Opportunities to Create a Great Digital Reporting Experience

While some companies still print their sustainability reports (a contradiction in sustainability practices, we must say), more and more are moving to an online presence.

Digital reports provide an easy access point to manage your ongoing sustainability story, and more importantly put control into the hands of viewers. If you’re planning to move to a web-based format for your sustainability report, make sure you attend to a few fundamentals that make the digital experience great for every user.

Structure

You want your digital report, or website, to be easy to use. That means using large, readable navigation bars with audience-specific content buckets. Add in a prominent “search” bar to allow for quick accessibility of specific content. Within the content on each page, use links to deliver users to more information or other pages they may have interest in. This keeps them reading and furthers their understanding of key topics. Make sure your site design is responsive, so it can be used on any device: desktop, tablet or mobile. Finally, include a social media toolbar, so that users have a quick way to share any content they deem important or interesting.

Interactivity

Interactivity is an exciting reason to move from a physical to a digital report format. When moving mediums, don’t just translate your flat report into the online setting. Increase its interactivity. This could be done with interactive charts, animated infographics or even a “build your own report” functionality. Add videos to your reports, whether as an introduction to the report as a whole or to storytell key concepts. No matter what, ensure the full report is downloadable and printable so that should users want to read and mark up their own version, they can. 

Be intentional with the structure and interactivity of your digital report. By doing so, you create an experience that makes users stay with your report and read through it. The longer you can keep people on the site, or on the pages of your report, the more they come to understand and appreciate your ESG efforts. And that, after all, is what the report is all about — showing the world that your ESG program is authentic and impactful.