Online reporting: Achieving the right balance

There are many potential approaches that can be taken to online reporting. However, we have recently begun steering our clients towards a hybrid online report approach, as we believe that this option offers the greatest value.

There are generally three main types of online report – a full HTML version, a year in review and a hybrid approach.

• A full HTML online report has the whole annual report available online. Each section of the report is a separate webpage on the website.
• A year in review provides a high-level summary of the performance of the Group over the last year. It is a single webpage with further detail covered in PDF downloads.
• A hybrid online report sits between both of these extremes. The hybrid online report has a couple of key sections of the report as additional links to further webpages, with the rest of the report available as PDF downloads.

Full HTML online reports are, in theory, better, as they put all of the content of the annual report onto webpages, making it more accessible to read on laptops and mobiles than PDFs. However, the sheer amount of content within a full HTML report can often mean that they are unengaging and fail to bring out key content in an easy-to-use user experience. From delving into analytics, we know that many pages on a full HTML report are not viewed by users.

Year in reviews are a single webpage and, therefore, there is more flexibility in the selection of key content, both in terms of what content is shown on the webpage, and also in the presentation of that content. This means that the online report can focus on the most interesting and useful content for users, ensuring that they view the most relevant information. Additionally, it is possible to invest more in the presentation of the content to ensure that it is engaging, and the webpage has a better user experience. However, they can feel a little shallow due to the limited amount of content on them, and it can be frustrating to have to look at PDFs to find further detail on any aspects of the highlighted content.

Because of this, we are guiding a lot of our clients towards a hybrid online report – the requirements for the build are still much lower than a full HTML report, but allows for more detail to be included on the content covered in them.

We first select the content for your hybrid online report by considering your story and the high-level messages that you want to convey, and also the audience for your report and the content that would be relevant for them. We will decide the key areas that will be the focus on the webpages of the hybrid online report, and decide what will be contained within PDF downloads on the online report.

For the content on the online report, we will consider the functionality and design that will help bring that content to life, both in the print report as well as the online report. We want to ensure that we can make the best use of online capabilities to make the best user experience for your audience.

Examples of some of our clients’ recent hybrid online reports:

• United Utilities
• Dechra Pharmaceuticals
• XP Power

If you would like to understand more about how we can help you to work towards a hybrid online reporting approach, get in touch with us!