| . |
p32
Mike Roberts, owner of The N16 Web Works ( www.n16-webworks.co.uk
), offers a brief insight into local websites. If you would like your web site mentioned
in future issues, contact us at info@n16mag.com
.
 Congratulations
to Stoke Newington-based web designer Giselle Ryan, who has just won the LWT 'Whose
London?' web design competition. The site is based around her experiences of London, since
arriving here from her home town of Melbourne, Australia. With images and personal
comments about Stoke Newington, Ridley Road market and many other London landmarks, the
site gives a very personal view of what makes Stoke Newington and London so unique.
Giselle's unique and distinctive design met the judges' criteria of originality,
conciseness of content, clean sharp graphics, consistency, balance, and ease of use. The
judges included website usability guru Jakob Nielsen and Director of the Design Museum,
Alice Rawsthorn. Giselle received her award and £500 worth of Dixon's vouchers at a gala
reception and award ceremony at Warner Village Cinemas, Leicester Square, on 10 September,
in the company of Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Tessa Jowell MP. The
award ceremony was filmed and is to be televised within a three-part series on LWT on
October 27. Giselle's site can be found at www.giselles.co.uk
Another site that deserves praise is Save Our L/Rights which highlights the impact that a
planning application can have on local residents, Martyn Stevens, whose article appears on
page 6 has put together all the letters that have passed between the local residents and
the Council plus pictures which in a clear way illustrate the effect if the application
goes through. The web is a great way to spread information quickly and clearly, and local
campaigns should really make more use of the Internet to spread their news.
www.dynevor.co.uk
One way that you might want to organise a campaigning website or to tell the world about
your local organisation would be to see if you are eligible for Groundwork Hackney's
special free service to the community. Groundwork Hackney was set up in early 1994 as a
local charity which works with the community, public and private-sectors to create
sustainable environmental improvements which contribute to social and economic
regeneration.
In the last issue I mentioned two sites that use Groundwork's special software to produce
their websites, www.clissoldpark.com and www.clissoldpark.ground-level.org which deal with
Clissold Park issues. Instead of using an HTML software package, both these sites and
Groundwork Hackney's own site at www.ground-level.org
are produced online. In order to help Hackney people get on to the web,
ground-level will provide websites for Hackney groups, tenants' associations, schools and
clubs.
These sites provide the user with an easy-to-use interface that allows you to edit your
site quickly and easily without buying any more equipment or software. The site is edited
right in the browser where every page in your site shows you this button - it's that easy.
This gets rid of the most annoying thing about websites - the bother that updating them
represents. With this system you can edit your site whenever and wherever you want so that
your readers know that they are getting new and topical information.
In the past I have in equal measure praised and damned the Hackney Council site. While it
still needs more TLC, it is beginning to have some current and useful data and
information. Far more official documents are now available for downloading and at last the
calendar of meetings seems to be well up to date. For example, I was able to download the
Record Of Decisions Of The Cabinet which met on 9 September 2002. I was also able to get a
report on neighbourhood boundary changes which were to be discussed on 23 September a full
week before the Cabinet Meeting. A good place to start for this type of information is at www.hackney.gov.uk/council/index.html
. It is also on occasion useful to check out the Hackney home page as quite often
new links are highlighted on this page.
 What does drive me up the wall, and has done for months, is the total
lack of access to the planning department web site. I understand that major work is
underway to rebuild the database and to make it more accessible. In the past when you
tried to gain any information, the backend system could literally take hours to produce a
planning application. When it did arrive the information was very good - but I think many
people would have given up on it long before it arrived. Today, you don't even get the
chance to try your luck. Clicking on the planning link produces absolutely no response at
all. It would be nice to have a simple page stating that this service is currently
unavailable. The Council should also stop planning application letters and forms being
sent out inscribed with the message that the documents can be seen online, which is
patently untrue.
One last site for this issue's pot is the Knowhere Guide to Stoke Newington, an
interesting mix of views and opinions about Stoke Newington. The Knowhere Guide actually
covers most of the country and provides viewers with the ability to share their views
about each local area. There is a fun message board with all sorts of strands and reports
on shops, bars and events etc. Well worth a look.
www.knowhere.co.uk/4089.htm
next page
|
. |
