The finalists for the 3rd annual WA Web Awards have been announced, and our favourite ColdFusion/Fusebox 4 site, the Perth International Arts Festival, is short-listed in the non-profit category. Readers of this blog may recall this site was also a nominee in the Webby Awards earlier this year. Another Clever Starfish site, for pet photographer Ken Drake, is also a finalist in the small business category.

The competition is stiff and the finalists show a wide range of outstanding work. The judging coordinator, who was responsible for initial checking and validation of entries, said that she was impressed and encouraged by the improvement in the quality of entries since last year – which says great things about both the awards and the web industry in Perth.

While we’re talking awards, today the nominations opened for another Australian web site award, the McFarlane Prize for excellence in Australian Web Design. This is the second year this prize, named in memory of Australian author and web pioneer Nigel McFarlane, has been run. The judging, by a panel of experts, focuses strongly on accessibility, web standards and usability as well as design. Anyone can nominate a site, as long as it was developed in Australia by an Australian company, or by Australian citizens or permanent residents, and there’s no cost involved. Nominations close August 31, and the winner is announced at the Web Directions South conference at the end of September (which I will be attending, naturally).