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 Netscape and IE? Which versions (3.0 or better only? Or will it work on older software?)

Visual design and layout

Can the page be viewed without too much scrolling back and forth or up and down?
Is the text legible against the background?
Do ads "pop-up" in a new window over the page as it loads (like Geocities pages?)
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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See also Virginia Montecino's web evaluation page at http://mason.gmu.edu/~m ontecin/web-eval-sites.htm