Category Archives: Brand Integrity & Site Quality
How to Prevent SharePoint Mistakes
Readin
g Mathew J. Schwartz’s article in Information Week, ‘10 SharePoint Security Mistakes You Probably Make,’ there were a few items of particular interest.
- The first was on the discovery that in the case of Bradley Manning leaking 250,000 U.S. State Department cables, the forensic expert “discovered Wget scripts on Manning’s computer that pointed to a Microsoft SharePoint server holding the Gitmo documents. He ran the scripts to download the documents, then downloaded the ones that WikiLeaks had published and found they were the same, Shaver testified.” (Source: Wired, Forensic Expert: Manning’s Computer Had 10K Cables, Downloading Scripts)
Kohl’s and USAA Earn Excellent Score in Forrester’s 2012 Customer Experience Index
Forrester Analyst, Megan Burns, blogged this week about the results of the Forrester’s 2012 Customer Experience Index (CXi). Impressively, Kohl’s and USAA, both HiSoftware customers, earned excellent scores. I believe both companies’ accessibility policies played to the strength of their customer experience. More to come on that…
There were three main takeaways from the report as said by Megan:
- Customers’ expectations of their experiences are getting higher. They’re accustomed to more options, greater control, and a worldwide platform to tell others what they think about the way brands treat them. What brands in one industry do affects what people expect from other industries, raising the bar for everyone at lightning speed.
- Parity is a moving target. Companies hoping to differentiate on the basis of customer experience (and there are a lot of them!) will have to work even harder just to catch up to the leaders in their industry. Case in point: The gap between the high and low scoring bank in our study grew by 10 points this year, in part because USAA widened its lead in this category by 6 points in a single year.
- No one can afford to be complacent when it comes to customer experience. While many scores rose this year, many also fell. Perennial leader Barnes & Noble dropped 7 points in one year, and was one of 23 brands whose scores fell by 5 points or more since 2011.
A customer’s experience presents huge revenue opportunities, but only if a site is working properly. And beyond consumers wanting and expecting a great online experience, comes the benefits of ensuring an accessible site.
Kohl’s was able to design a site for 100% of the population, rather than excluding 20% of the population with disabilities: a significant population that wants to use the Web freely and easily. While the legal team at Kohl’s drove the accessibility initiative, improved SEO was an added bonus that we are sure plays a role in benefiting the customer’s experience.
An inclusive design offers significant benefits beyond accessibility to include:
- Making a site more useable for everyone – by 35%*
- Platform independence – mobile to grow by 400% by 2015, iTV to embrace web apps
- Reduces page weight, bandwidth and maintenance
- Improves search engine rankings
- Future-proofs Web site/applications
USAA is taking the website another step further to ensure accessibility, but also to check against site quality. Site quality can have a great benefit or detrimental impact on the overall customer experience. In fact, analysis shows that a simple spelling mistake can impact revenue for a website.
Forrester’s recognition of Kohl’s and USAA is well deserved. Now if the can just get all businesses to recognize the role accessibility had in improving the customer experience, we’ll all benefit.
Check out the webinar with AbilityNet that promotes the benefits of an inclusive design to reaching new customers and improving the overall experience.
*Disability Rights Commission (DRC) ‘The Web – Access and Inclusion for Disabled People’ report 2004 (ISBN 0117032875)
For the last 6 years, Dan has helped HiSoftware customers in meeting Web Compliance requirements, specifically in the area of Accessibility and Privacy.
Web Site Content Quality Checklist
Is the quality of your Web site costing you money in terms of abandoned e-Commerce transactions or visitors bouncing before accessing the information that would turn them from browsers to buyers? Could you be doing more to ensure content integrity? Site quality matters. In fact, it is costing the UK millions of pounds in lost revenue for Internet businesses as reported in a BBC article¹ posted earlier this year.
Site Quality is multi-faceted, but at its core it is focused on a site that users can trust and visit repeatedly as well as ensuring everything works in a way that meets a user’s expectations for speed, reliability and access.
There was a need for a Web Site content quality checklist to support the millions of websites that are losing money, in breach of accessibility guidelines and faced with content, brand and technical errors. So we’ve created just that.
Happy Birthday BS 8878 by Robin Christopherson
The British standard on creating and commissioning accessible websites celebrates its first birthday on 7 December – what has it achieved?
