The Home of the Volkswagen

	Sign In Sign-Up

The Home of the Volkswagen

Volkswagen Website Awards

Purpose: Awards presented by The Home of the Volkswagen are intended to recognize and encourage excellence in website design, and to help keep the world-wide-web itself a fun, pleasant, helpful and informative community.

Awards are not presented simply by applying for one; rather, they must be earned by displaying excellence in design, thoughtfulness and content. Ingenuity is a big plus.

The most important aspects of any site design are clean code, good choice of colors, ease of navigation, correct spelling and/or grammar, and continuity of content. Hard work is displayed on countless websites, but it is only those which display that "something extra" that will earn the highest awards from The Home of the Volkswagen. Site design is important, but it is no more important than the content of that site or the message the webmaster of that site is attempting to convey.

To this end, only those showing the highest efforts in preserving the Volkswagen heritage will be recognized by The Home of the Volkswagen with an award. Could this be you?

Code of Ethics:

I, Jackie, Owner of all Awards Programs held at The Home of the Volkswagen Awards web site, do hereby declare on behalf of myself and any other evaluator(s) who may be contracted at any time by The Home of the Volkswagen Awards to evaluate for any Home of the Volkswagen Awards-sponsored award program, that we agree to advance and promote the Web Site Evaluator Code of Ethics in order to ensure fairness to all applicants and to maintain the honor and integrity of applicants, evaluators and awards. We agree that all critiques given will be constructive in nature as positive comment is productive. We will refrain from criticism unless specifically requested by an applicant, and in such instances, will remain positive where possible in an effort to promote goodwill and advance the level of quality among internet sites. We agree to allow eligibility to all applicants who meet the set criteria of any particular award. We agree to be uniform in our eligibility requirements (criteria) and will fairly evaluate all sites/pages meeting our criteria which are submitted by any applicant. We further agree to clearly post these criteria. We agree not to discriminate on grounds of race, gender, nation of origin, religion, profession, age, mental or physical handicap, or any other reason which is not globally viewed as an illegal trait or manner of conduct. We agree to set forth awards criteria and to adhere to same. Proposed time frames for changes will be posted for two (2) weeks prior to the final publishing of same with notices posted on site so all potential applicants can view and understand the proposed changes. We agree to evaluate web sites under the criteria which was in place at the time of any and/or all applications. If changes are made to criteria AFTER application(s) is/are received, the submitted site(s) will be evaluated using the criteria that was in effect when applicant(s) initially submitted the site(s). We agree to immediately inform any criteria compliant applicant in writing, of a 'Refrain to Evaluate' if it is found that a conflict of interest would occur in evaluating their web site - e.g., such may occur upon being requested to evaluate the web site of a good friend. We will offer such applicant a choice of evaluator taken from our membership listing. We agree to maintain a professional, friendly and positive manner in any and/or all correspondence and/or communication held with any applicant(s). We agree to evaluate all submitted sites within four (4) weeks of receipt of submission. If this deadline cannot be met, we agree to suspend submissions until we can again work within this timeframe. We agree not to divulge any information about any applicant to persons, groups, or agencies not directly connected to our awards programs, and only then for the purpose of evaluating submissions and notifying winners. All information received from any applicant via e-mail submission or submission form will be deemed private. We agree to encourage and promote the use of original material for awards programs criteria and evaluation processes. We agree to assist any person requesting advice concerning ethical evaluation for and disbursement of awards. PLEASE NOTE: The awards evaluation processes in use at The Home of the Volkswagen Awards are copyrighted material and written authorization is required for their use. We agree to maintain any owned individual web site(s) that include awards program(s) to a standard that meets the criteria of the award(s) given. In the case of any award(s) offered that is/are OUTSIDE the main subject of our web site(s), any and/or all such web site(s) will be maintained to a high standard of integrity in all its/their main areas. We agree to maximum dimensions of awards given in courtesy of web sites that will use them. If the maximum dimensions cannot be adhered to then a text only link will be permitted for graphics larger than maximum size. (Maximum size dimensions offered by The Home of the Volkswagen Awards are: 120 pixels height and 423 pixels width.) We agree that there will be only one obligation for winning awards from this web site beyond meeting the criteria. It is not, and never will be, mandatory at The Home of the Volkswagen Awards to sign a guest book or to join a mailing list. It is a requirement that any awards presented by The Home of the Volkswagen Awards must be linked back to The Home of the Volkswagen in a method that will be outlined in award notification e-mails. We agree that we will not grant awards to, or in any other manner endorse or promote, any web site that endorses, promotes or contains content which is considered globally to be illegal or discriminatory whether same be against human or wildlife. We agree that we will not accept favors of any sort in exchange for preferential treatment of submissions. We will at all times maintain a high standard of honesty and integrity. We agree that we will take all measures necessary to maintain the honor and integrity of our awards programs.
This statement is considered public domain and may be used with appropriate modifications where necessary to meet your own personalized criteria.

