Website Design Guidelines

Each school may enter 1 team of 2 participants, male or female, per Division.

Each site will be judged 2 weeks prior to Convention. No sites will be judged after the submission date.

Websites can serve many purposes. They may support existing customers, give information, or promote products, services, or ideas.

GUIDELINES

The participant’s website will be judged real-time over the Internet, so it is more than an academic exercise. It is to be a fully functioning site that must have a clear, practical purpose, which it pursues with creativity and skill.

Students are free to use any platform, tools, programs, computer languages, other available resources, or their own development tools. Remember, however, there are a variety of browsers that may attempt to access the site.

REQUIREMENTS

1. The site must have been developed since the conclusion of the last Student Convention

2. Each team must only have 2 students, male or female. No outside help from other students is allowed.

3. The site must consist of more than a home page. It should include more than one webpage and the viewer should have the ability to navigate between those pages.

4. Site address must be included on the Judge’s Form.

5. Any Scripture reference listed must be from the King James Version. All subject matter and photos must meet the dress and appearance guidelines of Student Convention.

Possible project areas (these are not limits)

• Informational – offer or provide information
• Promotional – promote a school and / or church
• Service – offer a service to meet the needs of individuals or groups

CRITERIA – STRUCTURE

Navigation of Site – the site should be easy to use and navigate. The user should know where he is and have the ability to get to another location on the site with ease.

Creativity – the site will be evaluated for creativity in the areas of uniqueness, content, approach to the material, and the method of engagement. Students should be encouraged to design their own graphics and content, limiting the use of professional template. Consideration will be given to technology usage (HTML, CSS, etc.)

Logical Connections – the site must be logical and make sense to specific users. What may be logical to one user may leave another totally lost. For example, a site developed for teens would be very different from one for retirees, just as one for travel is very different from one on finance.

Engaging Appearance – the site should be attractive, pleasing, interesting, and beneficial. The time an average user will give a site is a matter of seconds unless it engages the viewer visually and mentally.

Elements (Variety & Appropriateness) – the site should contain enough variety to hold interest while maintaining an overall consistency that reflects the purpose and desired image of the site. It should conform to the Biblical values and overall Convention Guidelines regarding appropriateness of subject matter, substance, graphics, etc.

Browser-Friendly – the site should be fully functional on multiple browsers and viewable on as many computers as possible. Several browsers are in wide use; however, the older the browser is that can access your site, the less robust the elements are and the more limited the creativity can be.

Graphic Design – the site should follow generally accepted Internet standards regarding presentation. Some of these regard font style, spacing, overlay, and other aspects of the presentation. There are helpful sites on the Web to learn about these items.

CRITERIA – CONTENT

Clear – for the site to be effective, the content must be clear in its presentation, navigation, functionality, and purpose.

Appropriate – the content of the site should meet the Convention Guidelines and standards and be appropriate for its intended use. Any Scripture reference listed must be from the King James Version.

Accomplishes Goals – the user should be able to understand and receive benefit from the purpose of the site as intended by the developer. If this doesn’t happen, the user will probably leave quickly and products will not be sold, information will not be given, and ideas will not be communicated.

Checklist for Website Design:

1. Copies – 2 copies of a USB must be submitted as an early entry. Be sure to give enough time for us to receive it. It might be best to mail it 3 weeks before Convention.

2. Two Judge’s Forms, clearly filled out, must be enclosed with the USB copies. The title and web address of the website design must be clearly stated on the Judge’s Forms.

Hints from Website Design Judges:

Size is not part of the judging criteria. More is not necessarily better. However, there must be some navigation in the site.

It is important for a site to distinguish itself through quality and value to the user as compared to other sites competing for the same audience.

The point values in judging are weighted in favour of the structural organization because that is essential to site functionality and usefulness. Poor content is changeable, but poor design is not.

WEBSITE DESIGN JUDGING CRITERIA (Download PDF)