Winners: Hantsweb Awards 2004
Below are the judges choices of winners and runners-up (including their comments) announced in this year's Hantsweb Awards at the special celebrity award ceremony held on 9 November at INTECH, Hampshire's Science and Discovery Centre.
All winners and runners-up are listed by category
Accessibility | Best
On-line Service | Best
Public Access Point to the Internet | Community
and Voluntary Organisation | Local
Small Business | Public Sector | Rural
Community | Schools | Special
Interest | Town or Parish
Council | Youth |
Accessibility - sponsored by 
Winner Westgate Support + Care
Exemplary. The site designers have pulled out all the stops to ensure that disabled people are able to enjoy exactly the same information experience as everyone else. Local authorities throughout the UK would do well to follow this example.
Runner Up Andover Methodist
Circuit
A
friendly and welcoming site that doesn't compromise on
accessibility. The site demonstrates that accessible design and good design go hand-in-hand.
Special Mention: Hampshire Fire & Rescue Service
Best On-line
Service - sponsored by 
Winner Chandlersford Online
This
site is nicely designed and succeeds in looking both welcoming and
professional. The information is clearly laid out and legal
requirements are visibly met. It is full of useful information and
really sells a big image of what is a relatively small community.
The history of the area section is particularly engaging and well
presented. Provision for other file formats (PDF and Real Player)
are easily made available, and the BBC news-feed is neatly integrated
and provides a useful global perspective to the site.
Runner Up Hampshire List
A very compact and informative site. Integration of
interactive features such as local weather and particularly the
Amazon search box add a little extra gravitas to the pages. The free
listings feature, and the ability to change your details via an
online form, is an attractive feature for businesses on tight
advertising budgets.
Runner Up Ladies
who lunch in Hampshire
This is a good fun site which anyone could use given that we've all got to eat! Despite parts of the site being a touch slow owing to the use of photographs of visited venues, the informal and light-hearted touch of the site complements its ease of use. There's an awareness of legal issues regarding personal data and the option to join a dedicated mailing list to keep up-to-date with the reviews is an added bonus. I'll know where to look next time I'm considering a meal out!
Best
Public Access Point to the Internet - sponsored by 
Winner Ford Partnership Centre
Wide Lane, Swaythling, Southampton SO18 2NQ
A well run centre with plenty of equipment and software as would be expected with a large conglomerate behind it. Would benefit from being better signed although it was well served by the car park of the Ford plant. Refreshments were available from vending machines with a separate seating area. This seems to me to have every advantage other than a central location.
Runner Up Eastpoint Cyber Cafe
Burgoyne Road, Southampton SO19 6PB
This was a clean light airy centre with refreshments from cups of coffee to a full meal. Very helpful staff, well signed and plenty of parking. A popular venue for locals. An impressive well lit site.
Special Silver Surfer Prize Centre
For The 3rd Age
11 Cranbury Terrace, Southampton SO18 1LJ
It is a clean and well decorated building and has a security system on the door, giving good controlled access. Silver Surfers would appreciate this and do use the centre. To those over 50 this site would be a strong contender.
Community
& Voluntary Organisation
Winner Andover Family
Learning
Andover Family Learning is a real community site,
working in the community for the community. It loads quickly and the
site interface is simple and clear and highly accessible. Navigation
and content is clear and concise, guiding the user through the site
toward useful information and links. It is an impressive and usable
website for Andover’s community.
Runner Up The
League of Venturers Search & Rescue
A great cause and a great website. It’s rich in content with activities, news and background information, with information clearly displayed, providing a fabulous resource for anyone interested in “Helping People and Animals in Danger or Distress on Land and Sea.” While visually appealing, the site also meets accessibility standards and has good usability overall.
Local Small
Business
Winner P B Asher Diesel Injection
Engineers Ltd
A good self-explanatory, well designed website with clever graphics. For a heavy industry they've managed to make this site look bright and clean. To someone like myself who has no comprehension of this industry, it was well explained, and I would imagine a good asset to their business.
Runner Up Coronet Turf
I do
like this site and was impressed that someone could make turf sound
interesting! The layout is clear and I was particularly impressed
with the "measuring" and "laying" tools
sections. I believe the testimonials to be a great asset also.
