Official website of the year 2016

Last Friday, the Icelandic Web Awards for 2016 were presented at a ceremony in the Silverberg at Harpa. The website of the City of Hafnarfjörður – hafnarfjordur.is – won the award for Best Public Website of the Year 2016. The Icelandic Web Awards are the culmination of the web industry, held with the aim of promoting it, rewarding the best websites and encouraging those who work in this field. 

The website of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra was chosen as Website of the Year 2016 by the Icelandic Web Awards. In addition to the Symphony Orchestra's website, Sjóvá won in the large company category, and Tix.is received an award for the best webshop, while fitsuccess.is won in the web system category. A statement from the organisers of the awards ceremony says that there is great prosperity in the web industry, and this can be best seen in how well-crafted and high-quality websites are produced in Iceland today.

Official website of the year: hafnarfjordur.is

The Municipality of Hafnarfjörður launched a new website at the beginning of 2016 and has since then shaped and further developed it with the active assistance of residents, staff and other interest groups.  A great deal of preparation took place before the new website was launched, with the involvement of numerous parties, and it is therefore safe to say that this recognition is an award for all those who were involved in the work in one way or another. The website is designed and developed in close collaboration with The Think Tank and Functional web consultancy. 

„I am over the moon and proud of the result; it's a great recognition for us. It's easier said than done to reorganise and develop a user-friendly website for a large local authority that suits all interest groups. We removed a lot of content, placed a strong emphasis on a powerful search engine and editorialised search, and greatly simplified the user's navigation of the site. This would not have been possible without the input and feedback of all the relevant parties.  The staff and residents of the City of Hafnarfjörður played a major role in this. The recognition is an incentive for us to continue to achieve in this area, as well as in others.“ says Garðar Rafn Eyjólfsson, systems analyst and webmaster for the City of Hafnarfjörður. 

In the jury's review of the City of Hafnarfjörður's new website, it is stated that the role of public websites is to provide information and services. The jury considers that the City of Hafnarfjörður's website has been extremely successful. It is simple and easy to use, well-structured and with a clear navigation system. The main focus is on meeting the needs of the target audience, with the main features brought to the fore and a powerful search function placed at the forefront.

About SVEF

The Web Industry Association ( Sleep ) is the professional association for those working in web-related fields in Iceland. The association's aim is to share knowledge and promote professional working practices within the industry, to serve as a forum for its members, and to act as the public face of the profession. SVEF organises the Web Awards annually, with the first ceremony held in 2000. The association also hosts the annual IceWeb conference, an ambitious international conference on web-related topics, as well as numerous smaller lectures, discussion forums and social events for its members.

^{Photographer: Grunnar Freyr Steinsson}