Auto Trader sets up web usability awards

Auto Trader, the on and offline motoring magazine, is setting up the Auto Trader Website Usability Awards for the motor industry in an attempt to drive best practice.

The awards will be based on the company's Website Usability Study, now in its third year and carried out by eDigital Research. The study looks into various aspects of usability including quality of customer service, design, navigation, search tools and research information.

Craig Stevens, director of new media at Auto Trader said: "We are in a position where we can pass on the experience that we have gained from our ten years online.

"The biggest challenge facing the industry is that sites have been designed without any vision of what they have to do, people spend a lot of money on whizzy applications without knowing what the objective of the site is," he said.

The Auto Trader Website Usability Awards will highlight the top three manufacturer finalists in a number of categories, rewarding one winner per category and an overall winner receiving the accolade of Manufacturer Website of the year. A separate strand will focus on the dealer sites, with four categories and an overall winner to be selected.

The Awards ceremony will take place on 4th September at the Savoy River Room in Central London.