I think IFRS and XBRL will have a huge influence on online annuals. It should put away the concerns of searchability and completeness of content. With that, we should also see issuers open up to more engaging online projects.

However, I disagree that it requires Flash, video, and multimedia to be successful. Sure, these are options that online offers over print - and are great tools for delivering some messages. But the primary requirement is to design the content to be accessible and digestible online - easy-to-follow visual narratives to highlight key points, clearly organized architecture/navigation, ability to delve deeper into sections of interest, downloadable financials and subsections, etc. An investment, sure, but much less than video production - and for some companies can even be achieved within existing budgets by trimming the print. The real opportunities that I see for online annuals - searchability, cross-referencing, customizable reporting, etc - I have yet to see put into great practice within an online annual.

I totally agree with what you point out about the importance to adopt to the needs of online when converting the message of your annual report for the web. Its a different media and it supports different needs.

On the other hand I think it is necessary to convert all information that is stated within the printed report into HTML. Otherwise people will always feel a handicap and think they are missing something out! Thus for me the Reports from Telus (just PDF of financial review part) and Thomson (what you link is just the review, the annual report is no more than a PDF blob) are not sufficient in this matter.

Maybe in the future we will see online communication needs influencing back on the printed report. But until that we online guys have to take care we not missing out

Keep up the good reporting!
Best wishes
Thomas