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OFT publishes web sweep results

Wednesday, 02/04/2008

It may have caught your attention that the OFT (Office of Fair Trading) recently carried out what it calls was a ‘web sweep’ of 530 company’s websites. This was carried out in December 2007 and was focused on compliance with key aspects of the Distance Selling Regulations and the eCommerce Regulations.

It appears from the results that most large UK based businesses are complying, however, it was identified that there is room for improvement; a lesson that smaller businesses need to learn from. Issues arose included the provision of adequate contact details, transparency in cancellation and refund rights.

How often do you come across a website where there is no mention of a physical postal address? Firstly, failure to display this information means the site does not comply with these regulations, but secondly it does not make sense from a customer’s point of view to hide this information. A trusted web business should always welcome feedback and be willing to be contacted, not just via email. Without valid contact details a customer would be wary of using such a website, especially if using the services for the first time.

SMEs need to be aware that these regulations are in place, and are now being checked by the OFT. Of course, when you approach dotnet works for your website development, we work with you to ensure your site is compliant with these regulations and with other web standards, such as W3C compliance and DDA.

More information on the Office of Fair Trading’s web sweep can be found at the OFT website.

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