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Client Testimonials
Salford CLC
www.salfordclc.org.uk
The site Actis designed replaced our original temporary
site, with the new site going live in February 2002. During
the development phase over a period of three months, ACTIS
were always very responsive to our requests and quick to implement
any changes. Consequently we have been very satisfied with
Actis's commitment and expertise, which has allowed the site
to be established quickly and become amongst the first
City Learning Centre websites in the country that is fully
active.
There has been a good partnership between ourselves and Actis
during the design stage, ensuring that we are very happy with
the finished product. The site has easily met our complex
requirements, enabling log-in users to add material without
needing specialist knowledge. The process has been particularly
helped in recent months when we have worked closely with just
one contact at Actis. She has been instrumental in sorting
out technical problems with the designers and technical staff,
and has helped ensure they are able to adjust the developing
site exactly to our needs.
The site has only recently gone live, but our own staff and
the users of our centre have commented on how modern the site
looks and how easy it is to use.
In light of the above, I am happy to recommend Actis
Tom Reed
Assistant Manager
Salford City Learning Centres
[Moorside site]
Salford
Manchester
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Global
Eye
www.globaleye.org.uk
Actis
have been responsible for the design and implementation of
our educational website, www.globaleye.org.uk
since the first edition in Spring 2000. During that time,
we have been very satisfied with Actis's commitment and expertise,
which has allowed the site to progress into a significant
player in our area of education.
Close communication between us and Actis during the design
stage has ensured that we are happy with the finished product,
and we have easily met our deadlines. This has been particularly
helped in recent months when we have worked closely with just
one designer at Actis. She has been instrumental in sorting
out technical problems, as well as playing an increasingly
prolific and valuable role in deciding how the site could
improve and evolve.
We have received increasing amounts of praise for the design
and content of the website, and a lot of that credit must
go to Actis. To reflect this, average hits per month have
more than doubled since the beginning of 2001, and earlier
this year, the website won the Geographical Association's
'Gold Award' for learning resources.
Simon Scoones,
Education Project Manager,
Worldaware.
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JFET
www.japanuklive.org
First of all, I would like to express my personal thanks to
Actis management and the Design team for the wonderful job
you have done with Japan UK LIVE! I was delighted when
I saw it and could not wait to show it to my colleagues.
What you and the design team were able to achieve in such
a short space of time, with the material supplied was remarkable.
I didn't know what to expect, but I did have absolute confidence
in Actis to provide something of quality. We knew that the
bilingual nature of Japan UK LIVE! would pose some challenges,
especially when dealing with a 2-byte script like Japanese!
But we were determined that the site should be totally accessible
in both languages and everything works brilliantly, even down
to the Japanese registration database and error messages.
The response has been great, people have been impressed at
how the site combines a stylish and “professional”
look, while still being ”light” enough to download
quickly at the school end. At the same time as conveying a
cross-cultural image, the look your Design team came up with
avoids the common stereotypes.
As much as anything, I have been impressed by the speed with
which the Design and Technical staff working with us respond
to queries and deal with problems. Thanks to them the regular
theme updates have been achieved smoothly. They do an excellent
job!
We are very excited about the potential for the site and are
hoping to be able to develop it further, beyond the initial
fixed term.
Thank you again for all your help.
Yours sincerely
Heidi Potter
Japan Festival Education Trust
Swire House
59 Buckingham Gate
London SW1E 6AJ
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Wandsworth
Internet Grid - WinG
First of all, I would like to express my personal thanks to
Actis management and the Design team for the wonderful
job you have done with WinG. I was so delighted when I saw
it and could not wait to get back to show colleagues in the
Education Dept. What you and the design team were able to
achieve in such a short space of time, with the material supplied
was remarkable. I didn't know what to expect, but I did have
absolute confidence in Actis to provide something of quality.
I have been telling colleagues in Wandsworth, since my first
meeting with Chris Davison last July, how good Actis is and
that you should be designing our web site. As you know it
has been a very difficult [internal] struggle to get just
to this stage, but you have given me the 'tool' I need to
take this further. I am so excited about the potential for
the site that I keep talking about it to everyone!
