NEW YORK (Feb. 1, 2010) — The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)’s Web site was recognized as “Best in Class” by the Interactive Media Council (IMC). It is the top honor given by IMC in its Interactive Media Awards (IMA) competition.
PRSA completed an extensive redesign of its Web site in 2009, its first in more than five years. The new site earned high marks in the five evaluative criteria — design, content, feature functionality, usability, and standards compliance and cross-browser compatibility — to best 20 other entries in the public relations category.
“We’re thrilled to be able to say to our members and the broader public relations and communications community that we’ve given them an award-winning Web site,” said PRSA President and COO William M. Murray, CAE. “Our staff worked tirelessly on the redesign, examining best practices, surveying Web sites of similar organizations, soliciting input from PRSA members and consulting design and SEO experts.”
The resulting Web site imparts a fresh, modern look and feel, and provides PRSA members, other public relations industry professionals and academics in the field with a number of important new benefits. For example, new navigation menus are more logical, context-specific and interconnected, making it easier for users to find industry intelligence, access learning resources and build their professional networks. Also, vastly improved search functionality helps users find precisely relevant information quickly and easily.
In addition, an exciting new feature, “MyPRSA,” allows PRSA members to create their own user profiles and contact lists, and indicate preferences that can be used to deliver news and information that appeals to their individual expertise and interests. Social media, including blogs, podcasts and networking and sharing tools, are more tightly integrated, as well.
Enhancements to PRSA’s Web properties will continue in 2010. PRSA plans to completely redesign its Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Web site, in addition to creating customizable Web site templates for each of its 110 local Chapters.
About the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
With more than 31,000 members, PRSA is the largest organization of public relations professionals and students. PRSA is comprised of 110 local Chapters organized into 10 geographic Districts; 16 Professional Interest Sections that focus on issues, trends and research relevant to specialized practice areas, such as technology, health care, financial communication, entertainment and sports, and travel tourism; and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), which has more than 300 Chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. PRSA is headquartered in New York.
About the Interactive Media Awards
The Interactive Media Awards (IMA) were created by the Interactive Media Council (IMC), a nonprofit organization of leading Web designers, developers, programmers, advertisers and other Web-related professionals. The IMA competition is designed to elevate the standards of excellence on the Internet.
