Dear All,
Having read Ian Crawley's response, I hope nobody will mind my saying that
it is still rather lacking. He implies that the sector has been remiss in
not thinking about good web design, and this is simply not the case. There
are several fora for discussing these issues, not least the MCG and the
Regional ICT Fora, and these are supported by a range of guidelines and
examples of best practice in web development (see the latest issue of Museum
Practice magazine for examples). In a wider context, museums are aware of,
and make regular use of the Worldwide Web Consortium guidelines, RNIB
guidance and the new NOF-digitise technical standards available through the
Peoples Network website (http://www.peoplesnetwork.gov.uk).
The plain fact is that if he is sincere in his intentions to improve the
level of quality in museum web design, he could do so much more
constructively through existing channels, particularly if he were prepared
to offer information about himself and his professional interest in this
area.
Best regards,
Nick Poole
ICT Adviser
Resource: The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries
16 Queen Anne's Gate
London
SW1H 9AA
Tel 0272731410
Website: http://www.resource.gov.uk
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ian Crawley [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2001 3:57 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: museum-webguide.co.uk
>
> Well.....we seem to have got a few people cross and many more talking
> about
> web design. That is the intention of our website. And we will begin to
> show
> examples of good web museum design fairly soon. Perhaps MCG list members
> would like to offer crits of godd/poor museum websites for us? And we will
> also try offer constructive advice.
>
> We don't want to shame or humiliate anyone and maybe we came on too
> strong,
> but at least we got your attention. And maybe our own site is not an
> example of web design at its best. We even missed a couple of typos
> ourselves !
>
> But we are offering a forum for debate on museum web design.
>
> The three sites featured could very quickly and easily make the necessary
> improvements. We hope they will.
>
> For the time being we will keep our heads below the parapet.
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