Which online Annual Report Approach is Best?
By: Dominic Jones
Related: Why
Most Online Annual Reports Fail
ALMOST 80% of large-cap companies
in our research are publishing their online annual
reports in formats that fail to meet the needs of
web users.
This article reviews three acceptable methods
for publishing annual reports on the web and four
approaches that companies should avoid. It also
offers tips on how companies can choose better
vendors to produce their online annual reports.
The advice provided here is based on the research
we review in Why
most on online annual reports fail and
should be read in conjuction with that report.
Three approaches that DO
work
Companies have many options for publishing
their annual reports on the Web. Cost and the
amount of work involved vary considerably between
the various options. And typically it is cost
and workload which dominate the decision-making
of IR departments.
Investors' needs are rarely factored into companies'
online annual report decisions. Which is a problem,
because the Web is fundamentally a user centric
medium. If you haven't factored the user into
a decision that involves the Web, then the choices
you make are inevitably going to be flawed.
The three approaches we are recommending here
all work for investors and are within reach of
any public company. However, the approaches are
not equal. We start with the best approach and
end with the approach that we consider the minimum
acceptable standard.
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