News
Share your victories
We're open. Entering the Australian Web Awards tells your staff and your clients that you value web standards and are proud of your work. This year you have a chance to publish a version of your entry on the Australian Web Awards site. Once paid, entries can be published on a Nominations page. Please be responsible with this and act in good faith*. Your peers are watching!
Our hope is that this will highlight the different approaches developers take and showcase how you resolved the challenges.
*We do reserve the right to selectively publish.
New categories
The Startup category is open to any commercial business that at as of July 1st this year has been operating (trading) for less than two years.
If your business turned over less than $2 million in the twelve months prior to July 1st you can enter the Small Business category. And if you qualify for both, you can choose which you enter...
We've introduced these categories so that smaller budget sites are not competing with very large ones. You can only enter a site in one category unless you're entering the Innovation category. In that case you can create two separate entries for the same site - one in Innovation and one in another category.
Contact us if you need advice on which category to enter.
What did the Web Awards look like?
Here's a short video of last year's Australian Web Awards at the Menzies Hotel in Sydney.
National winners for 2014 Australian Web Awards
Congratulations to all finalists and winners. And thanks to Jess Field and Richard Keeves for running the main event at the Menzies Hotel on November 1st. Also, great support received from PayPal+Braintree, Anchor and Bankwest.
The Western Australian Museum took out the McFarlane Prize for Most Outstanding. They won the Government category and the Mobile category. Hearty congratulations to Morgan Strong and his in-house development team.
eCommerce was awarded to Just in Time Gourmet, by Clever Starfish.
Tim Oliver won the personal category.
Humaan won the commercial category (for the second year running), with Skydive Jurien Bay. They were also awarded the Helen Burgess Award in the education category for Thrive.
Juicebox Creative's Strut Dance won Culture and Events.
Social Media: Buy West Eat Best by Department of Agriculture and Food & Clarity Communications
Moble won the Not for Profit category with Dirty Feet.
Chris Duell & Matt Trimarchi won Innovation with elev.io
Congratulate your team, enjoy your win, and take advantage of the new business opportunities!
And the 2014 winners are…
The Fear of Not Winning is powerful in our community but some brave souls throw their hats over the wall. People who enter these awards are generally in the top 10% of sites for quality, so irrespective of the result, congratulations on your hard work and on having the courage to enter. Tell your clients you did it; it sends a strong signal about what you're committed to.
This list includes winners from five states and two territories. Look forward to our celebration in Sydney at the National Awards on November 1st.
|
New South Wales |
|
|---|---|
| Commercial | ClassMarker by Trent Williams, Andres Rojas |
| Government | Understanding more about your water by Sydney Catchment Authority |
| Education | Moments in Time by ABC and Education Services Australia AND |
| ConCensus by ABC and Education Services Australia | |
| Not for Profit | DirtyFeet by Moble Pty Ltd |
|
ACT |
|
|---|---|
| Commercial | Enabled Employment |
|
VICTORIA |
|
|---|---|
| Commercial | ASPAC Group by Emote Digital AND |
| Breadtop by Chromatix AND | |
| Government | Victorian Electoral Commission AND |
| Victorian Ombudsman by Get Started Pty Ltd AND | |
| Cleaner Yarra & Bay by Revium | |
| Not For Profit | EnergyInfoHub by Weave Web Communications |
| Innovation | elevio by Chris Duell & Matt Trimarchi |
| Social Media | Bosch - Winter Wonderland by Loud & Clear |
|
TASMANIA |
|
|---|---|
| Commercial | B & E by Walker Designs |
| Not For Profit | Bertrand Cadart by Walker Designs |
|
QUEENSLAND |
|
|---|---|
| eCommerce | Fifi's Fabricology by Hybrid Web/Fifi's Fabricology |
| Government | Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland |
| Education | Careflight by Brightlabs |
| Culture & Events | Virgin Australia's Happy Hour by ATechnology International |
| Mobile | Fifi's Fabricology by Hybrid Web/Fifi's Fabricology |
| Innovation | Act First by Zeroseven |
| SOUTH AUSTRALIA | |
|---|---|
| eCommerce | The Smokehaus by Rockethouse |
| NORTHERN TERRITORY | |
|---|---|
| Not for Profit | Ethos Global Foundation by Captovate |
WA results!
