Call for nominations - 2009 Jodi Awards

Jodi Awards 2009 – national and international this year
Call for nominations - Contact: Ross Parry, Jodi Mattes Trust, tel 0116 252 3963. Email: rdp5@leicester.ac.uk

Nominations are now being sought for the Jodi Awards  2009. The awards are for museums, galleries, libraries, archives, arts organisations and heritage venues that use digital technology to widen access to information, collections learning and creativity for disabled people .

Every kind of digital technology is eligible, e.g. websites, in-gallery interactives, audio-guides, PDA tours, multi-media projects. Three awards are UK wide:
·    Digital Access Online
·    Digital Access Onsite
·    Digital Access for People with a Learning Disability – given jointly with the Rix Centre

And new in 2009:

·    Digital Access Online –International

Matthew Cock, Chair of the Jodi Mattes Trust and Head of Web at the British said: “The Jodi Awards celebrate practice that inspires locally, nationally or internationally. We welcome nominations from all kinds of projects, small and big, low-tech and hi-tech and for small and large audiences.  What counts is the value of your project and the quality of your engagement with disabled people.”

2009 is an exciting year for the Jodi Awards. First given in 2003, the Jodi Awards started out in museums, libraries and archives. This year, the Jodi Mattes Trust Art are particularly keen to encourage galleries and art organisations to nominate their projects. The Trust is pleased to acknowledge grant aid from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council  for the Jodi Awards 2009.   

The International Award for Digital Access Online is an exciting new departure, made possible by sponsorship in kind from the Human-Computer Interaction Research Group at the University of York , which undertakes web accessibility testing for the Jodi Awards. The same disabled users who assess UK websites will test overseas websites in the English language .

The Jodi Awards will be announced on 2 December at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s prestigious Sackler Centre at a joint event with the Museums Computer Group . 

Deadline for nominations is Friday 25 September 2009. Full information on how to apply is available at: http://tinyurl.com/nqhhf8

Jon Pratty
Secretary: Jodi Mattes Trust

Twitter/jon_pratty
www.disabilityartsonline.org.uk
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jonnypratty@gmail.com