One Year and Counting
On January first of 2006, with the construction done and the team assembled, we launched this project with the hope our visitors would prove that accessible sites don’t have to lack in functionality and good looks. We knew there was a successful marriage to be had, but we weren’t convinced the rest of the world was aware of this. We thought accessible sites had a bad rep in some people’s eyes.
Our mission has been successful so far with the help of talented developers from all over the world who submitted to us their fine works. Some were better than others — we do have four award levels, after all — but a handful had extra brilliance. These extra special sites would be our “Classic Universal Design winners.” Whether it was for superior accessibility and solid design, or stunning design and solid accessibility, the following sites really made the grade (shown highest scoring to lowest):
- Government Offices of Sweden → Score: 26.47
- Noteworthy (2) → Score: 25.52
- Agentur 52eins → Score: 25.48
- University of California, Berkeley - Spanish Dept → Score: 25.30
- Little Blue Plane → Score: 25.08
Note: The “2″ above refers to a second submission.
Again, these are the “Classics.” There is an award level one higher than this, though: The “Timeless Universal Design Award.” It’s an extra difficult award to get and none of the submissions have attained this level so far. We hope to see a site reach this level in 2007.
To the benefit of those who submitted sites and were graded, it should be known that none of the sites in our showcase should be underrated. All are good. Just being added to our grading queue has been difficult for many. Just jump down to our footer and see the submission numbers.
Between tough submission criteria and a thorough grading checklist, we don’t make it easy on those we put through the paces.
It’s a lot of work for us as well. Checking sites in, communicating with our submitters, and the lengthy job of grading sites — in addition to our commitment to articles — well, we work at this.
We’d like to thank those who encourage us and those who help us. Your support means a great deal. We’d also like to thank the people building the sites we grade. They offer quality web accessibility while trying not to forgo style. It can be done… this you’ve proven. Thanks, really.
Care to post a comment or ask a question?
