Nomensa punches above its weight

From the FT to blogs

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Their findings were launched at an exclusive press event for a small number of the industry’s most influential journalists, including FT Digital Business, The Times, IT Week, New Media Age, .net, Digit, Practical Web Design and Web User.

Snail mail bulky invites acted as a teaser to intrigue journalists with a “little box of senses” comprising small gifts representing the five human senses, such as a scented candle and an eyeball lollipop. Each present was gift tagged with a Nomensa message. The physical invite was also translated into Braille to get journalists to think about disability issues in advance of the press launch event.

The launch event was divided into two sessions. In the first session, which focused on delivery of the news story, Nomensa directors presented the findings of their FTSE 100 Accessibility Report, showing that 75% of FTSE 100 companies failed to meet the minimum legal requirement in the UK. The second interactive session invited journalists to experience what it was like for someone with cognitive or physical disabilities to navigate an inaccessible website. Journalists had their sight temporarily removed and were asked to use a screen reader to find their way around a website. This was followed by eye-tracking sessions to demonstrate levels of Usability of websites.  Eye-tracking software follows and shows a heat map of where the eye darts around to and rests on within a website.

In addition to a copy of the FTSE report, journalists were given a tips sheet citing the five most common website design flaws. They were also asked to complete a questionnaire rating their overall experience at the event.

Prior to the event, the FTSE 100 research release was sent exclusively to bbc.co.uk, and then issued to a wider media list, including influential journalist bloggers, Online and traditional print media after the event.

Following the news launch and event, Nomensa’s thought leadership position was maintained with proactive letters to editors and an opinion article campaign.