Process:

Upon receipt of your application, I will make an initial visit to your web site for the sole purpose of checking to see if you have all the required elements or if there is anything that would cause immediate disqualification of your award application. These are the things I will be checking for:

You must have:

At least 5 pages of original content
A copyright on all work and graphics done by you, or credit given to the creator of them on the page where they are used.

The following things will immediately disqualify your site:

Any hate messages
Adult content
Violence (this includes violent games)
Promoting spam or any illegal activity
Discrimination
Bandwidth piracy
"Under Construction" signs
Crashing my browser
Any intrasite links not working

Your site will be reviewed within 7 days, or less, by myself and at least one other evaluator. It will be judged against the criteria set forth for this award at the time of your application and will be scored using the posted point system.

Notifications will be sent via email usually within 10 days of the date of your application . If you have won an award it will be attached to the email you receive. If you did not win this time you may resubmit your application after a 60-day period, provided you have made significant improvements to your site.

If you are a winner of the Silver, Bronze, or Groovin' Site Award, you may resubmit your site for an award or upgrade in 60 days, if and when you have made significant upgrades to your web site.

Winners of the gold awards will be listed with a banner, site description, and a link to their site. Winners of the silver, bronze, and Groovin' site awards will be listed with site name, description, and a link to their site.

Awards:

The Gold Award will only be given to those sites that are original in creativity, content, color scheme, and design. You must meet all the general requirements PLUS your site must be outstanding in every area and have that something extra that makes me want to bookmark it and recommend it to others.

The winners of the Silver award will be sites that are very close to meeting the requirements for the gold award, but slightly lacking in one or two small areas.

The Website Excellence Bronze Award will go to sites that show a lot of hard work and meet all the general requirements.

The Groovin' Site Award will go to sites that don't quite meet my criteria, but had something about them I really liked.

Criteria:

Please read criteria carefully before submitting your site. More specific requirements are listed by each award. You must be 13 or older to apply for one of my awards. If you are younger than 13, have a parent or guardian apply for you. All Volkswagen Related sites are welcome to apply, with the following exceptions: Any sites containing content pertaining to Satanic rituals or the Occult. Any sites containing inappropriate adult content. Any site that promotes discrimination or contains hate messages. Any site that participates in or promotes any illegal activities. Any site that promotes alcohol, tobacco or gambling. Any site that employs unethical scripts (i.e., scripts that trap visitors in their site). Websites asking visitors to download custom cursors (i.e., Comet cursors). (I know there are a lot of great sites using those providers, but they often cause error messages, freeze our browsers and are generally annoying.) Password protected sites. A password protected member area is fine as long as you have enough content to be reviewed without it. Crashing our browsers more than once. Your site must be suitable for viewing by all ages, and cannot contain links to sites that aren't. All images must work. No stealing of bandwidth. Images must be stored on your server. You must have at least 5 pages of content. You must be the author of at least 75% of the content, and credit must be given for anything borrowed from other sources. All intrasite links, and at least 90% of external links, must work. No "Under Contstuction" signs. If your site isn't ready, please wait and apply when it is. Your site must work well in the newer versions of both Internet Explorer and Netscape, and must not crash our browsers. There must be a copyright showing that graphics used on your site were made and owned by you, or credit given to the creator of the graphics and a link to their website. The credit and link must be on the page where the graphics are used. Commercial sites must show a Privacy Policy stating whether any information collected on your site will be given out to any third party. If information is passed on to any third party, what information is passed, the reason for doing so, and what it will be used for. If it is for promoting spam or advertisement, your site will be disqualified.
Please email me if you have questions about any point of the criteria.

