Scoring

Gold - 95-100 points
Silver - 89-94 points
Bronze - 79-88 points
Merit - 65-78 points

Caring Site Award - awarded at Evaluator(s)' discretion to those sites that promote spay and neuter of all non-breeding or non-show animals, and animal welfare sites. This award is not rated and carries no point value from any of the Rating Indexes.

Points Possible

Content & Purpose: 0-40 points
Design & Layout: 0-35 points
Navigation: 0-15 points
Impression: 0-10 points
Bonus: 0-5 points

Content & Purpose 0-40 Points:
  • Is your site a Personal or commercial site, whether stand alone or not - (2 points possible)
  • Does your site contain any spelling errors? (10 points possible - 1 point deduction per error; maximum of 10 points)
  • Is the content matter grammatically correct and with correct sentence structure (including punctuation)? (5 points possible - 1 point deduction per error; maximum of 5 points deduction)
  • Is a central theme or subject matter evident on the entry page of your site? (5 points possible)
  • Does your site add to or benefit the internet community in some way? (3 points possible)
  • Does your site contain "under construction" or similar type language on any page? (2 points for Not having any such language possible)
  • Is your site educational? Did we learn something new? Did it entertain us? Is it interesting? (8 points possible)
  • Would the visitor(s) want to return to your site? (5 points possible)
Design & Layout 0-35 Points:
  • Is the opening page attractive, free of clutter, no more than 2 page downs in 1024x768 resolution? (1 point possible)
  • Is your site consistent throughout in its use of background color, text color, text size, font, and navigation? (2 points possible)
  • Does your site have broken external links? (4 points possible)
  • Do all external links open in a new external window? (3 points possible)
  • Does your site contain proper META tags on all pages? (3 points possible)
  • Does your site contain proper TITLE tags on all pages? (3 points possible)
  • Do all images, graphics, or photos have an ALT tag? (3 points possible)
  • Do all images, graphics, or photos have height and width tag? (2 points possible)
  • Does your site contain a statement that shows when the site was last updated? (2 points possible)
  • If your site collects information from its users, does your site have a Privacy statement? (3 points possible)
  • Does your site have a copyright statement? (3 points possible)
  • Does your site use the copyright symbol and copyright phrase on each page of the site? (2 points)
  • Does your site have less than 3 images that are missing? (3 points possible)
  • Does your site make use of comet or cursor trailers? (1 point possible for NOT having it)
Navigation 0-15:
  • Is your site's navigation user-friendly and on every page? (4 points possible)
  • Does your site have a Site Map that is accessible from every page in the main navigation menu? (3 points possible)
  • Does your site have a contact form or an alternate way (i.e., email link) to contact the site owner or web master on every page? (2 points possible)
  • Does your site contain any (noticeable) scripting errors? (1 point possible)
  • Does your site make use of a "Top of page" link on every page? (3 points possible)
  • Does a visitor to your site ever have to make use of their browser's "back" button? (2 points possible)
Impression 0-10:
  • Does your site contain a good use of graphics, images, photos, and text?
  • If your site has a Flash introduction, do you offer a visitor a way to "skip" the introduction? (3 point deduction if no "skip" option)
  • If your site has music or sound effects, is there a clearly visible option to turn it off? (2 point deduction if there is no off button)
Bonus 0-5:
  • Does your site have no or only one page of transition effects (entry page is okay)
  • Does your site comply with, and display, W3C, valid html, valid css, etc?
  • Does your site comply with, and display, participation in one or more of the safe site organizations: Safe Surf, ICRA, and Family Safe Site, etc.?
  • Does your site indicate what resolution and browser the site is best viewed in?
  • Does your site have a "Top of Page" link on long pages (3 scrolls in 1024 x768 resolution)?
  • Does your site provide an alternative text link navigation if the site uses non-text links, javascript, etc.?
  • Does your site view equally well in other major browsers?
  • Does your site have a horizontal scroll bar when viewed in 800 x 600 resolution and up?
  • Is there a good use of space (not too much white space) on the pages?
  • Does your site break up extremely long pages into one or more pages?

 

Page Updated - March 7, 2008
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