ARS Web Site Judging Criteria

Purpose and Scope	The purpose of this document is to provide the judging criteria used for the ARS Web Site Contest.

ARS Contest Contacts	Jolene Adams, ARS Webmistress - Jolene_adams@ix.netcom.com Karl Bapst - rosenut7673@earthlink.net Meg Peterson - meg21@stny.rr.com Glenn Fiery - mtnskier@earthlink.net Sari Hou - sarihou@uninets.net Siobhan Carr - TQOATS@aol.com Stephanie Gerster - steph@eihpets.com Terry Hart - myrose1@pacbell.net
General Contest Rules	The ARS Web Page Contest will be held annually. A $10 'voluntary' fee is charged to defray the costs of running this contest and collating the information. For this fee, a concise appraisal of your site will be sent to you after the initial judging session. You will need to supply a credit card number when filling out the Entry Form. Each District or Local Society with a web page can register for the Web Site Contest by going to the ARS web page and filling in the contest form (www.ars.org/Forms/website-entryform.htm). Your web page must be published on the Internet by April 30, of the contest year and remain an active site during the year in order to be considered for the contest awards. Web pages will be reviewed quarterly. The minimum requirements for a well-designed web page will be used in the evaluation of your site. Points will be awarded on a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the highest rating. The final review will be conducted at the end of December each year. The web page with the highest point score will be awarded the ARS Gold Certificate for Best District or Local Society Web Page for the year. The runner-up will receive the ARS Silver Certificate and the 2^nd runner-up will receive the ARS Bronze Certificate. Awards will be presented at the ARS Spring Convention. Results of the contest will be announced in the American Rose magazine. The winning web sites will have their URL prominently displayed on the ARS site during the April - June season of the year the award is announced.

Judging Criteria

Score

	1 -- Site Design	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
1.1	Visually appealing presentation
1.2	Clear, intuitive objective of web site
1.3	Effective use of the medium
1.4	Consistent look and feel across the pages
1.5	Compliance with ARS "minimum requirements" guidelines
1.5a	Link to ARS web site
1.5b	Published/Last modified date on top page (updated within six months)
1.5c	Copyright notice on each page
1.5d	Meta tags used
1.5e	Site contact listed
1.5f	Alt tags used
1.5g	Appropriate Title and Heading tags
1.5h	Functional for 'text only' browsers
1.5i	Functional in I.E., Netscape, AOL
1.6	Consistent graphics style and icons
1.7	Easy, straightforward navigation
1.8	Fast loading time; optimized web graphics

	2 -- Site Functionality	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
2.1	Search feature is available
2.1a	Results consistent with search request (parameters)
2.2	Site map included
2.3	What's New included
2.4	Site appropriate for user sophistication level
2.5	Community pages, discussion forums, message boards available
2.6	Registration / membership required (Yes/no)
2.6a	If user data requested, privacy statement included
2.6b	If registration or user data required, security policy easily found and clearly explained
2.7	Were broken links or error messages encountered? (if yes, number)

	3 -- Visitor Value	Q1	Q2	Q3	Q4
3.1	Content relevant to target audience
3.2	Credible, timely, topical information
3.3	Content date insures site updated within last six months
3.4	Clear, easy to read organization; uncluttered and easily scanned
3.5	Clear feedback links and/or contact information
3.6	Local society officers or local society contact information listed
3.7	Plug-ins required (audio, video, Flash, Shockwave, etc.)? (Yes/no)
3.7a	If plug-ins required, clear user instructions for use and installation
3.8	Quantity of rose care / cultural information offered
3.9	Quality of rose care / cultural information offered
3.10	Allow users to receive customized / personalized content