Runner Up Park Farm Organics
I really liked the concept behind this site and although some of the functionality isn't great, the content is. The pictures and colouring all add to the feel that the produce is clean and wholesome (all that fresh air and open fields!) For me this site, like the "real-flowers" epitomises how a website can add to a small business.
Public Sector -
sponsored by 
Winner The Isle of Wight Council
Some
good information available on the site, such as the ability to see
planning applications in different areas. Visual design and craftsmanship is very strong, there is a
real sense of professionalism about the interface that inspires
trust in the content.
Runner Up Basingstoke & Deane
Borough Council
Fast load, but moving text distracts the eye. The site has good quality graphics and good craftsmanship. Typography is clear and the use of white space enhances overall look and feel
The use of popular pages is a good idea that will help novice users.
Rural Community -
sponsored by
Winner Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants
This smart and clean-looking website gives customers access to 1,200 plants in a quick and easy manner. It’s easy to navigate and simple to use. The whole feel of the site is one of a professional but friendly company. Congratulations to a company of this size grasping the web in such a manner.
Runner Up Hampshire Farmers' Markets
A fantastic supporting resource to the hugely successful farmers markets. There’s easy access to the suppliers for the markets, listed under a variety of headings. For anyone wishing to pursue that local producer they bumped into at last weekend’s market, this is the perfect site. The benefit to customers and producers is obvious and it also shouts Hampshire’s benefits to the rest of the world.
Schools - sponsored by 
Winner Stockbridge
County Primary School
An up to date website which effectively shows the school and examples of children’s work. The navigation is at the bottom of each page and is easily missed, but the frequently asked questions are good and link to the answers in context which is helpful. Admissions policy is clear and the prospectus is available and split into smaller sections which makes it quicker to download.
Runner Up Kings Copse Primary
School
A visually appealing site which has continued to develop since its previous success in the Hantsweb Awards 2002. The navigation works well. The website effectively highlights the various schemes in place to help children at school, including the buddy scheme and lunchtime leaders. Navigation is clear and consistent and is generally easy to use. A very detailed site with lots of useful information for parents which is up to date.
Special Mentions to:
Bentley C of
E Primary School
Manor Junior School
Sun Hill Infants
School
Winner Compassion In World Farming Trust
A very clear, visually attractive site. Well laid-out and easy to navigate. Well-written content with a wealth of information.
Runner Up Playing Out Loud
Ideal for its audience and anyone interested in live music - vibrant, laden with news and well-written, interesting articles, and not just about music either, but restaurants and wines, too. Plenty of interaction, with message boards and the opportunity to submit reviews. Attractive design used effectively. Easy to navigate and tempting to spend time wandering around it.
Special Mentions to:
Alton Model Railway Group
Ladies Who
Lunch In Hampshire
This
Is Hampshire, Communigate - Birds of the River Itchen
Town or Parish Council
Winner Longparish Parish Council
The
website is full of useful contacts, and information on events etc
and seems to give a good flavour for the small parish of Longparish.
It has useful links, but not too many which could complicate the
site - particularly for new users. Particularly good are the
friendly home page, photos of local events and the obvious
"contact us" button at the top menu links to "higher
levels" of provision.
Runner Up Fawley Parish Council
This is an extremely comprehensive website, and is in complete contrast to the Longparish site. It is like a local newspaper, with very up-to-date information. If I wanted to know something in Fawley, I would definitely go to this site - it has virtually everything you need.
Winner I Like Music.com
There is a wealth of information, reviews, career opportunities and competitions here as well as an invitation to be involved yourself. It's been a year since I have seen this site and it has improved tremendously - they have done a sterling job of improving the layout in order for its users to gain easy access to the enormous free content on offer here.
Runner-Up Websites & Networking
Corporation
(some of the language used on this website might cause offence)
This Blog-styled site has swelled since last year and added lots of additional features. There is an awful lot of text to plough through as is the nature of many Blog sites, and Lee has done a great job of keeping the design and navigation simple for its users.
Special Mentions:
Hampshire
Federation of Young Farmers Club
739 Sense