Calthorpe Wins “Most Accessible Website” (19th September 2007)
What a day! Winnng the category with Calthorpe is a landmark for me. Professionally, landmarks include:
- Registering at Accessify Forum.
- First e-mailed Calthorpe in November 2005.
- Signed the first contract with Calthorpe.
- Site first went live in March 2006.
- I got snapped up by sdesign.
- Solas Associates is my first build with Phil Smears.
- First accessibility audit is for the UK Department for Transport.
- Attending Internet World 2007 as my first conference experience.
- Auditing e-learning courses in Flash with AbilityNet.
- Regular builds and supplying CSS fixes.
- Winning this award.
Being successful at something I care about has been a dream of mine since the day I could stack building blocks. To have overcome the uncertainties, learnt from my mistakes and been supported by my family and so many other like-minded developers is tremendous. It’s a fairy tale and a reality all at once.
Sure, it “only” covers Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. But there were nearly 100 entrants in this category. Winning it puts Calthorpe’s site approximately in the 1st percentile, as my Dad noticed on the way back. He and my mum both got a bit misty-eyed when I received the award with Cathy Anwar, Calthorpe’s headteacher. My heart was pounding so hard it nearly broke right out of my chest!
Whilst at the event I chatted to the developer of Court Moor’s website. He is a couple of years younger than me and is eerily similar to how I was at that age: keen but uncertain.