The winners of the 2006 Jodi Awards for excellence in museum, gallery, library, archive and heritage website accessibility were announced last night at a ceremony at the British Museum.
The winners are:
Jodi Award for Excellence:
i-Map: The Everyday Transformed, Tate Modern. www.tate.org.uk/imap/imap2
This site does what seems impossible to many people, by making modern art (and its key concepts) accessible to blind and partially sighted people. It is one of the few to describe collections for visually impaired people. The images are highly contrasted and made visible to partially-sighted people. The judges were unanimous in selecting the winning site, which they agreed had yet more ground-breaking qualities and was destined to set the standard in global best practice. The site is already the world leader in making online collections accessible to blind and partially sighted people.
Jodi Award for Excellence with Low Budgets:
Speaking Volumes, Wakefield Library and Information Service. www.speakingvolumesonline.org.uk
This website was designed to allow readers to write content. Blind and partially sighted site users chat about books and audio book readers. The judges said the site was enjoyable, stimulating and easy-to-use. A partnership with public libraries throughout Yorkshire and Humberside, Speaking Volumes is an exemplary regional resource for reader development.
The judges awarded a ‘Commendation for Excellence in user involvement’ to:
The History of Wolverhampton; Wolverhampton Arts and Museums Service. www.wolverhamptonhistory.org.uk
This site is notable for its simplicity in design and use. It was fine-tuned using feedback received from disabled site users and is a good example of the benefits of user involvement in website development.
MLA Chairman, Mark Wood, who presented the awards, said: “This year, all nominations met high technical web accessibility standards. It is a sign that museums, libraries and archives are developing ambitious targets and playing an active part nationally in meeting e-government targets for web accessibility. The winning sites involved users in the web development process. They are wonderful examples of the unique ways in which museums, libraries and archives can use the web to make collections accessible to visually impaired people.”
The 2006 Jodi Awards were presented at a ceremony held last night at the British Museum in London. Initiated in 2003, the awards this year extended to include entries from Wales, in partnership with CyMAL (Museums, Libraries and Archives Wales), for the first time.
Sponsorship for the Jodi Awards 2006 is provided by Simulacra, www.simulacra.com, the new media consultancy offering award-winning web-based information management solutions.
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Notes to editors:
For further press information, please contact Emma Poole / Sharene Chatfield, Media and Events Managers, MLA, 020 72731459, emma.poole@mla.gov.uk / sharene.chatfield@mla.gov.uk
Named in memory of Jodi Mattes (1973-2001), who worked as part of the British Museum’s COMPASS team and later at the Royal National Institute for the Blind, the Jodi Awards honour Jodi’s efforts to ensure the museum’s COMPASS website was accessible as possible.
The awards are developed and sustained by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA), 24 Hour Museum and the British Museum. The MLA is the national development agency working for, and on behalf of, museums, libraries and archives, advising the government on policy and priorities for the sector. The MLA’s roles are to provide strategic leadership, to act as a powerful advocate, to develop capacity and to promote innovation and change. Visit: www.mla.gov.uk
The 2005 MLA report “Accessibility of museum, library and archives websites: the MLA audit” highlighted the need to keep improving web accessibility in the sector. The report and further information on the annual Jodi Awards are available at:
http://www.mla.gov.uk/website/policy/Diversity/web_Accessibility
The 2006 judging panel comprised: Marcus Weisen, MLA Health and Disability Adviser; Nina Baptise Yorkshire Museums, Libraries and Archives Council; Ross Parry, Department of Museums Studies, University of Leicester; and Jon Pratty, 24 Hour Museum.
The judges were supported by the results of automated and user testing commissioned from designedforall, www.designedforall.co.uk. The user panel included blind, partially sighted, dyslexic and deaf people.
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