Federation Of Family History Societies

The FFHS Web Award

For the Society with the Best Website

 

Website Design Criteria

It should be noted that due to unforeseen circumstances the proposed review of the Website Design Criteria has not taken place, therefore, for the 2011Best Website Award the criteria remains as in previous years.

Basic Criteria for a Website

The basic criteria that should apply to any web-site should include the following:

The initial page should be reasonably quick to download. Web users are often impatient and, if a page takes a long time to appear, they will lose patience and look elsewhere. Therefore images, which take longer to download than text, should be used to good effect but not overdone, and the size of the images should not be excessive.

It should be attractive and welcoming in appearance. First impressions are all important and, having got visitors, you want to persuade them to stay for a while. Therefore ensure that the text can be read easily, and that your choices of colours for text and background do not clash.

Its title and initial text should convey clearly to visitors what sort of information they will learn from the site, and entice them to explore its pages.

It should also be neat and logically presented, to reflect the fact your information has been researched, and is presented, in a similar fashion.

Whilst it may seem like stating the obvious, ensure that no errors in spelling or grammar have crept in. Any such errors may give the impression that the information in the rest of the site could be unreliable.

Consideration should be given to the range of screen resolutions currently being used by the likely users of the site.

Allowance should be made for the different rendering exhibited by the various browsers likely to be used.

Most importantly, it should be maintained regularly to ensure that the contents are not out of date.

Criteria for a Society's Website

A Society web-site, in addition to the above, needs its contents to be tailored to meet the specific needs of family historians.

First and foremost, what area does it cover - in terms of county, counties or parts of counties (and are these pre 1974 or post 1974?), in terms of Registration Districts and Sub-Districts, and possibly parishes and places? Is there a map which illustrates this? Remember that overseas visitors will be less familiar with your area than you are, as may visitors from elsewhere in the UK.

How is the society organised - does it have separate branches and, if so, what separate areas do they cover?

What benefits will someone receive by joining the society, how much does it cost, and what period does its membership year cover (they'd be aggrieved if within months of joining they get asked to pay the next year's membership)?

If there is a section of the web-site with access restricted to society members only, is there a description of what it contains (since that is an added benefit of joining the society).

How often, and when, does its Journal (or newsletter, in the case of a smaller society) get published and what sort of contents does it have?

What enquiry services, if any, are available to members (or non-members, possibly at a higher cost) or are there any persons prepared to carry out research in the area the society covers on behalf of others?

What publications does the society produce, in what format and how much do they cost? Who are they available from, and on what terms? What future publications are planned (if a visitor can't find what he or she is looking for)?

For visitors living within travelling distance or spending time in that area doing research, how often, where and when does the society hold meetings? What is its future programme at these meetings, so that a visitor can make a one-off trip if there's going to be a talk of special interest? And, if necessary, is a map provided to show how to get to the venue?

Who are the society's officers and task holders and how can they be contacted?
Are there any Mailing Lists, Forums, Message Boards, etc. in existence for the area the Society covers, and are links provided to them?

Is there news about the record office(s) and reference libraries in the area, their whereabouts, holdings and opening times (if this information is on that organisation's own site, a cross-referenced link should be sufficient)? Is there a link to GENUKI?

Similarly, are there are any other web-sites relating to the area which might be of interest to researchers, and if so are links provided to them.

If the Society is organising an Open Day or Conference, are full details of the date, place, time and arrangements provided? And, if necessary, is a map provided to show how to get to the venue?

If the Society organises coach parties to visit archive repositories, are details provided (when, where, how much, what times and who to contact)?

How can one find out which members of the society are researching which names and dates? Is it feasible to include the members' interests on the web-site? Failing this, does it specify how often a Member's Interests Directory, if any, is published, in what format and at what cost?

Last, but certainly not least of course, what is the society's role in the National Burial Index?  Do you have data available on FindMyPast?

Is your society currently engaged in other important projects and if so, do you need transcribers to help with a current or imminent project, why not use your web-site to advertise that fact?

It is assumed that you already publicise the fact that your Society is a member of the Federation, with a link to our web-site! Do you link to other useful websites?