Plainly speaking … Council website is the best
Wednesday, December 14 2005
Scottish Borders Council's website has won the UK's highest award for use of plain English.
Judges of the 2005 Plain English Campaign awards also praised the website for its lay-out, colour scheme, "excellent" news and local life sections, and accurate search facility. "If only all council and government websites could be as well-designed as this one!" they said.
At a high-profile award ceremony in central London yesterday, SBC Convener Alasdair Hutton joined a select line-up of winners including The Guardian, the BBC, the Edinburgh Evening News and ITV. He received the award with Acting SBC Website Manager Steve Cullen. The prizes were presented by the well-known journalist and broadcaster Matthew Parris.
"We have seen a number of good websites this year, but Scottish Borders has built a site that is pleasurable to use, despite being a council site!" the judges commented. "Nicely laid-out, with a good colour scheme, it contains a wealth of information without being confusing."
Steve Cullen said, "This award is a huge pat on the back for everyone who has been involved with the website since its launch last year. Credit must go to the officers who helped set up the site, and to our army of editors around the Council who keep the information flowing in. It is absolutely fantastic for a relatively small Scottish local authority to have gained recognition at such prestigious awards. A website should always aim to improve on itself and that is what we will continue to do at Scottish Borders Council."
Councillor Hutton, himself a former BBC journalist, said, "Councils have a reputation for gobbledygook and not using one word where 25 will do. Now we have proof that, in the case of Scottish Borders, this is not true. I am very proud of our staff who have achieved this superb award."
The Plain English Campaign awards have been the public champion of clear, unpretentious language for the past 26 years. In 1991 a media category was included. This is the fifth year that an award has been made to a website. Previous website winners include BBC Newsround and Yorkshire Dales National Parks . The ceremony also included Golden Bull booby prizes for the year's most baffling gobbledygook.
Yesterday's six media winners were chosen for "the clarity of their reporting". The judges took into account nominations and
comments from Campaign supporters.
The winners were:
* Best National Newspaper: The Guardian
* Best Regional Newspaper: Edinburgh Evening News
* Best National Television Programme: Sunday AM (BBC)
* Best Regional Television Programme: London Tonight (ITV)
* Best National Radio Programme: Today with Pat Kenny (RTE)
* Best Regional Radio Station: BBC Radio Jersey
* Best website: Scottish Borders
Unified Solutions.