Web Site Evaluative Criteria

Loading and Viewing

• Does the page load quickly (especially images and icons)?
• Does it use javascript or other special effects? Does it use them properly?
• Is loading hampered by background images or sounds? Are they needed?
• Is it platform and browser independent?
• Will it look good in Mozilla-based browsers and IE? Will it work on older software?

Visual design and layout

• Can the page be viewed without too much scrolling ?
  • vertical (up & down) scrolling is OK, but horizontal (back & forth) is a serious flaw
• Is the text legible against the background?
• Do ads "pop-up" or "pop-under" in a new window as the page loads?
• Does the page use frames? Does it have to? Does it use them properly?

Audience

• Who, presumably, is the audience for the site?
• How can you tell?

Content

• Does the page present original information? Links to other sources?
• Is the content appropriate for the site's presumed audience?
• Is the content relevant; that is, does the site provide insightful new information, a collection of well-chosen links, or a haphazard, thrown-together collection of "possibly interesting" information?

Links

• Do the links work?
• Are the links presented in some logical order?
• Do the links lead to authoritative sites?
• Do they lead to current sites?

Currency

• When was the page last updated?
• How can you tell?

Authority

• Who is responsible for the information on the page?
• What authority do they have?
• Have they written other works, either on the web or in print?
• Has their work been reviewed by others in the field?
• Is this an official page or a personal homepage? How can you check?
• Are there links back to a institutional or official home page?
• Is there a mailto link to the webmaster or content authority?

Bias

• Is the site a promotion or an advertisement for a product or a service?
• Is the author taking sides in a controversial issue?
• If so, are other sides represented accurately and fairly?
• If not, are you certain there really is no disagreement on this issue?

 

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Dean Taciuch
GMU English Department

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.