When I posted about the latest results for BT ‘BT Intranet 2010 benchmark results‘ I promised to give examples the Intranet Benchmarking Forum highlighted as global best practice.
The first example is about our content. IBF said all pages across BT’s intranet contain author and date information. The content is well structured in headline style, with bullets and sub-headings. BT’s intranet is largely jargon-free and scored well in Flesch comprehension testing, but could be further improved by ensuring all acronyms have explanatory title tags.
We have achieved this by embedding our intranet standards in to the templates used for publishing the different types of content.
This means publishers can concentrate on the quality of the information and not their technical abilities.
For users there is a consistent experience as they move transparently from one type of content to another. For example the BT global navigation bar appears in the same place with the same headings that link to the same place on every page.
We encourage with guidance and training for our publishers to use the right tone of voice and wherever possible to avoid jargon.
It helps to show why 4 out of 5 BT Intranet users are very/satisfied when last surveyed.
Mark Morrell Intranet Pioneer 