The Role of Evaluators
by Richard Berends, Webmaster
The Maestro Awards of Excellence
15 November 2000
The Internet has become one of the most popular hobbies in the world, and exactly the same is true about creating websites! Yes, creating your own website is easier than you think! It is a pastime already practiced by millions across the globe. With the help of the many services freely available on the Web, almost anyone can create their own website!
Ever since the beginning of the Internet, the quest for improving it has been a reality. New features and gadgets are added every day. As a result, the entire Internet is constantly under construction and on the move! It's a dream come true for website developers and designers, especially when it generates revenue, but a nightmare for site evaluators who have to deal with the new developments. However, the basics will NEVER change. This will become clearer as you read this article.
The Human Factor
You need to understand that your website gets evaluated by human beings — not machines — when you apply for awards. There are some automatic evaluation programs available, but they are far from perfect. They just check the basics, such as HTML coding and spelling (and the correctness of these is even in doubt!). You will soon realize that only human beings can conduct the perfect evaluation!
In a survey conducted earlier this year, I asked the owners of award programs to list 5 of the best and 5 of the worst experiences they have had as website evaluators. Almost all of them listed the same negative experiences, but their positive answers were uniquely different. (See the Grief and Sigh of Relief Survey later in this article). This underlines the human factor in award programs.
Types of Evaluators
You could say that an award program is an extension of the Webmaster's personality! In most cases, the Webmaster is the sole evaluator for his or her program. Although some award programs have review panels, members of such panels usually fit well into the profile of the awarding website.
Let's take a look at who you can expect to review your website. The first type of evaluator is not only the most common, but also the most popular. They represent almost 80% of all the award programs on the Web. Many of these programs started out as an extension of an existing homepage or as a part-time hobby, once the Webmaster gained some skills in web design. The evaluator judges websites mostly on its looks and content, but nevertheless is still able to make a fairly reasonable decision.
The second type of evaluator looks at sites more aggressively. Many of these award programs developed from the Webmaster's experience in web or graphics design. Additional elements are evaluated, such as the design, content, coding and use of technology. The Webmaster evaluates the majority of the sites, but in some cases you may find a small panel of evaluators, or colleagues (in case of a small design bureau), who assist in doing the job. These evaluators are interested in furthering their own knowledge of design, and a new approach to web design will definitely get their attention. The evaluations are done in a more professional way and the results are fairly accurate.
Finally, you find the professional evaluators who make it their job to ensure that website excellence persists. These evaluators look at all aspects of a website, pinpointing small problems within the core structure. Content and design are just two of countless elements being evaluated when they judge a website.
Experience
When you search the Web for website awards, you are most likely to find some award indexes, a few award programs, and some awards on display by the Webmasters who won them. If you haven't already found them, you might want to drop into Award Sites!, the premier awards rating program on the Web, and Website Awards, home of the popular Website Awards Worksheet.
You will find some very experienced award programs on the Web. The quality of these awards are determined by the quality, content and age of their programs. If rated, they will usually have a high rating.
Winning high rated awards is very difficult. One of the reasons for this is that the evaluators have built up a lot of experience in reviewing websites. Their trained eyes can do the task quickly and efficiently, and they can smell a problem even before they've seen it!
Evaluation Panel
The other day I saw a posting in the Award Sites! Forum which asked for an article about evaluation panels. I will not go into any depth on this subject as there may already be an article in the making on this issue by another award master. However, the importance of an evaluation panel cannot be ignored.
An evaluation panel is a relatively new phenomenon. Many are based on friendships inside the awards community, with people sharing the same interests and exchanging knowledge and experience, and others may be a small business partnership in web or graphic design. Whatever the case, a good and experienced evaluation panel can greatly improve the consistency of an award program.
Some advantages of an evaluation panel are:
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