BS 8878 is one year old tomorrow. What has its first year of life achieved? Is there much to celebrate? I’m happy to say that I do believe it has made a difference, and there are indications that it has made baby steps, if not strides, in its first 12 months.
In the year BS 8878 has been in existence our experience here at AbilityNet has shown that it’s made a marked impression on website owners across all sectors. We are approached every single day by companies needing advice and support on achieving accessibility, and the vast majority are now coming to us with a clearer perspective on what is involved in inclusive design, and with an appreciation that accessibility isn’t just a ‘bolt-on’ component that all too often drops off when the wrong decisions have been made.
We’ve also heard fewer horror-stories of design briefs that have been short on detail when it comes to specifying accessibility, which often leads to a very long and often bloody battle to try and achieve it – a battle which isn’t always won.
It has also led us to introduce a managed solution where organisations can embed AbilityNet expertise to help achieve compliance and, once achieved, maintain it. We call it ‘iCOMPLY’. It’s very encouraging to see organisations taking accessibility so seriously, and BS 8878 has played an important role in this process.
We are also endeavouring to maintain the momentum by launching the new ‘Web Essentials’ course in partnership with BCS (the Chartered Institute for IT) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). We encourage everyone who creates any digital content (from a website to a Word document) to take this quick online course. Register interest by mailing webessentials@hq.bcs.org.uk as it’s not quite gone live yet at time of publication of this post.
Robin Christopherson is Head of Digital Inclusion at AbilityNet, the UK’s leading technology and disability charity. AbilityNet are passionate about the empowering nature of technology – and Robin, himself blind, is an authoritative global voice on the awesome power of tech.
HiSoftware and AbilityNet to Present Webinar on Inclusive Design and the Link to New Customer Acquisition
Next week, I will be joined by Robin Christopherson of AbilityNet to present a complimentary, 30-minute webinar to help all organisations benefit from increased customer acquisition and retention via the application of inclusive Web design. I will highlight what inclusive design means for your business, how to maintain accessibility with automated content testing and monitoring, and the benefits of reaching a wider customer base. Robin will educate attendees on the tools and practices for ensuring an inclusive Web design that is accessible to all users.
WHAT: “The Fastest Way to Find New Customers: How Inclusive Design Opens Your Website to New Business”
WHEN: Tuesday, July 26, 2011; 15.00pm BST
WHO: Robin Christopherson, AbilityNet’s Head of Digital Inclusion and Frazer McKenzie, Business Development Manager, HiSoftware Inc.
MORE INFO: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/952122662
About HiSoftware
HiSoftware is a leading provider of Web content and social computing compliance solutions for the monitoring and enforcement of risk management and privacy guidelines across digital environments. The company’s solutions provide a Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC) platform for content management and collaboration processes that support corporate and brand integrity, site quality, accessibility and confidentiality for public websites and portals, as well as internal intranets and SharePoint sites. HiSoftware’s customers include some of the largest US and international government agencies, as well as Global 2000 companies. For more information, visit http://www.hisoftware.com.
About AbilityNet
AbilityNet is a charity that brings the benefits of computer technology to adults and children with all types of disabilities. AbilityNet offers a comprehensive range of services to disabled people, professionals, employers and statutory bodies. It provides free information and advice on any aspect of computer use by disabled people including individual assessment of technology needs, adapted computer equipment with full training and technical support, a programme of awareness education, and consultancy for employers on system and workstation adaptations, as well as website and software accessibility. For more information, visit www.abilitynet.org.uk/.
Firmly Covet Customer Feedback
Customer feedback should be encouraged by every organisation as a vital source of information on how they can improve their website and their services. In a competitive online environment it is also essential that companies take advantage of the significant additional custom accessibility affords. As a blind person I am constantly having to switch from site to site until I find one that I am able to spend my money with – but very encouragingly each month sees a gradual improvement in awareness and implementation of inclusive design.
Is Ignoring Inclusive Design for Dummies? [Opinion]
The simple answer is, of course, ‘Yes!’ Did you know that designing for the broadest audience possible is so obviously the right thing to do from every angle that it’s a wonder only a tiny percentage of websites out there are successfully embracing the opportunity?
Questions that shaped the web experience [Opinion]
In preparation for an upcoming webinar, I started thinking about the questions that have helped shape how we view the web experience. Some of these are captured below.
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