Eligibility and Disqualifiers

Family-friendly Personal and Commercial sites are welcome to apply. Only Webmasters and site owners may apply directly for these awards. Third party nominations must be made by email. Content must be in English or translatable using Systran technology. The following will not be considered for evaluation:

• Sites with patently offensive content including pornography, racism or discrimination, violence, hate or vulgarity (including links to the same)

• Sites which promote illegal activities such as hacks, cracks, warez or theft

• Sites that crash our browsers or computers

• Sites that require log-in, registration or password to view content (portions of the site may be secure, but will not be included in the overall evaluation.)

• Sites that violate copyright laws either directly or by “bandwidth theft”

• Sites that require sponsor visits or force multiple pop-ups

• Sites that prevent exit with Back Button via scripting or other means

• Sites with less than 6 pages of content (excluding “splash” pages) See Content Criteria Scoring for excluded content.

• Sites that will not/do not display our award if presented (exceptions for DoD Web regulations and certain commercial properties. Please note any exception requests in the application.)

• Sites submitted by anyone under the age of 14.

Evaluation

Much has been written about the quality of Web sites and site design. In the final analysis, it boils down to a few salient issues:

• Is the site constructed for maximum access?

• Given the inherent nature of Web use, does the site load quickly and efficiently without broadband requirements?

• Does the site fulfill its stated mission by providing a depth of useful, insightful or entertaining content?

• Is the site visually appealing?

These of course, are the basics. The winners pages will give you an idea of the overall quality we seek. Individual criteria that fulfill the basic mission of these awards follow…