Quality Assurance
Our quality assurance policy is applied as follows.
GENERAL
Fitness for purpose is clearly understood for media products such as web sites, video and CD-Rom. There is sometimes, however, an element of subjectivity, so we aim to compare favourably with examples of the same genre and price range drawn from sources other than ourselves.
Unlike traditional media, our type of work is dependent in some respects on the playback machine or browser that is used. It is sometimes impossible to exploit up-to-date technology and remain compatible with older implementations. We therefore work to a 5 year cut-off point in terms of hardware and operating systems, but consider shorter timescales than this for other software. For example, common applications such as Windows Media Player or Acrobat Reader require upgrading regularly, but these upgrades are freely available.
We aim to test our products on a representative selection of hardware and software combinations.
Security is important for all our clients and receives priority attention.
Quality implications of other policies such as Equality and Diversity also form part of our general attention to quality issues.
CONFIDENTIALITY
We maintain strict confidentiality with regard to any information given to us by clients in the course of executing projects. Such information may be passed on to associates or sub-contractors to the extent necessary for them to meet their obligations, on the understanding that they also maintain the same principle. This applies to all information except that which is already in the public domain.
Any personal or company information acquired by us is used solely for communicating with the person or company concerned and no other purpose. No information is passed on from us to third parties for any purpose whatsoever. All information is handled within the requirements of the Data Protection Act.
CLIENT-SPECIFIC
Most projects are aimed at a particular target group, either within the client's organisation or business network or the client's market place. Therefore we will always pay particular attention to client-defined features that are regarded as mission-critical or 'of the essence'.
An implication of this principle is that we do not seek to make the client's requirements fit with our own production methods or general convenience. Neither do we simply adapt previous projects to current ones.
PROACTIVE RESPONSE
Both before and during the progress of a project clients' requirements vary as new needs become apparent. Sometimes the project development itself suggests new ideas. We aim to treat these as positive input to the project and will accommodate them as such, free of charge where possible.
SHORT-TERM RESPONSIBILITY
Everyone supervising an Ambit project is expected to follow our internal quality procedures. These particularly include checklists and feedback in the areas of code quality, appropriateness of design and cross-platform/browser compatibility. (Including Accessibility issues).
LONG-TERM RESPONSIBILITY
We want to cultivate clients who return to us time and time again because they appreciate our work. We don't want our reputation to be spoilt through dispute. These are two good business reasons for us to provide solid client support. In addition, we all enjoy the job satisfaction of a meeting a challenge and complementing this with a sound ongoing client relationshship.