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The FFHS Web Award
For the Society with the Best Website
Winners - 2007
| Winner: | Sussex FH Group | webmaster: Alan Stoner |
| 2nd place: | Buckinghamshire FHS | webmaster: Dave Foster |
| 3rd place: | Essex Society for FH | webmaster: Colin Smith |
Highly Commended
| County or Area Societies | North of Ireland FHS Devon FHS |
| Overseas Societies | British Isles FHS of Greater Ottawa Society of Australian Genealogists |
| One-Name Societies | Offley Family Society |
| Specialist Societies | Guild of One-Name Studies |
Commended
| County or Area Societies | East Surrey FHS Northamptonshire FHS North Cheshire FHS Bristol & Avon FHS |
| Overseas Societies | Genealogical Society of Victoria Alberta Genealogical Society |
| One-Name Societies | Bunting FHS Sole Society Stonehewer to Stanier Society |
Mike Richardson,
Chairman of Sussex FHG, receiving the winners cheque
from Colin Chapman, on behalf of FFHS
Anne Church, secretary of Essex FHS,
receives the award for third place
Judging Panel Co-ordinator's Report for 2007
This year the judging panel comprised Bill Harrison, Steve Archer and Des Gander. Bill's website for The Birmingham and Midland Soc. for Genealogy and Heraldry won the Award for the Best Web Site in 2005 and Steve's website for North West Kent FHS won in 2006. ABM Publishing Ltd, although still generously continuing to award a cheque for £100 to the winning society, are no longer able to provide a third judge as they have done since the Award first started. We therefore invited Des Gander, who has significant knowledge of web design in local government, to become the third member.
Des has experience in ensuring sites are accessible to the visually challenged, which all societies will need to take note of following recent EU legislation. More on this, and the need for the coding language and style sheets to conform to standards with the increased multiplicity of browsers now being used, will be shared at the special Webmaster's Seminar to be held next February.
One of the Federation's educational objectives is to encourage and publicise examples of "best practice" to help committee members and other task holders carry out their roles more easily. The administration and co-ordination of next year's Web Award, like the Elizabeth Simpson Award, will therefore come under the supervision of our Education Officer.
My thanks go to all 3 judges for the time and effort they have spent in reviewing the sites of the societies who entered. This year, there were 30 entrants, so competition was keen, and we therefore recognised a larger number of sites worthy to be Commended or Highly Commended and awarded them down in the context of the nature of the society.
As well as the cheque for £100 to the winning society, both the winner and the runners-up are able to display the FFHS Web Award emblem on their web sites, and the webmasters receive certificates, whilst any sites that are Commended or Highly Commended are also able to display an appropriate Award emblem which we will send them.
We thank all the entrants and commend them for their efforts to ensure their society has an attractive and welcoming "shop window", to sell itself and its products.
Geoff Riggs