The Montreal Heart Institute's Web site ( www.icm-mhi.org), created by multiple-media.com, earned special  mention from the jury as part of the Quebec Usability Awards, presented by the Usability Professionals' Association. The Institute's Web site (MHI) was also singled out for its simplicity and ease of navigation, thanks to which the public and specialists alike have access to a significant volume of information. As a relatively new discipline, usability makes it possible to define and increase the effectiveness of a product or Web site for the user and, on this basis, to ensure greater user satisfaction.

"We wanted the new Web site to measure up to the MHI's international reputation and influence," says Doris Prince, head of communications and public relations at the Montreal Heart Institute. "In multiple-media.com, we're very pleased to have found a partner capable of producing a communication tool consistent with our values, particularly in terms of the search for excellence and innovation and our involvement in the community."

"The challenge posed by the MHI Web site stemmed in part from the great diversity of publics targeted," explains Renato Cudicio, President of multiple-media.com. "From patients to visitors looking for information, right up to students, specialists and researchers in cardiology, without forgetting the Institute's partners, it was important that everyone be able to find their way around at first glance."

Also very important for the Institute was that the Web site be easy to consult for persons with problems related to motor skills or with visual impairments. Thus, the interface developed by multiple-media.com is consistent with the standards of the World Wide Web Consortium in terms of accessibility for persons with disabilities.

The Association des professionnels de l'utilisabilité du Québec (the Quebec chapter of the Usability Professionals' Association) was created in 2005 to give consumers the right to speak on the matter. Hence, under the direction of a jury of consumers and experts in ergonomics, these same consumers are now able to reward Web sites for their usability.