It is certainly fair to say that a lot of bell ringers appear to enjoy making their own websites, for themselves, their tower or areas. There are a huge range of websites out there, serving a wide range of interests and with a huge amount of useful content – this is partly the reason why Resource Finder was launched.
In addition to this, there are of course the various ‘official’ bodies that each have a strong web presence. This is the key area I think we can address. The CCCBR, Ringing World, Ringing Foundation and new bodies like the ITTS and Association of Ringing Teachers all have websites with information. They bring together various aspects of ringing such as…
- promotional work
- publishing and sale (even if not actually online, why not??)
- regulation
- record keeping
- towers (i.e. places to perform/do it)
- news
- training/education
New bodies like the National Youth Forum are likely to only add to this list of ‘official’ sources.
What I’ve also gained is an appreciate for how other sports and activities do their websites. Swimming I think does this better than any other activity I have looked at, with an integrated website found at a great web address – swimming.org (anyone thinking bellringing.org…?). On this they have a major recruitment section, the training body, information about professional swimmers, record keeping, news, and the governing body all tied together in a seamless website which is easy and enjoyable to use.
Could ringing do anything like this?
I’m obviously not suggesting this is the only swimming site on the internet, indeed they link out to many more, but it is a professional and smart home for their activity. Ringing is a little disjointed and has a lot of overlap. This is, of course, due to the overlapping terms of reference and activity.
For example, both the CCCBR PR Committee and the RF are engaged in publicity, whilst the CCCBR Education Committee are supporting the RF backed ITTS programme, from which has come the Association of Ringing Teachers. Where does the National Youth Forum and Association of Ringing Teachers come? More independent sites? All the organisations also have their own news as well as news which is appropriate for the rest of the Exercise.
Recent work on the new UK Government project to have all government services and departments accessible solely through the website gov.uk is another well delivered example of centralisation. It is designed to be less expensive and easier to maintain, but about all to focus on user experiences – making it simple and consistent to find government information and services.
Sadly, I’m not sure if this can ever happen in ringing – there needs to be an integration of the parties involved and a comprehensive vision of the online presence demanded. Neither of which we seem to have, nor the wider will to action it.
This is a deliberately provocative post, and does not mean to offend any of the online efforts of each body – which on the whole are excellently, if separately, delivered.
I would love to know your opinions, please use the comment form below.
