Points System

Design and Coding: 50 points.
A responsible Webmaster will exhibit good design, color coordination and with a nice flow of all elements. I will check to see that if you use flash, java applets or java script that they function properly. Proper application will be an enhancement to your site and not a distraction. I will check for correct meta tags, page titles and alt image tags with height and width. The html code on your site will be checked according to W3C standards. I will review sites that are not HTML 4.01 or XHTML compliant but we expect the coding should be free of errors. It will be difficult to achieve an award greater than Silver without being HTML or XHTML compliant.

Navigation: 10 points.
A good Webmaster will have more than one form of navigation. A site map and a links bar or other forms of navigation are crucial for a good site. Your visitors should be able to move freely around the main areas of your site from any page. They should never be required to use the back button. We like to see multi directional buttons on the bottom of pages and page up buttons on pages over three scrolls.

Award Presentations: 10 points.
A good Webmaster will be proud of his achievements and honor his award givers by a proper display complete with laudations. We would prefer to see all awards indexed, prominently displayed with rated and non rated awards on separate pages. Your display should have the correct alt image tags with height and width.

Purpose and Balance: 10 points.
Your topic can be anything you choose, we expect to see more than a list of links or banners, sites with just banners and links will not be considered for an award. We expect to see a good knowledge of your topic. We hope you have achieved a good overall balance between your presentation and the content you used to convey your topic. Please be sure that your site is in English or has an English version.

Home Page or Initial Impression: 10 points.
A good Webmaster will be able to keep the interest of his visitor. A well written interesting home page makes a world of difference. Please review my criteria thoroughly to insure what we are expecting.

Points:
Design and basic functionality 50 points
Content 30 points
HTML 20 points

To be awarded your site MUST score a minimum of 70% in every section.

Minimum score is:
Design and basic functionality 20 points
Content 20 points
HTML 20 points

If your site scores less than the minimum score in any one category it will not be awarded.

Award Level points:
Gold 90-100 points or 90% from the total score of 100 points.
Silver 89 - 80 points or 80% from the total score of 100 points.
Bronze 79 - 70 points or 70% from the total score of 100 points.
Keepsake 69 - 60 points or 60% from the total score of 100 points.

 

Point Deduction Criteria

Points will be deducted for each infraction. (Based on a per site basis...not per page.)

1. ICRA or Safe Surf Tag -10 Points
    (Hint: Be sure to double-check your site here - ICRA Label Tester) (No Label of any kind is a DQ, a label that     won't validate is a points deduction.)
    * This is a big one for me. It is too easy for you not to do this *

2. Spelling & Grammar -5 points
*If your site contains more than 1 spelling error per page*

3. No Music Turn Off -5 points
*If you do not have it so I can turn off the music on your site*

4. Applets that do not work properly -10 points
*Applets should not crash my browser or have errors that cause me problems*

5. Use of Back Button -5 points
*Visitors should never have to use their back button to navigate through your site*

6. Page Load -10 points
*If your site takes longer than 90 seconds to load on a 56k modem*

7. External links -10 points
*If your external links do not open in a new window*

8. Internal links -10 points
*If your internal links load in a new window*

9. Site Map -8 points
*If you do not have a site map*

10. Copyright Statement -8 points
*If you do not have a copyright statement* >

11. Privacy Statement -8 points
*If you do not have a privacy statement*

12. Disclaimer -8 points
*If you do not have a disclaimer*

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Diamond Award – Cannot be applied for. Given to one top site per month.

Gold Award - To win this award, you must score 90-100 points.
Silver Award - To win this award, you must score 80-89 points.
Bronze Award - To win this award, you must score 70-79 points.
Keepsake Award - To win this award, you must score over 60 points.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Total points that can be deducted on the violations of the above criteria depend on how well your site is designed. The points list is only a guideline. The overall impression of the site will be a factor in the final score. If you have any questions or need clarification please e-mail me before you submit your site. After the technical criteria has been assessed, the personal impressions of the evaluator will play a large role in the score.

Be sure that you type your URL correctly, because I will not evaluate those sites that have incorrect information. And this includes your email address, as it is important for sending you the award you might win from the Thomas Sims Graves Website Awards program.

In no way do I require you to sign my Guestbook to win an award.  Signing is your option and strictly voluntary. It will neither help nor hinder your chances of winning.

I will not require you to buy anything, watch ads you don't want to see, or ask you to donate money to me or anyone else.