Scoring:

The purpose of this test is so you can see exactly what we will be looking at when we review your site and how we will be scoring you on each point. Be completely honest with yourself when you're taking the test and you should have a pretty good idea whether or not you'll win one of my awards.

Content
You will be scored from 0 to 7 points on each of these:

Does the first page of your site pique the interest of your visitors and make them want to look further into your site?
Is the main topic of your site one that would be of interest to the internet community in general?
Do you offer the subject matter in a unique way; i.e. something not found on other similar sites?
Was the subject of your site well thought out and researched?
Was at least 75% of your content authored by you?

Design
You will be scored from 0 to 7 points on each of these:

Do your background, buttons, dividers, bars, and text compliment each other?
Is the design on your homepage carried throughout the main sections of your site? We understand that there may be individual pages within the sections where you might want a different design to inhance a story, poem, or other special offering
Did you use a font type, size, and color that is easy to read?
Is there a good balance of graphics and text, and do the graphics fit with the theme of your site?
Did you break up large blocks of text with headings, dividers or spaces to make it easier to read?

Navigation
You will be scored from 0 to 3 points on each of these:

Is there clear and simple navigation to all the main pages of your site on each page?
Do sections, and pages within the sections, follow in an orderly and logical manner?
Do all intrasite links, and at least 90% of your external links function correctly?

Graphics
You will be scored from 0 to 3 points on each of these:

Did you use high quality graphics that compliment your site?
Have your graphics been optimized for fast loading?
Did you use height and width tags? If the graphic is a link, did you also use alt tags?
Do all images load properly?

Other Stuff
You will be scored from 0 to 3 points on each of these:

Do your pages load within a reasonable time? (30 seconds or less on a 56k modem.)
Spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
Does your site work well in both Internet Explorer and Netscape? It will be checked with both.

Things That Will Cost You Points
Deduct the amount shown below each item.

Horizontal scroll that is the result of poor page planning:
- 2 points per page
Having to return to the homepage or a sitemap to continue on through your site:
- 5 points.
Excessive banners, "Vote for this site", "Bookmark This Page", etc. (more than one per page):
- 2 points per item
Scrolling down a long page to find navigation
- 2 points per page
Excessive animations or animations that don't go with the theme of your site (We consider "excessive" to be more than two per page:
- 2 points per animation
"No right click" script:
- 3 points
No "Skip Intro" button on a Flash splash page:
- 3 points
No text menu option with a java menu:
- 5 points
Framed sites with improper targets: (intrasite links should open in sites' main frame. External links should open in new window.)
-1 per occurance
No thumbnails for groupings of larger images:
-3 points

Your Final Score

We will score your site according to the above point system. Your score will then be divided by 3 to determine your final score. There are 100 points possible and sites are awarded as following:

Gold - 93-100.....Silver - 85-92.....Bronze - 77-84

There is no point system for the Groovin' Site award. It is reserved for sites that did not score high enough for one of my other awards, but I felt they deserved some recognition anyway.

If you have not read the criteria and process pages, please do so now before submitting your site. Not doing so will result in your application being deleted.

Provide ALL the information in your application. Applications received with any blank fields will be deleted. If your browser does not support electronic forms, please use our e-mail link.

Email Submission

Include all above info.