Tips

Assessing or evaluating a webpage

Ask yourself these questions when you are looking at a page. The answers will tell you whether the site can be of use to you or not.

Authority

• Who is responsible for the site?
• Are the author and the author's status clearly indicated?
• Is it a commercial, personal, governmental, or academic site?

Content

• What is the purpose of the site?
• Is the text of the site well-written?
• Is the information of the site well-documented? Is it accurate?
• Does the site offer anything unique, or is it just more of the same?
• Does the site offer you more than you can find in an encyclopedia?

Design

• Is the site well-designed?
  Did the top page contain all the information you needed or could it easily be retrieved from another page of the site?
• Are there any spelling or grammatical errors?
• Do all the hypertext links work?
• Are the graphics on the site page clear and useful,
  or do they just distract your attention?

Value

• Did you learn anything?
• Was the page worth visiting?
• Would you include the site in your bookmark list?

Time

• Does the material have a limited period of validity?
• Is there an indication of the latest update of the page?
• Is the page obsolete?

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This file prepared and presented as an aid to help students understand the web.  Send questions or comments to Royce Shook