| The goal of the World's Top Awards is to identify and recognize the most prestigious awards in the world. To this end, the list of Top Awards must be very selective and it must include the best Award Sites from various regions of the world. In particular, the selected awards must meet the following basic requirements: |
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The award program must exemplify and require high standards of Web design and development. |
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The award program must be widely recognized among webmasters as one of the best awards in its country of origin. |
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| To ensure the selected awards meet these basic requirements, we have a Review
Team consisting of expert webmasters and award givers who evaluate
award programs based on the Rules and Criteria
outlined later in this page. We also consult with a network
of experts in various countries around the world, and we consider
the ratings and selections that are provided by the following
prestigious award rating and listing service: |
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| Since Award Sites! is the most widely recognized award rating service in the world, we use its ratings as the primary resource for determining which award programs will be considered for selection as Top Awards. If an award program is not rated by Award Sites!, we will use the other services and our international network of experts to determine if it should be considered for selection. |
| Rules for Selection |
| The following rules establish the minimum standard that award programs must meet to be considered for selection as World's Top Awards. Meeting this minimum standard, however, only means that an award will be considered for selection. It does not guarantee the award will be selected as a World's Top Award. |
| 1. |
All programs must 1) meet the criteria of and be listed
on the Awards Worksheet and
2) meet either of the following Rules for Selection to
be considered for selection as a World's Top Award. |
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| 2. |
If an award program is rated by Award Sites! it must
have a rating of 5.0 to be considered for selection as
a World's Top Award. (Also, see next rule.) |
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| 3. |
If an award program is in a country that has less than
2 (two) current World's Top Award programs listed, it
may be considered for selection as a World's Top Award
with a rating of 4.5 by Award Sites!.
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| 4. |
If an award program is not rated by Award Sites! it
must meet the criteria of and have been listed on the
Awards Worksheet for at
least six (6) months and we will consult with our international
network of experts to determine if it should be considered
for selection as a World's Top Award.
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| In all cases, the decision to select an award program
as a World's Top Award will be made by a majority vote of the
Review Team. They will base their evaluations on the following
criteria and consultation with our international network of
experts, if required. (Rules for selection edited
5 June 2005.) |
| Criteria for Selection |
| The following criteria will be used by our Review Team to evaluate award programs for selection as World's Top Awards. The criteria may be changed at any time, without notice thereof, to ensure the awards selected as Top Awards are the most prestigious awards in the world. |
| 1. |
The award program must be at least six (6) months old.
Annual award programs must be at least twelve (12) months
old. |
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| 2. |
The award program must have a clearly defined purpose
and clearly defined criteria for the selection of winning
sites. |
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| 3. |
Winning sites must be listed in the award program, and
they must represent a high standard of Web design and
development. Added incentive or encouragement awards are
exempt, however there must be other awards offered with
a winners' list to be considered for inclusion. (Rule
edited 14 December 2004.) |
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| 4. |
Winners' list must show the dates awards are granted.
Annual updates are acceptable only for annual awards.
