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ACCA Sustainability Awards 2005
Geert-Jan Smits, director of Jungle Rating, is a member of the judging panel for the ACCA Awards for sustainability reporting.
The winner of the ACCA Awards 2005 for electronic media is BHP Billiton; www.bhpbilliton.com
The Web-based report:
- provides several navigation alternatives, with its pages for the UN Global Compact and GRI index containing hyperlinks to the related content, an innovative ‘browsing guide’, a home page index and ‘quick links’
- is well designed with an emphasis on accessibility (although specific accessibility information is absent), enabling swift and easy access, which is one of its key strengths
- pays particular attention to stakeholder needs, both in the topics covered and the way the website allows users to search by topics of interest to them
- has an easy-to-follow structure, making ‘drilling down’ to the required level of detail very straightforward
The judges feedback
In addition to reporting expertise, the members of the judging panel are selected for their diverse stakeholder representation. As a consequence of this diversity, a lively discussion of key reporting issues at the judging meeting can be expected. During the meeting to select the 2005 winners, there was also much evaluative dialogue regarding the report entries. As a result, a number of technical recommendations have been put forward by the judges to help improve (online) reporting in the future.
Online sustainability reporting
The quality of electronic reporting continues to improve, with a very high standard of entries this year. Most companies publish their reports in both PDF and HTML formats, but the technical innovation and accessibility aspects of HTML format reports tend to be favoured by the judges. The best reports exhibit several excellent features, including having:
- multiple methods of navigation, such as a topic index, GRI and Global Compact indexes, and even an innovative browsing guide
- a clear and simple structure which enables the user to form a mental map of the report
- fast and easy speed of interaction for those with disabilities – users with screen readers should be able to find the report, view the structure and access content within five minutes
- a clear boundary between the report and the rest of the corporate site, together with an indication of when a hyperlink will take the user to an external site.
The judging panel recommended that the following aspects be given particular attention when compiling electronic reports.
Accessibility
With one in seven customers, employees or other stakeholders possibly having a disability, accessibility is an essential element of best practice in electronic reporting, ensuring websites and documents are open to everyone.
A report navigation system that relies on ‘click on the icon to the left for more information’ is better replaced with descriptive body text that itself is the hyperlink. A Web page comprising a long contents list with dozens of links to the content is confusing. It would be more accessible as a Web page with a comprehensive report summary, with links enabling users to drill down for detail at the end of each relevant paragraph.
Documents for download must have clear titles so users know what they are about to download, the purpose of the download, the file type and its size. If the download is a printable option in PDF, state this clearly and provide a text version in RTF or TXT as an alternative option for screen reader users. Current Adobe Acrobat software enables a PDF to be accessibly tagged, embedding the text version within the printable document. A good example of such an accessibly tagged PDF is the report by Royal Mail plc.
Effective writing
A good writing style for print is not always appropriate for the Web. Paragraphs and sentences need to be shorter, with content arranged by theme and with one idea per sentence. Attention should be given to good grammar, as this is essential for screen readers to operate properly. Lists should be presented as ‘bullets’ rather than separated by commas in a sentence. Effective writing will ensure that information is easily available for all users, with and without disabilities.
Use available technology
The judging panel appreciated good use of available technology. Some technology should be used as a matter of course: provision of internal and external hyperlinks is essential. In many cases systematic internal hyperlinks enhance the usability of the report considerably, such as when a GRI index links directly to the relevant topics. A specific search function is useful but not essential, as is a ‘shopping basket’ for compiling a personal printed version.
Members of the panel praised the interactive features of some reports, such as the carbon calculator presented by BP plc, together with mapping and charting tools. While these features can enhance the report for many users, a question remains as to how far they are compatible with good accessibility, as they may not be usable for screen readers.
Keep it clear and simple
The reports preferred by the judging panel were simple and ‘clean’ with a logical information structure. Examples of this approach are reports by BHP Billiton, GlaxoSmithKline, Shell International and The Body Shop International. Some reports present so much extraneous information, including nonessential accessibility information, that they appeared overengineered. This detracts from clear communication.
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