Think about how you felt the last time you found a sharp executive summary at the front of a dense report. That's how digital annual reports should feel: clear, accessible, and direct. Put the important things front and center. And lastly, put the nitty-gritty details in a downloadable PDF for those that want them.
True digitalization isn't converting your magazine layout into a PDF. It's building visually rich websites with interactivity, video, and animation. With 80% of web traffic on mobile, your annual report must work beautifully on phones first, then scale to larger screens.
“Nobody reads our annual reports, except our board.”
- Creative professional in the service sector
Digitalizing annual reports offers a range of benefits, from increased interactivity to improved accessibility: images, infographics, charts, and other visual elements can convey complex information in a more digestible format, making readers more likely to understand the information presented.
As accessibility is becoming an essential consideration for businesses, the internet has made life vastly better for visually impaired people. Websites allow people to change the size and format of text, increase contrast, and even get text read aloud.
As an added benefit, companies switching to digital annual reports reduce the need for printing, limiting their carbon footprint. And for businesses that require a printed version? Go for a smaller print run for shareholders, the board, the C-suite, and a handful for each company department.
Contact USE Agency partner Ari Haack Marteinsson to learn more about our digital-first approach to annual reports.
