Jodi Commendation for Thackray Museum's Website

Thackray Museum on par with British Museum, V&A and National Trust.

The newly developed website is a winner with Judges on the Jodi Awards panel.

At the award ceremony held at the British Museum, the Thackray's new onlone presence was recognised with a Commendation, pushing the national year of reading onto second place in the catagory "Website Excellence on a Small Budget"

Other catagories of the Jodi awards 2008 were won by large national organisations, including the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the National Trust.

The Awards celebrate digital projects in museums and other heritage organisations where particular care is given to making digital resources accessible for everybody.

"We are very proud of our achievement" said Thackray CEO Almut Gruner after the ceremony "It takes a lot of effort, enthusiasm and creativity to produce a good website - to achieve this on a relatively small budget is a credit to our web designers, 9xb from Harrogate, and staff at the thackray museum. We have shown that you don't have to be big to be good"

The Thackray Museum's website was in dire need of an injection of life, but funding was short for the museum which is run as a charity. In 2007, the museum successfully secured a sponsorship package. Sponsorship partners INEOS and IOM3 sponsored and exhibition and  education resources - and a new design for the museum's website.

"From the start, we wanted the new website to make a difference" says Almut "Our web designers, 9xb, got hooked onto the idea of working with visually and learning impaired students as well as teenage kids to make sure the new website appeals to all potential visitors"

"The new website is informative, fun and easy to navigate, even for those who find it difficult to access digital resources" says Almut.