The rowdy, talented, well-dressed web elite of Western Australia were at Bankwest Place on October 8th to ring in the new Web Award winners. Exciting, friendly and yes, inspiring. Here are the winners:
| eCommerce | Just In Time Gourmet by Clever Starfish |
| Personal | Tim Oliver |
| Commercial | Skydive Jurien Bay by Humaan AND |
| The Herdsman by Humaan | |
| Government | The Western Australian Museum |
| Education | ECU Life Lessons by Longtail Communications AND |
| THRIVE by Humaan | |
| Culture and Events | STYLEAID by Bam Creative AND |
| Strut Dance by JuiceBox Creative | |
| Not for Profit | West Australian Music (WAM) by Humaan |
| Mobile | The Western Australian Museum |
| Social Media | Fleur McDonald by Hancock Creative AND |
| Hippo Creek by Hancock Creative AND | |
| Buy West Eat Best by Department of Agriculture and Food & Clarity Communications | |
| Innovation | Ready Steady Gov! by Jesse Yuen & Vincent Manera AND |
| Vine Collective by JuiceBox Creative |
Thanks to sponsors PayPal+Braintree and Bankwest!!
Results timing and events update
State and territory winners will be announced on Thursday 9th October at 8PM ADST, though we may sneak a few results out on Twitter from about 7.30 :p
West Australian winners, however, will be announced on Wednesday 8th at the WA event, which is a sell-out. In New South Wales though, numbers are insufficient for us to proceed with the state final which was planned for Friday October 10th. Instead, those results will be announced online Thursday, as outlined above. We will of course refund those who've already bought tickets.
There's obviously a big difference between WA, where the event is well understood, and other states, which haven't had the same exposure. Here's one area that seems to have been misunderstood: there are no finalists at state level; everyone who enters the awards is eligible to win a state award and is invited to attend the state ceremony. It's a low cost, formal-wear event with added adrenalin.
All state and territory winners qualify for the national final in Sydney on November 1st. If you do not win a state award you can still attend the national final. It's a smart thing to do. You hear direct from the judges, learn what changes are afoot and give your people something to aim for as a team.
Judges speak
In the lead-up to the Awards nights, judges have lauded improvements in Australian web sites but gave developers and clients a 'black mark' for accessibility compliance. Those who judged design, user experience, content and development praised wide-spread implementation of responsive websites, better quality content and smoother user experiences.
Accessibility judges said that there remains a lack of awareness among developers about the fundamentals. The persistent failure of most developers and clients to enter text that describes images (“alt text”) makes many web sites unusable for the visually impaired and sites that only work with a mouse can't be used by many with mobility issues. It's clear from the judges comments that very few developers know what's required to deliver a satisfactory user experience for a disabled person.
Event dates!
Get your dinner suit or party frock out: the Australian Web Awards are on Saturday, November 1st in Sydney at The Menzies. Tickets include a two-course dinner and cost $75 + the very reasonable fee that Eventbrite charge :p
State award presentations will be held in two states; here's the NSW booking link and here's the West Australian one. Those events cost $35 + fee and are also formal dress.
In other states, winners will be announced on October 9th at 8PM AEDT via the Awards EDM and this very website. Some entrants in those states are organising dinners or events to coincide with the announcement. Send us your safe-for-work photos!
All states & territories
I KNOW, RIGHT! Where's Tasmania?
In previous years, Northern Territory, ACT and Tasmania have been 'bundled' in with other larger states. This year, awards will be given in all states and mainland territories. Naturally, awards are only given where an entry meets the standard; being the only entrant in a category does not guarantee an award. All regional winners qualify to attend the national final in Sydney.
