ABF - Associated British Foods plc
Sometimes when you receive criticism, it's tempting just to put your head in the sand and ignore it. But, if you want to improve, you've got to use it to drive yourselves forward to bigger and better things.
That's just what ABF did when a survey of the FTSE100 corporate websites listed ranked theirs disappointingly.
The first thing they needed was a new online communication strategy. Working in partnership with ABF's external communications department, our investor relations specialists developed a programme for growth that would meet the immediate needs of the company and its audience while being flexible enough to incorporate future requirements and new technologies.
For the new site, we decided to put usability and accessibility at the forefront. Throughout the requirements gathering process, we involved a wide variety of user groups to ensure that the final solution fulfilled their needs. We also worked closely with an accessibility specialist from Deaf/Blind UK who validated our work and provided new insights into the practical implementation of accessibility guidelines.
ABF's new corporate site was warmly received internally and externally, and the improvement in performance surveys has been astonishing - with abf.co.uk now ranking in the top 10 of FTSE100 sites.
It just goes to show – a little criticism can sometimes go a long way!