Yes we are open to accept entries…
The Australian Web Awards were launched on 6 June to very little fanfare. Port80s in Perth and Melbourne advertised that we were now open for entries and a presentation was given in Perth by Helen Burgess to half a dozen interested persons on the whole judging process.
I will go through some of the information that was discussed that night as well as provide some guidance on entering the awards.
Eligibility
The Australian Web Awards is open to all organizations and individuals involved in designing, building, Websites, and Mobile sites for business, consumer or general audiences in Australia.
Entries must have in general use for at least part of the current financial year, that is launched by 30 June 2012.
Entries should be entered under the state of the Head Office for the design / development company. For example: the Perth office did the work and the Head Office is in Melbourne then the entry would go under the state of Victoria.
There is no limit to the number of entries that may be submitted by any design or development company, however you can only enter one website into one category with an option to enter into the mobile category.
For example: your believe that your site should be both in the Commerical and E-commerce categories, you are only allowed to enter that site int one category Commerical or E-commerce, not both.
A completed online entry form and fee must accompany each entry.
All companies entering their chosen sites have until 12 midnight WST on 15 July 2012 to get their entry in by completing the online entry form and paying their entry fee.
NOTE: Currently we have not activated our payment system as we are testing it before making available to you. Please be patient and take the time to fill out or edit your entry. We will notify entrants when the payment system is available.
Entries are accepted once we have confirmation of payment. The entries next step is Stage 1 of Judging - Validation from 16 July 2012. Judging for the second stage commences when that has finished.
What category should I be in?
The committee often gets emails asking for help to determine which category the website entry should be put in. My advice is to go back to the purpose of the site. The site's purpose should provide you with the information that makes your decision easier as to what category it goes into.
For example: if the purpose of the site is inform the public about a product, provide help documentation and a contact point for the company then I would put the website into the Commerical category. On the other hand if the site was to sell the product along with all the aforementioned then I would put the site into the E-commerce category.
For those developers who would like to submit their native mobile application, (coded specifically for IOS or Android), you should enter the application into the Innovation Category. This category looks at the new and wonderful creations that exist in our tech world.
There is no mobile category this year as the trend is for websites to be viewable on all platforms either through responsive design or mobile specific sites. We have made this a criteria for judging. If you would like your site to be judged for the" Best Overall Mobile Site" award please select the mobile option on your entry.
Unacceptable Material
Entries that contain pornographic material, propagate "hate" messages, make defamatory statements, or which are otherwise extraordinarily offensive are not eligible.
Websites
All entries into the Web Awards are to be provided as URLs entered into the online entry system. Entries must have been in general use for at least part of the last financial year, that is launched before 30m June 2012 . Any website that requires a login or user registration, is required to have an account made available to the judges for judging of the site in the second stage.
Mobile
Mobile Website entries must be accessible via a mobile phone, PDA or other mobile device. The mobile criterion will be judged on a mobile device.
We hope that the above information helps with your entry into the awards.
