Celebrating the First Anniversary of Net-Guide

An eventful first year for the accessible search engine and directory saw amongst other things, two award nominations and a parliamentary motion tabled about it.

(PRWEB) August 18, 2005 -- July 2005 marked the first anniversary since the launch of net-guide. net-guide is an accessible search engine and directory.

Whilst many of the major search engines and directories are easy to use they all have one common drawback for blind and partially sighted people. There is no telling whether the websites they suggest are accessible.

It can be frustrating when a search engine lists among its results what appears to be the website that holds the information a user is looking for. But when they try to read the website with screenreader software they are met with silence or scrambled sentences and paragraphs, or a quantity of images that have no useful description.

What makes net-guide unique is that all the websites in the database are checked for accessibility, and given a rating. This makes searching the internet a far less frustrating experience for some users.

When net-progress, the internet consultants behind net-guide, launched the search engine, its success over the first twelve months exceeded all their expectations. With every passing month, the size of the database has expanded, as both website owners submit websites they run, and users submit sites they like. The number of visitors, both new ones and returning ones, are also increasing month on month.

In November 2004, net-guide was short-listed for National Library for the Blind's Visionary Design Award 2004.

In December 2004, net-guide achieved the See it Right" award from the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). Speaking on behalf of the RNIB, Donna Smillie said, "net-guide's clean, accessible design makes it easy for anyone to use. When we assessed it, it was clear that a lot of thought had gone into the accessibility of the site design, and we are very pleased to issue it with our See it Right Accessible Website logo."

In January 2005, Carshalton and Wallington MP Tom Brake tabled a parliamentary motion congratulating net-progress on the success of net-guide. Tom Brake said that, The two million people in the UK with a sight problem deserve fair access to electronic information and net-guide are providing an invaluable service."

The parliamentary motion also called for fair access to electronic information for all and urged web designers to build websites that meet those needs, a requirement of the Disability Discrimination Act 1999. Lobbying of MPs by net-progress, The RNIB and the public at large lead to more than 50 MPs supporting the motion.

In June 2005, net-progress were also short-listed for the RNIBs Simply The Best Award for their work on net-guide.

Plans are in place to build upon this early success, and make net-guide an even better tool for users in the future. James Hodgson, chairman of net-progress, adds, so far net-guide has been a search tool that many people have found to be of great value. We fully intend to keep developing net-guide for our users, and to spread the word to others who might also benefit from using it."

About net-progress:
net-progress is an internet consultancy using a holistic approach to add value to a companys online presence. net-progress specializes in accessibility, quality, presence, and behavior analysis and reputation management in order to deliver measurable improvements to a business.

net-progress has been working in the field of web analytics since 1997, with clients ranging from FTSE100 companies to SMEs.

net-progress designed, built and maintains net-guide, an accessibility centric search engine and directory, which was short-listed for The National Library of the Blinds Visionary Design Award and has received RNIB accreditation. The value of this project was recently recognized in the House of Commons in an Early Day Motion signed by more than 50 MPs.

In addition to the core web analytics business, net-progress produces regular surveys on various aspects of online performance in a variety of sectors, as well as accepting commissions from trade and consumer publications. net-progress produce a regular Site Inspection feature for Ability Magazine, a campaigning publication for people who have difficulty using IT.

www.net-progress.co.uk
www.net-guide.co.uk

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