In 2009, the Management Board of PGNiG approved the Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility Strategy for the PGNiG Group. The strategy calls for the implementation of corporate social responsibility concepts in six key areas. One of them involves enhancing customer satisfaction by improving the quality of service. It is this area that is the underlying goal for developing new customer communication channels and tools, for instance by offering a user-friendly website to customers with disabilities.

One of the enhancements added to the website is the embedded text-to-speech software. The tool enables the user to listen to the audio version of the website content and to adjust font sizes manually. Using and navigating the website is also facilitated thanks to clear separation of content and background, and introducing distinct page sections (links, content, input fields, search and submit buttons), which further enhances the clarity and readability of the website. The newly-redesigned PGNiG website also includes:

• Keyboard-operated page features;
• Hierarchical menu structure;
• Breadcrumb trail display;
• Intuitive site mapping to match individual browser settings (such as Javascript and Flash component support);
• Clear, user-friendly search engine.

The WCAG, taken into consideration during the redesign of the website, is a collection of rules and guidelines developed by the W3C Consortium (World Wide Web). This multi-national organisation has worked on developing WWW standards since 1994. The primary goal for W3C is to ensure long-term, optimum growth of the World Wide Web. The http://www.pgnig.pl/ website is also based on the original DynaXML solution provided by AMG.net. Design analysis efforts aimed at redesigning the website began in July.

"The latest website redesign demonstrates just how important the needs of our disabled customers are to us", says Marzena Strzelczak, Sustainable Development Strategy Consultant for the Management Board of PGNiG SA. "In July 2009, the Management Board of PGNiG approved a comprehensive sustainable development and corporate responsibility strategy for the PGNiG Capital Group, which by definition supports the business strategy of the PGNiG Group, redefining all areas of our activity in accordance with the values of corporate social responsibility. One of its cornerstones is customer care, which also includes assisting the needs of people with disabilities. It is only natural for our sustainable development efforts to also be reflected in the company's online presence. Our website is customised to meet the needs of visually-impaired users to enable more of our shareholders and customers to access our website and use it comfortably. We hope that this will encourage many of our senior, disabled or visually-impaired customers to go online in order to complete the formalities involved in replacing their contracts concluded before 1 July 2007".

On 19 November 2009, Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo SA joined the prestigious ranks of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange's RESPECT Index, a stock exchange index for socially responsible companies. On 23 November 2009, the first report of the PGNiG Capital Group was declared the best corporate social responsibility report by the Corporate Social Responsibility Forum (Forum Odpowiedzialnego Biznesu), CSR Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Joanna Zakrzewska

Spokesperson