Member Article

Manchester council website up for award, Lovie

Manchester City Council’s new website is in the running to be named one of Europe’s best – depending on the outcome of an online public vote.

Chosen from a list of more than 1,500 entries from 20 European countries, the website has been short-listed for a prestigious ‘People’s Lovies Award’ in the ‘best government website’ category.

The winner will be decided by a vote-off against two other top sites – with the most votes taking the gold award.

The council website has also been short-listed in the ‘best homepage’ category in The Lovie Awards – putting the site in the top 15% of all entries judged across the continent.

The ‘Lovies’, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, is the only pan-European award that honours the best content created for the internet – with past awards going to such illustrious winners as Stephen Fry (Lovie Person of the Year 2012) and Google for their Chrome Web Lab.

The new-look Manchester website – built in collaboration with web management company Jadu – went online earlier this year after a complete review of how people asked for services, reported problems and paid council bills.

It has been specially designed to work as well on mobile phones and tablets as on desktop computers, making it easier to access council services on the move.

The website was tested thoroughly by Manchester-based company Keep It Usable, who canvassed public reactions. The site was also tested by accessibility-experts and organisations representing blind or partially-sighted people .

Cllr Nigel Murphy, Manchester City Council’s Executive Member for Environment, said: “Accolades as prestigious as the Lovies give testament to the success of the new city council website.

“Unsurpassed in its design and functionality, our new look site has become the benchmark of local government websites – making ease of use the main priority for our users in an era when the internet is gearing increasingly towards tablets and smart phones.

“A short-listing in these awards firmly puts the city council website in the upper tier of any website across Europe, which is a major triumph when councils are facing more and more budget constraints.

“But we believed that encouraging as many people as possible to access services online, whenever and where ever they want, could help us to deliver those services more cost effectively.”

To vote in the People’ Lovie Awards go to www.peopleslovie.eu/#government-0

Voting closes on 10 October 2013. The winners in each category will be announced on the 15 October 2013.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Simon Malia .