Electronic Productivity Solutions (EPS)

Competitive Advantage

EPS does not confine itself just to the building of websites and Web applications. EPS facilitates the incorporation of eBusiness strategies that complement our clients' existing marketing needs and business plans. EPS recommends best possible eBusiness solutions that, combined with current business processes, enable organisations of all sizes to take full advantage of potential gains in the "new economy".

The Internet has irrevocably changed the way the business world operates; the Websites that EPS build reflect this fact. EPS prides itself in its ability to keep up-to-date with developments occurring in our ever-changing industry. The EPS knowledge base, skill-set and attention to detail outlined in this document makes the difference between a great website (read also Web based application) and a professional Website.

EPS' internal office procedures and documentation will ensure that your project will be completed with the highest level of professionalism. All EPS staff are responsible for documenting their work, meaning that we run an office which allows any of our consultants or developers to work on any project as needs arise.

EPS maintains a close network of alliances, ensuring that if our clients need urgent work in specialist areas completed, EPS is able to perform the service in a cost-effective and efficient manner.

Structure and Navigation

An integral part of our clients' Websites is the structuring of information so that it is simple for users to find what they are looking for. EPS does this by:

  • Employing a combination of linear, hierarchy and network approaches as appropriate to our clients' needs.
  • Designing navigation so that:
    • Within 2 jumps users will be taken to important information;
    • Within 3 jumps users will be given access to at least 80% of the Website;
    • Within 4 jumps is the maximum we like to allow for users to move anywhere in the site. Otherwise, we will give users access to a search facility.

Design and User Confidence

It is important to instill confidence in the people who visit your Website. This is achieved by providing your customers with a well-designed site that:

  • Maintains your corporate "look and feel";
  • Provides a "personality", using humour as appropriate;
  • Develops a sense of community;
  • Contains a clear and thorough privacy policy;
  • Contains terms and conditions for using the site;
  • Includes a link to your Web Master / Website designers;
  • Includes a liability disclaimer;
  • Displays appropriate copyright symbols, e.g. 2004
  • Uses appropriate netiquette (net etiquette), especially when communicating with customers.
  • During site updates we try to use the same page names to prevent breaking end users bookmarks/favourites.
  • If a third party is designing content for your Website, we prefer to work with layered Photoshop files saved in IBM PC format. Flattened files are much more difficult to make changes to.

Technical

Optimising the data our clients provide for Web based distribution is extremely important for attracting users to a site, keeping them interested and developing user loyalty. The speed at which Websites download affects the user's overall experience. EPS tries to keep download times acceptable for users on 56K modems and above. The following technical considerations aim to minimise download times in order to achieve return visits:

  • Enabling pages to download quickly by:
    • Compression of graphics files;
    • Preloading images;
    • Using progressive JPEGs;
    • Keeping page sizes to a maximum of 10 screen sizes (e.g. if scrolling down the page).
  • Using meaningful ALT tags:
    • Some users have their graphics turned off, therefore the Website must be designed so that it can still be understood regardless of different user specifications
    • Using HTML rather than scanned images:
      • Where possible, data is converted into HTML rather than use of cumbersome scans.
  • Use of META information:
    • By using appropriate TITLE tags and embedding META keywords and descriptions relevant to our client's business within their Website code, EPS optimises our clients' chances of a highly ranked listing with search engines.
  • Linking to multimedia:
    • EPS lets the user know the file size, file type, alternative formats available, and thumbnails of large files.
  • Minimise HTML:
    • Removing extraneous HTML code improves download time.
  • W3C Standards:
    • EPS follows W3C standards to make our pages future proof for new browser versions. Sometimes due to browser quirks and non-standard browsers this cannot always be accomplished.
  • Browser specific code
  • EPS endeavors to avoid browser specific code where possible.
  • Cascading Style Sheets
  • EPS uses CSS whenever possible and avoids font tags, giving site wide consistency and making changes easier.
  • Browser functionality:
    • EPS aims to avoid replacing or breaking the browsers navigational elements where possible (back buttons etc) but this depends on the graphic design requirements.
    • Throughout development EPS assumes that the end user has not modified their browser configuration, therefore JavaScript and cookies are enabled. Although we try to minimise the use of JavaScript/cookies, EPS will write additional code to accommodate for browsers that have these functions disabled (we can at an additional fee).

Compatibility

  • Plug-in detection:
    • When EPS builds a Website that relies on additional browser plug-ins, we try to automatically run checks of the user's system to help guide them to an appropriate download page.
  • 2) Browser testing and detection:
    • People surf the Internet using different browsers (i.e. Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, FireFox, Opera, AOL). Because each browser views Websites differently, EPS ensures our clients' Websites look great and work well within the vast majority of all Web browsers and computer configurations. Our Websites will be 100% compatible with PC operating systems running IE4.0+ and NN6.0. Guaranteed compatibility with the following browsers and operating systems is available for a small fee.
    • Netscape 4.7 Windows
    • IE 4.0 + Macintosh
    • Netscape 4.7 Macintosh
    • Netscape 4.7 Linux
    • Netscape 6.0 Linux
    • EPS can check whether users have an old browser. If they do, our sites can be designed to prompt the user to download the latest version to enhance their Web experience.
  • Operating system compatibility:
    • Macintosh, Linux and PC computers display Websites differently, and treat the back-end processes that drive a Website differently. EPS tries to ensure our clients' Websites operate effectively regardless of the operating system their visitors use.
  • Screen sizes and resolutions:
    • Because our clients' Websites will increasingly become the only interface their customers have with their business, it is important that it not only be clearly readable, but looks great. This means designing a site that presents well on a variety of different screen sizes and resolution qualities. EPS will spend the time to ensure the most appropriate balance is achieved for all screen types.
    • EPS designs and builds for a minimum screen resolution/bit depth of 800x600 pixels, 16 bit.

On-line sales

Receiving payments for goods and services over the Internet is one of the simplest and secure ways to increase a business' cash flow. EPS can implement the following strategies and features that will encourage Web users to trust your Website and make payments through it:

  • Mimics brick and mortar practices - to ensure user comfort and ease of use;
  • Display security logos on secure pages;
  • Use the most technologically advanced security protocols;
  • Provide information regarding refund and exchange policies;
  • State a privacy policy, or how the Website will handle customers' personal information;
  • State terms and conditions;
  • Provide procedures for redress if something goes wrong;
  • Include endorsements for our clients' Websites from trusted offline or online sources;
  • Affiliate our clients' businesses and their sites with trusted brand names and virtual communities;
  • Boost purchase interest with customer support and brand equity;
  • Stimulate continued growth with cross marketing.

Back End Support and Web hosting

EPS provides its clients with:

  • A reliable Web server;
  • A Web Server that is dedicated to hosting Websites only, not providing Internet access;
  • Technical support that is only a phone call or email away;
  • Statistical analysis of Website usage;
  • 24 hour Website monitoring.