Embarrassment as FTSE 100 websites fail time tests

Directors of the FTSE 100 companies would do well to check their websiteís ranking in the recently published league table of site performance produced by SiteMorse, the only independent provider of site performance, quality and compliance testing and benchmarking. The rankings report is now in its fifth year.

ëNo doubt there will be some red faces as directors and brand managers scan the names of the worst performers.í commented Lawrence Shaw, the founder of SiteMorse.

SiteMorse, whose many hundreds of clients include British Airways, Britannia Building Society, Telewest, The Environment Agency and The National Trust, recorded the ongoing poor performance in a number of major of FTSE100 sites. Many of these sites contain job vacancy sections.

Shaw explained, ë63 sites failed the basic speed tests. Our software simulates viewing by users with modem [56k] and ADSL [512k] access. The first page download time test checks loading of less than 14 seconds for users with modems and 6 seconds for those with ADSL connections. The slowest response time was recorded by the pharmaceutical firm, Shire PLC, taking 60 times longer than the fastest, Next PLC.í

ëFor the rankings our system tests the top pages of each site in minutes, logging performance, speed of downloads, failing links, email address malfunctions, metadata and reduced accessibility problems for the visually impaired. Each area is scored to give a siteís overall ranking.

’Surprisingly, in spite of all the publicity and focus around ensuring access for all, 3 sites failed the requirements of the basic, mandatory accessibility requirements at level A on every page.í

The league table was topped by the Daily Mail & General Trust Plc. The rankings will continue to be published each month. For a free copy of the report please email FTSE0106@SiteMorse.com.