A compliance audit of 50 websites across Europe

Is your website legal?

Objective and brief

• One of our clients, a major consumer healthcare group, acquired a range of brands from a competitor. These brands all had consumer websites (50 in total), catering to markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
• These sites had to comply with the online standards set by the healthcare group including:
• Privacy and data protection.
• Regulatory environment – many of the sites dealt with ‘over-the-counter’ products, which are subject to strict laws that vary between countries.
• Web standards, including accessibility, usability and functionality.
• Content Formula were asked to audit and update the newly acquired sites.

How objectives were met

• Working closely with our client’s legal, regulatory and marketing teams, we designed a detailed process by which all of the new sites would be checked and signed off.
• We reviewed each of the sites, analysing all content and functionality against strict criteria. We also checked all site communications to users, including email and SMS. Where mailing lists were employed, we ensured that the option to unsubscribe was given to users.
• We listed all required corrections in a clear, concise format and sent them to the appropriate content and technical teams. Where possible, we provided the teams with the appropriate replacement content. This included standardised materials such as privacy policies and legal notices, which were then localised for all country-specific sites.