Awards and press
Awards, press and appraisal from our users
Surfing
Jay said in September 2016: Just wanted to drop you guys a line and say thank you. I was in Iceland for 16 days in September surfing, and your web site was so crucial to the trip on knowing when to move and where to go. Keep up the great work. Thanks again.
Preparing a visit to Iceland
Elizabeth wrote in August 2015: "I just wanted to thank you so much for your wonderful website, which is truly one of the most comprehensive meteorological/volcanic/driving conditions sites I have come across for any country that I have visited! I will be visiting your lovely country soon and feel most prepared thanks in large part to your up-to-date predictions and information. I am very much looking forward to visiting Iceland. Thanks again."
We do appreciate her comment, admitting that as for driving conditions we simply refer our users to the comprehensive web of the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration, road.is.
Appraisal during Bárðarbunga and Holuhraun 2014 - 2015
From Belmont, MA, USA: "Congratulations and thank you for superb coverage and public release of information about the Bárðarbunga eruption 2014 - 2015. I have been on the staff of Harvard SEAS for decades, retired now. I have visited Iceland twice, once going North to walk around Krafla and visit the geothermal station in the mid 1980's. For the past five months I have - daily - checked into your site and studied the data you have shared. I have spent many hours watching the video coverage - many in September are the finest fountain reports available. In November I was fitting the subsidence data with a rate curve. The earthquake animation you had was spectacular. The report released 30 January is just another excellent comprehensive review. The GPS motion data has been fascinating as well. Since the 1960's I have been a regular visitor to Kilauea, on rare occasion watching flows, but always fascinated. They have never displayed details as well or completely as you have. Of course now I watch them daily as well. Great job – Thanks."
From Gloucestershire, England:"Thank you for all your hard work and effort on the brilliant site of Iceland's erupting volcano. I'm glued to the site day and night, it is so brilliant."
From Reading, England:"As ever, IMO's web material is utterly excellent – really setting a high standard in good science communication."
And from Saskatchewan, Canada: "As a volcano enthusiast, if there is such a thing, and whom understands the impact a volcano eruption can have world wide, I wanted to thank you for all the amazing information on the eruption at Holuhraun over the last six months. Your website, en.vedur.is, is truly impressive."
Vancouver BC, Canada: "You folk are terrific! We visited Iceland for the first time last October ... Since then I have followed your site to keep an update on Bárðarbunga every day as well as the webcams."
Appreciation under the Eyjafjallajökull eruption
IMO web team appreciates comments like these from Sandra, 17 May 2010, although the webcams we link to are not run by us:
"Thank you for providing a daily activity summary on your website that's in English. It's very helpful to have your experience and authority to rely on for accurate reports on the current eruption in Eyjafjallajökull. The webcams have been very much appreciated and hopefully those will continue to transmit the visual picture for us here in the States."
Users are satisfied with the IMO web-site
A survey shows that 90% of users are very pleased with the IMO web (Icelandic version). More precisely, 57% consider it very good, 34% good, 8% average, less than 1% find it deficient and only one replier found it unacceptable.
Between 14-15 March 2008 the survey was open to all users of the site. No group in particular was encouraged to participate above others. The web software surveyconsole.com proved reliable and of 558 attempts 504 completed the list of questions.
Asked what they liked best about the web-site, most mentioned some of the following:
- Clarity and graphical presentation of weather
- Earthquake information in addition to weather
- Quantity of information and knowledge
Just over 60% claimed to use this web every day and about 90% daily or a few times a week. General satisfaction neither depends on age, region nor pattern of use.
Users with ISDN connections to the internet seem as satisfied as other users. This suggests that reduced speed does not affect the actual use of IMO's web-site, although somewhat aggravating to those already accustomed to greater speed.
The next step, according to the original analysis of needs and demands, is to design and implement a lighter version of the web-site for mobile phones and for slower internet connections.
Best web in public service
In February 2008, the Icelandic Meteorological Office received an award from SVEF, Samtök Vefiðnaðarins (Society for the Icelandic Web Industry), for the best Icelandic web-site in public service during 2007. Over one hundred sites were nominated in eight categories.
The awards committee commented that „rarely, have they seen a more successful overhaul of a web-site. Everything is to the site's credit - the user interface is well designed, useful and accessible. The site is fully interactive, making it possible to browse the latest information about weather conditions and earthquake activity. The best web-site in public service is www.vedur.is “.
Europe's most accessible weather?
One of the main newspapers in Iceland published an article in July 2007, claiming that the Icelandic Meteorological Office runs one of the most accessible meteorological web-sites in Europe.
The article was written by a specialist from SJA ltd, who certify web accessibility for users with disability. When launched seven weeks earlier the web-site had already achieved such certification based on the international WAI or Web Accessibility Initiative.
IMO fullfilled criteria 1 and 2. A short survey of other meteorological web-sites in Europe (using WMO list for region 6) had revealed that none of the web-sites would have fullfilled criteria 2. Only two web-sites would possibly have passed criteria 1 after making certain changes.
Therefore, IMO can proudly claim to run one of the most accessible meteorological web-sites in Europe with regard to users with disability.