The response was wonderful, people have been commenting on
how 'professional' the site looks and how they want to be
a part of its development. Producing such a 'quality' site
was a very good 'political' move at this stage as we have
just had the LEA Ofsted, which has highlighted ICT as an area
we need to concentrate on.
Thank you for an excellent job!
Yours sincerely,
Kim Davies. ICT Inspector.
London Borough of Wandsworth
The Professional Centre
Franciscan Road
LONDON
SW17 8HE
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Fuelling a Revolution
– the woods that founded the steel country
www.heritagewoodsonline.co.uk
Tendering and Specification Process
Seven companies were invited to tender for the development
of the website. Of these, four submitted tenders. ACTIS were
chosen on the grounds of cost; experience in designing sites
both forming part of the National Grid for Learning and for
museums and heritage organisations; and the design of their
existing sites (including of interactive activities targeted
at children).
Site Design and Content
ACTIS submitted 5 very different initial designs for the homepage
to us, more than we were expecting. They were then prepared
to spend a lot of time combining elements from these and revising
the design until we were completely happy. The final design
for both the homepage and internal pages follows the original
specification closely, being clean and uncluttered and making
use of ‘woodland’ themes and colours. Most importantly,
I believe that the site has been designed in such a way that
it is attractive both to schools and the general public.
A primary requirement in the specification for the website
was that it should be possible for me to add additional information
and otherwise maintain the site once its initial phase was
complete. As requested, the site has plenty of scope for expansion,
both due to the amount of server space purchased by ACTIS
on our behalf, and because the design of the pages allows
for additional information to be added easily using Dreamweaver.
Timescale & Budget
As a result of the requirements of funders, there was a strict
deadline for the completion and final invoicing of the website.
ACTIS worked hard to meet this and were successful in doing
so.
Conclusion
Now that the initial development of the website has been completed,
I can categorically say that the selection of ACTIS to develop
the site was the right decision. Their whole approach has
been very professional and it has been a pleasure to work
with them. Suzanne Parris has overseen the development of
the site efficiently and unobtrusively and I have also been
impressed with the work delivered by other members of ACTIS’s
staff, in particular Steph O’Brien, the main designer
on the site.
Having seen the finished site, the response of others, both
in the South Yorkshire Forest Office and among our partners
in the three local authorities involved in the programme has
been very enthusiastic and I now look forward to receiving
the comments of others who use the site during the remaining
years of the Fuelling a Revolution programme.
Paul Maddox
Education & Interpretation Co-ordinator
South Yorkshire Forest Partnership
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The Tomato Zone
www.thetomatozone.co.uk
The British Tomato Growers Association was formed five years
ago to raise public awareness about the superb products its
members had to offer in comparison to much of what was available
on the supermarket shelves. The Association now represents
almost 90% of all British tomato growers.
In
attempting to change the eating habits of the population
at large as well as make them search out "British"
it is essential to convince children that tomatoes are great
to eat and good for them, yet make this message fun. Whilst
doing this grownups must be reassured that there is a serous
message not just another cartoon. Hence our interest in
establishing an educational website.
However,
the Association represents a wide spectrum of individuals
and businesses so trying to marry their disparate views
with a product that would appeal to children, teachers and
parents alike was a daunting prospect.
Detailed
presentations were made by our shortlist of three companies
and whilst our initial selection proved to be very good
it was clear that Actis stood out from the other two. The
mixture of serious educational knowledge, a refreshing method
of packaging this in the modern style and a proven track
record was a powerful formula. These were complimented by
competitive and easy to understand pricing.
An
initial decision is one thing, sadly service and delivery
can all too often be another and in this regard Actis have
excelled. From enthusiastic response to initial questions
following their presentation, to patience whilst agreement
on the design was sought, to achieving a very tight deadline
for initial launch at the Chelsea Flower Show, to marketing
in schools, to subsequent training and ideas for future
developments Actis have more than exceeded our expectations.
Crucially, though, the reaction from teachers and children
has been very positive as well.
For
all concerned with this project there has been a genuine
enjoyment in working with Actis and reward from the knowledge
that schools now have a very useful teaching aid that reinforces
the message of healthy, good quality British tomatoes.
Steve
Chadwick
Chairman
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