CAB 107/02
http://WWW.E-ENVOY.GOV.UK RECEIVES COMMENDATION AT VISIONARY DESIGN AWARDS 2002
The Office of the e-Envoy''s website, http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk, has received a commendation in recognition of its achievement in making online information accessible to visually impaired people. The site was presented with a commendation at the Visionary Design Awards, organised by the National Library for the Blind (NLB), which celebrated the very best in accessible website design.
Douglas Alexander, Minister for e-Transformation, said:
"I welcome the NLB''s Visionary Design campaign. The Internet offers the visually impaired a fantastic resource. However, it is important that both the private and public sectors consider accessibility as one of the main criteria when building a website. The Office of the e-Envoy''s publication earlier this year of Guidelines for UK Government Websites offers much useful advice in ensuring that websites can be made accessible. I am therefore delighted that the Office of the e-Envoy''s website has received this commendation and it is also encouraging to see that over half of the shortlisted sites were from the public sector."
The awards are part of an ongoing campaign by the NLB to encourage website publishers and designers to consider access technology such as magnification, text to speech and refreshable Braille when they are designing their sites. NLB estimates that less than a third of websites are accessible to visually impaired people. The Internet holds enormous potential for visually impaired people, as it allows them to gain access to far more information far more quickly. The Office of the e-Envoy has published Guidelines for UK Government Websites, which are available from its website and include a section on accessibility.
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. The Office of the e-Envoy is leading the drive to get the UK online, to ensure that the country, its citizens and its businesses derive maximum benefit from the knowledge economy. To support this aim, the Office has three core objectives:
- To ensure that everyone who wants it has access to the Internet by 2005
- To make all government services available electronically by 2005
- To make the UK the best environment in the world for e-commerce
- Visit http://www.e-envoy.gov.uk for information about the Office of the e-Envoy
- Visit http://www.ukonline.gov.uk for easy access to information about Government
- Visit http://www.letsallgeton.gov.uk to find out more about the drive to get the UK online
- Guidelines for UK Government Websites: Illustrated Handbook for Web Management Teams is available via www.e-envoy.gov.uk/webguidelines.htm
2. Visionary Design Awards were presented to six overall winners, and 15 runners-up received a commendation. The awards were held on the 5th December 2002 at The Lowry, Manchester and were sponsored by Barclays.
3. The National Library for the Blind (NLB) is an UK charity which houses Europe''s largest collection of tactile books and music and is a leading national agency in the provision of library services for visually impaired people. NLB is committed to ensuring that visually impaired people have the same access to information and library services as sighted people and offer a range of exciting, innovative library and information services via a fully accessible website at www.nlbuk.org. NLB also campaigns on issues of equal access to books, libraries and the Internet.
4. The six winners were: The British Museum Compass (www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass) Whichbook.net (www.whichbook.net) Local Heritage Initiative (www.lhi.org.uk) Dial UK (www.dialuk.org.uk) National Maritime Museum (www.nmm.ac.uk) Guardian Unlimited (www.guardian.co.uk)
The 15 commendations went to: Office of the e-Envoy (www.e-envoy.gov.uk) Westminster City Council (www.westminster.gov.uk) Crime Reduction Website (www.crimereduction.gov.uk) Wired (www.wired.com) Equal Opportunities Commission (www.eoc.org.uk) VIP-Highstreet (www.vip-highstreet.com) Tate i-Map Project (www.tate.org.uk) National Gallery (www.nationalgallery.org.uk) BBCi (www.bbc.co.uk) VISTA (www.vistablind.org.uk) Devon Sensory Team, Devon County Council Social Services (www.devon.gov.uk/socserve/sensory) First North Western (www.firstnorthwestern.co.uk) The Marine Biological Association of the UK (www.marlin.ac.uk) The Lace Market Unveiled (www.lacemarketunveiled.org) College of St Mark and St John (www.marjon.ac.uk)
