net-progress Survey of Life Sciences Websites |
| net-progress have today released the latest in
a series of surveys examining website performance on the internet.
The research is intended to raise awareness of issues that effect
website usage and to create a picture of the “state of
the internet”. The latest survey looks at the Life Sciences
sector. |
| The survey examines three key areas of performance,
namely website quality, website presence and website accessibility.
Under quality, a website is tested for issues that can impact
on visitor sessions, like website speed, broken links and missing
pages. Website presence looks at how easily a website can be
found via search engines and other websites. Website accessibility
looks at whether the website is likely to exclude user groups
or not. |
| These areas were chosen for two reasons. Firstly,
as they will be of interest to both website stakeholders and
the wider public at large. Secondly, these aspects of performance
can be objectively measured in a way that, for example, design
cannot. net-progress uses a combination of manual and automated
tools to ensure the veracity of their results. |
| The findings of this survey show that websites
in the Life Sciences sector perform fairly well. Website quality
in this sector is above average. This should mean that on a
majority of websites examined, visitors should find that there
are few problems that prevent them from carrying out the tasks
they set out to complete. Website presence is fairly typical
of most sectors. All the websites examined did well for the
company names, and a majority did well for product names in
the search engines. Performance was predictably more varied
for generic search terms. The average number of links to the
websites were also high, but the range reflected that some companies
have work to do in this aspect of website presence. |
| The one area that almost all of the websites examined
have much scope for improvement is that of accessibility. Only
one of the websites tested passed the World Wide Web Consortium’s
Website and Content Accessibility Guideline Priority 1 checkpoints
– the minimum recommended level of accessibility. |
| GlaxoSmithKline were given the net-progress Gold
Standard Award for their website performance. AstraZeneca were
commended for both website presence and website quality. |
| The full report is available from the net-progress
website, as well as full details of the survey methodology and
awards scheme. |
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| About net-progress |
| net-progress is an internet consultancy using
a holistic approach to add value to a company’s online
activity. net-progress specialises in accessibility, quality,
presence, 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 designed, built and maintains net-guide,
an accessibility centric search engine and directory that has
received RNIB accreditation. The value of this project was recently
recognised in the House of Commons in an Early Day Motion signed
by more than 50 MPs. |
| net-guide was short-listed for The National Library
of the Blind’s Visionary Design Award in 2004 and net-progress
were short-listed for the RNIB’s Simply the Best Award
in 2005. |
| In addition to the core web analytics business,
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. |
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