The Montreal Heart Institute's Web site (
www.icm-mhi.org
), created by multiple-media.com, earned special mention
from the jury as part of the Quebec Usability Awards, presented
by the Usability Professionals' Association. The Institute's Web
site (MHI) was also singled out for its simplicity and ease of
navigation, thanks to which the public and specialists alike have
access to a significant volume of information. As a relatively
new discipline, usability makes it possible to define and
increase the effectiveness of a product or Web site for the user
and, on this basis, to ensure greater user satisfaction.
"We wanted the new Web site to measure up to the
MHI's international reputation and influence," says Doris Prince,
head of communications and public relations at the Montreal Heart
Institute. "In multiple-media.com, we're very pleased to have found
a partner capable of producing a communication tool consistent with
our values, particularly in terms of the search for excellence and
innovation and our involvement in the community."
"The challenge posed by the MHI Web site stemmed
in part from the great diversity of publics targeted," explains
Renato Cudicio, President of multiple-media.com. "From patients to
visitors looking for information, right up to students, specialists
and researchers in cardiology, without forgetting the Institute's
partners, it was important that everyone be able to find their way
around at first glance."
Also very important for the Institute was that the Web site
be easy to consult for persons with problems related to motor
skills or with visual impairments. Thus, the interface developed by
multiple-media.com is consistent with the standards of the World
Wide Web Consortium in terms of accessibility for persons with
disabilities.
The Association des professionnels de l'utilisabilité du
Québec (the Quebec chapter of the Usability Professionals'
Association) was created in 2005 to give consumers the right to
speak on the matter. Hence, under the direction of a jury of
consumers and experts in ergonomics, these same consumers are now
able to reward Web sites for their usability.
