Please read this, as it affects you.

On the 26th May 2012 the law regarding cookie usage and the privacy of web visitors will change. Permission will need to be sought from visitors, to allow cookies to be used on their equipment. This is as true for the big, mainstream websites as it is for websites built by Skylight Media for its clients.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small files that are saved on visitors’ equipment such as their computer or mobile when visiting a website. These allow for the recording of a process and recognition of a user’s equipment, or the user themselves. Most often they’re  a benefit to the user/visitor, in that they’re particularly useful for shopping baskets, where once items have been added to basket, a cookie is ‘dropped’ to prevent loss of the basket against the visitor, if they then visit other pages, or leave the site and come back later. These cookies are viewed as ‘strictly necessary’ functionality, however not all cookies are strictly necessary.

What we can tell you is that the core functionality of websites we’ve built, contains cookies that are ‘strictly necessary’ to allow purchasing to take place. However, where clients have 3rd party tools built-in, the law may be contravened without a new process being added that informs visitors and allows them to agree to cookies being dropped onto their devices.

What’s changed in the law?

The law regarding cookie usage and the privacy of web visitors has changed, where there is now a need for informed consent to be given by the visitor, to utilise this technology.  This is essentially designed to protect the privacy of internet users, even where the information being collected about them is not directly personally identifiable, and that means you too. The EU Directive comes into force via the Information Commissioner’s Office on 26th May 2012.

How this affects you?

There’s been a lot of talk in the press about how fair the ‘Cookies Law’ is to the public at large, yet how unfair it is to businesses, and although well-meaning, it has been ill-conceived and is complex to implement without potential detriment. There has also been conjecture from some quarters that the law will be retracted, but it’s here to stay and has to be adopted. There are potentially hefty fines for those that refuse to comply, meaning it’s really time you considered it.

It is likely therefore that some work will be required on the website we’ve built, or are managing for you, to allow it to become compliant with the law.

Why are we telling you?

To be frank, it is not our position to interpret the law, or to make our clients’ business compliant with the law, when legislation changes so frequently. This is especially the case with new and unproven-in-practice laws like this, as we’re on virgin territory.

We are, however, duty-bound to offer solutions to requests for solutions, yet in this instance in order to do so, we have needed to understand what the market leaders are doing, so that we can advise clients as to what’s possible and what is common practice, and what seems to constitute compliance, however the vast majority of websites are operating without cookie compliance, where even the market leaders (e.g. Amazon, Google, Ebay, etc) don’t appear to be making any visible moves that can be assessed. This makes it difficult for us to advise in our capacity which route is common practice, proven to work solidly, without detriment to trading capabilities, that is likely to be a one-stop fix and which is likely above all, to be compliant with the legislation. We have a several ideas, but have hesitated to offer the Big Solution in case it’s the wrong one, doesn’t comply with clients’ own legal advice, or that it’s not required at all.

View the International Chamber of Commerce’s UK Cookie Guide.

What to do next?

Whatever you do, don’t panic! The best thing is to talk to your legal advisors, initially. They may suggest a route that already complies with their advice. Of course, they may advise you to talk to us about what’s possible too.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has made it clear that even though they will be able to enforce the law, they state that “there will not be a wave of knee-jerk formal enforcement actions taken against those who are not yet compliant but are trying to get there.” We see this as pragmatic approach and allows time for real-world, practical application of a solution, but unfortunately no matter what the interpretation is, it is unlikely you will be able to reach compliance without our intervention.

View the ICO’s latest Guidance (opens an online PDF document)

What we can do

Ideally, it would help you to know what cookies the website we have built, or manage, for you contains, so we are proposing that we carry out a one-off audit on each client’s website, which will inform you where cookies are being utilised, then you can make a decision as to what you wish to do next.

As we manage nearly 200 websites, we can only carry out this audit if we are requested to. This report will contain details of any cookies used and what they do. We can then discuss and work out a plan with you, and a cost for any work required to get you to what your legal professional deems the correct level of compliance, within a specific timescale. There will be a small charge to cover the time for the audit, but this is perhaps an important step, as you will be able to demonstrate to the ICO that you are either taking steps to compliance, or that no steps are required.

If you wish for us to proceed with an audit on the website we’ve built for you, please confirm by either calling us on 0115 958 60 60 or  email us at sales@skylightmedia.co.uk before 26th May!

We have been in the web design business for 8 years, and specialise in E-commerce, web design, Internet marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO), graphic design & photography.

Skylight Media are certainly no strangers when it comes to designing websites. Not only are we technically experienced in the process of designing and building websites, we also understand that each company has their own unique set of requirements for how their website should look and function. However, web design is not just about creating fancy, flashy websites; it’s also about providing what the visitors are looking for. These visitors can then hopefully be converted into customers.

If your Nottingham business needs help reaching more customers, we are here to help you. These days, the web is often peoples’ preferred way of finding what they are looking for. In Nottingham alone, there are probably many people on the web right now searching for your type of product or service. If you want to maximise your exposure to these potential customers, we are here to help you every step of the way. Whether that involves Pay Per Click advertising, E-mail Marketing, Search Engine Optimisation, Banner Design, Copy Writing, Lead Generation, Link Building, or Social Media Networking, we have got it covered.

Our services do not stop there though. There is even more we can do for the web presence of your Nottingham business. For example, if want to create sales videos for your site, we can handle every stage of the video production process. So, if you know exactly what you want to see, but just don’t know how to make it happen, we will be with you every step of the way. Even if you have no idea what would make a great video for your site, our creative team can suggest ideas and help with the story board and script creation process. Even if you need someone to present the video, we have got that covered too. One of our professionally trained presenters will be happy to oblige.

Whatever your website creation and marketing needs, Skylight Media is dedicated to making sure your vision reaches its true potential.

For more information call us on 0115 9586060.

After an unusual introduction, we were commissioned to build the new brewery website, for the Giltbrook, Nottingham company. Above all, the website needed to convey a no-nonsense feel, be true to the branding, allow for the beers to take centre stage and allow for all of this to be controlled by John.

Design was the starting point and the colours and typefaces are faithfully consistent with what’s at the pumps and all the other offline marketing material.

The entire content is manageable by John and he can add beers as and when he needs to and incorporate more artwork at the home page ‘carousel’.

In all, a very neat and satisfying project, for a brilliantly creative brewer.

www.bluemonkeybrewery.com

Truly the web design achieves this, by ‘borrowing’ some of Susi’s extensive knick-knacks, using interesting web design & features, and insertion of a number of delightful illustrations by Charlotte Thomson-Morley, creating a ‘boudoir’ atmosphere, online!

Susi’s been a delight to work with, and our ability to extract the brief and turn it into reality has made us very proud.

Susi’s comments about us are:

“I am so excited to announce that the new Eternal Spirits Website has gone live! Designed and created by the Skylight Media team also based in Nottingham, they have captured perfectly the essence of our brand in to the website and I am delighted with the results! Skylight have been a dream to work with since day one. From the initial meeting they came back quickly with stunning artwork ideas and have been enthusiastic about the project from the start. They followed up my queries quickly and were always available to speak to…. and the fact it’s all done in house is just wonderful. A highly skilled and talented team of genuinely lovely people and I have for the first time in 10 years with our websites got exactly what I have asked for. I am one very happy customer! Since the site has gone live the feedback I have had from people seeing the site has been great.“

www.eternalspirits.com