All other winners' lists must be updated regularly on
a daily, weekly, monthly and/or quarterly basis. (Rule
added 7 November 2004.) |
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| 5. |
Winners' list of all sites earning a World's Top Award
must be maintained and displayed. The only exceptions
to this rule will be if the winning site/s close or no
longer meet the criteria that was posted at the time the
winning site/s applied for award. Removal from the winners'
list will also be considered acceptable if, at the time
of application by a winning site, there is a clear notation
on the criteria page that any future criteria must be
met in order to maintain a listing as a winner. If future
criteria must be met, the length of time winning sites
have to meet any new criteria must be posted with the
rule. (Rule added 5 June 2005.) |
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| 6. |
If the criteria or any part thereof is copied from another
website, the award program must have obtained permission
from and give credit to the original author. |
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| 7. |
The award graphic must be displayed in the award program,
but it may include the word "sample" (or equivalent)
to prevent unauthorized use. |
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| 8. |
If the site, award graphic or any part thereof is not
original, excluding images purchased from art suppliers,
the award program must have obtained permission from and
give credit to the original artist. |
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| 9. |
If the award graphic is greater than 15Kb (optimized)
or 200 pixels in height or width, then a graphic that
does not exceed these sizes must be provided as an alternative. |
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| 10. |
Award programs with a "worst of" award (or
similar) and programs that ridicule or demean applicants
or their websites in any way will not be considered for
selection as a World's Top Award. |
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| 11. |
Award programs that ridicule or demean other sites,
award programs or listing services in any way will not
be considered for selection as a World's Top Award. |
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| 12. |
Applicants must not be required to register or use a
password to access your award program (including application
form, criteria and/or any other required reading, legal
policies, and winners' list), and they must not be required
to become a member to submit or nominate a site for your
award. (Edited 21 June 2005.) |
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| 13. |
The award program's owner and any evaluator(s) must
be deemed qualified to judge high standards of Web design
and development. |
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| 14. |
The award program, the award graphic and the overall
website must represent a high standard of Web design and
development. |
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| 15. |
The overall website must meet or exceed the award program's
published criteria at the level required of applicants
to earn World's Top Awards. (Rule added
5 June 2005.) |
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| 16. |
The award program must be in English or have an English
translation. (Rule added 5 June 2005.) |
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| If an award program has multiple or multi-level awards, only the best award(s) will be selected as a World's Top Award. The awards to be included will be decided by a majority vote of the Review Team. They will base their evaluations on the above criteria and consultation with our international network of experts, if required. |
| Other Rules & Criteria |
| "Site of the Day" awards will not be selected as World's Top Awards. By their very nature, a winner must be chosen every day, or every weekday, and the winning sites may not always represent a high standard of Web design and development. |
| Awards that are based on public vote will not be selected as World's Top Awards. Most of the voters are not qualified to judge the quality of a website. Exceptions are "Site of the Month" and "Site of the Year" awards (or equivalent) whose nominees are sites that have already won a World's Top Award. |
| One purpose of the World's Top Awards is to identify and list the most prestigious awards in the world so that webmasters can apply for them. For this reason, an award must be available to the majority of websites to be selected. Exceptions to this requirement are set out under Specific Awards in the Criteria for Listing in the Website Awards Worksheet. |
| Some national awards, such as The Webby Awards in the United States, are widely recognized as the most prestigious awards in their country of origin. They are usually, but not always, sponsored by an industry or institution. These awards will be included in the list of World's Top Awards, despite any failure to meet all the rules and criteria in this page, for the list would be incomplete without them. |
| Retirements & Removals |
| World's Top Awards that are retired will be moved from the list of Current Top Awards to the list of Retired Top Awards. They will remain listed as Retired Top Awards for as long as they continue to display their lists of winning sites. If a retired award program ceases to display a list of winning sites, then it will be removed from the list of Retired Top Awards. |
| World's Top Awards that are inactive for a period of three (3) months, in the opinion of the Review Team, will be removed from the list of Current Top Awards. World's Top Awards that are issued annually or biannually will be considered to be inactive if they are not issued at the regular time in any calendar year. |
| Criteria for listing is subject to change. Listed sites will
have three (3) months to update their site and program after
a change has been made to the criteria, or their site will be
removed from the World's Top Awards list. |
| World's Top Awards that violate or cease to meet the above
or any future criteria in any way and World's Top Awards that
are deemed to have engaged in illegal or unethical activities,
including copyright infringement or bandwidth stealing, will
be removed from the applicable list of Top Awards. |
| Reinstating Top Awards |
| Award programs that have been removed from the list of World's Top Awards due to inactivity or retirement will be considered for reinstatement as Top Awards if they become active again. A removed program must be active again for a minimum period of three (3) months, in the opinion of the Review Team, before it will be considered for reinstatement. |
| Meeting this requirement for renewed activity does not guarantee reinstatement, however. It only means a removed program will be considered for reinstatement. In all cases, the decision to reinstate a program as a World's Top Award will be made by a majority vote of the Review Team, and they will base their evaluations on the above criteria and consultation with our international network of experts, if required. |
| Right to Decide |
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I reserve the right, in consultation with the Review Team,
to decide which award programs will be selected as World's
Top Awards and which programs will be removed from the list
of Top Awards. Programs that contain sexual, racial, sexist,
violent, abusive, or illegal content will not be considered
for selection as World's Top Awards, or they will be removed
from the list of World's Top Awards once this kind of content
is discovered.
Application Form
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