the background image.