A report published by net-progress into English
Premier League Football Club websites has revealed that 85%
of those websites failed to meet basic accessibility standards
and were also likely to provide an unsatisfactory visitor
experience. |
| The research shows that the majority of websites
were slow to use for those people using a modem to connect to
the Internet. Whilst pictures of the team and players were a
large part of the reason for this, so was advertising. Advertising
was found to be intrusive on a high proportion of websites,
in some cases taking up as much as a third of the screen. Pop-up
adverts and splash screens were also common. |
| There were some good features to be seen, however,
and provision of graphic and text only website versions in Chinese
by Everton was one such example. This provides a means to download
content relatively quickly for those fans located in China. |
| The other major disappointment was to find so
few clubs had made adequate provisions for visually impaired
fans. 75% of the clubs failed to make any noticeable attempt
to cater for this sector of the public. Whilst the remaining
websites did attempt to provide accessible content, only 15%
of the websites tested passed basic accessibility standards,
and of those, only the Charlton Athletic website tried to make
their main website fully accessible. This is in stark contrast
to the laudable work of the clubs’ efforts in an offline
capacity. |
| The survey did show that compared to most sectors,
the clubs were largely successful at promoting their websites
online, with good visibility. Though even in this area, it was
clear from the research that there was still scope for improvement. |
| Greg Cheasman, speaking for net-progress, said
of the survey, “it is not our intention to ‘name
and shame’ organisations featured in the surveys, but
to raise awareness of relevant issues in running websites, and
ultimately improve standards. We’ll be looking at this
sector again next year, and we hope to report on an improvement
for both the individual clubs and the sector as a whole.” |
About net-progress |
| net-progress is an internet consultancy using
a holistic approach to add value to a company’s online
presence. net-progress specialise in accessibility, quality,
visibility behaviour analysis and reputation management in order
to deliver measurable improvements to a business. |
| net-progress has been working in the field of
web analytics since 1997, with clients ranging from FTSE100
companies to SMEs. |
| Net-progress recently launched net-guide, an accessibility
centric search engine and directory, which has been short listed
for The National Library of the Blind’s Visionary Design
Award. |
| net-progress produces regular surveys on various
aspects of online performance in a variety of sectors, as well
as accepting commissions from trade and consumer publications. |
| |
| return to the press
releases index page |
| download 'Survey of
Premiership Football Club Websites' |
| |
