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Health minister, Alan Johnson MP collects BCS award
10/03/2008
10 March 2008: As the British Computer Society (BCS) gets ready to launch its 2008 MP Website Awards, Health Minister Alan Johnson MP took time out of his busy schedule to receive his 2007 MP Website Award for accessibility.
The engraved award was presented to him for the most accessible MP website as judged by BCS in conjunction with AbilityNet, the national charity which helps disabled adults and children use computers and the internet by adapting and adjusting their technology.
The 2007 Awards were a huge success in raising awareness amongst MPs of the importance of good website design and accessibility in engaging public interest and enthusiasm for their political activities. BCS hopes that the 2008 awards will applaud further improvements and show that more MPs are effectively using IT to further public engagement.
David Clarke, BCS chief executive explains: “Our first MP website awards, last year, were established to encourage MPs to engage all of their constituents, young, old or disabled, in a dynamic and exciting manner through online technology. The vast majority of MP websites that failed to be shortlisted for last year’s awards, denied access to the disabled, so the success demonstrated by Alan Johnson’s website will hopefully provide the spur for others to drive improvements in their own sites and thereby make this year’s competition even better.”
Robin Christopherson, Head of Accessibility Services at AbilityNet continues: “Through the BCS awards, we are now actively encouraging MPs to enable the large minority of the population with various disabilities to properly access their respective MP’s websites. And with a growing ageing population this is something that MPs in general cannot afford to ignore.”
Full details of the 2008 MP Website Award categories and judges will be detailed on the BCS website later this month and the winners will be announced in the Autumn.
BCS MP Website Awards 2007
Design Award: Paul Flynn MP
Finalists: Boris Johnson MP, Mike Wood MP
Engagement Award: Derek Wyatt MP
Finalists: Richard Spring MP, Tom Brake MP
Accessibility Award: Alan Johnson MP
Finalists: Malcolm Bruce MP, Adam Price MP
Best MP Website Award 2007
Winner: Adam Price MP
Finalists: Lynne Featherstone MP, Richard Benyon MP
Highly Commended MP Websites
Nadine Dorries MP, Boris Johnson MP, George Galloway MP