Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation of educational web sites is a subject area that has not had a lot of published research. With the enormous amount of information and web sites available on the Internet, teachers may feel overwhelmed when it comes to evaluating web sites. There are many general web sites that outline basic standards for evaluating Internet information; however, as teachers, we believe that an educational web site and its information need to be given a specific set of criteria for evaluation. (more)

This Toolkit helps educators evaluate educational Web Sites by using the following five criteria:

• Content
• Credibility
• Currency
• Design
• Accessibility

Please print the checklist to make evaluating Web sites easier.
Web Site Evaluation Checklist

Content

• Content is free from commercial, political, gender, or racial bias
• The web site's stated curricular goals, objectives, and motives should match its content
• If the content is based upon personal opinion, the author should make it known to the reader
• The content contains a neutral or positive tone
• The scope of information is stated
• Clearly states the academic level of target audience
• Contains content and activities that match the academic level of the web site's target audience
• Recognizes that students learn in different ways.

Credibility

• Author has appropriate credentials to author the content of the web site
• Author's name, email/contact info, or address/phone number is provided
• The educational credentials or expertise of the author is stated on web site
• The web master/web designer is credible and provides contact information
• Author responds to queries about the web site's content
• Web Site should state the educational background of the author
• Web Site should distinguish between the author of the content and the designer of the web site because lack of accurate information can be masked by the 'print' of an expert web designer or web master
• The web site's information clearly matches the web site's intended purpose
• Web Site is free from grammatical and typographical errors

Currency

• Evaluated links complement the web site's content
• Affiliations with other educational organizations/companies are stated
• Check the web site address or URL/domain to locate the organizational source of the web site
• Web Site clearly indicates the publishing date as well as when the content was last updated
• The information is cited properly to allow access to a larger information base

Design

• The use of graphics and colors enhance the web site's information
• There is a balance of text and graphics corresponding to the ability of the audience
• Home page contains direct links to all other parts of the web site
• Useful content is no more than 3 clicks away from home page
• All links are kept current and active and the links take user to valid and appropriate content
• Each page or section on the web site is clearly labeled

Accessibility

• Any special software requirements to view web site's content is stated clearly
• Web Site has text-only option to accommodate visually impaired users
• Web Site loading time is minimal/web designer informs the user of length of download time
• Access to content should be free - user should not have to pay a fee or provide personal information (name, e-mail address) to gain access to educational content