Marking Scheme
The judges will award marks under the headings shown below.
However, don’t be put off by the marking scheme - basically all we are saying is that the site should look good, it should be easy to find your way around it, and the information should be interesting and useful.
Design (20%)
- Neat and tidy pages with logical and consistent layout
- Good use of colour and layout with a small range of blending and nicely contrasting colours
- Text broken by lines, images and bullets
- Clear and legible text: dark on light or light on dark
- The design of the site, pages and graphics assist user comprehension
Credit will be given to innovative design rather than the use of code generating tools
Content (20%)
- The pages engage and hold the users' attention and interest
- Your own words - not copied and pasted from another site
- Information about who has written the pages
- Accurate, complete, up to date and unbiased information
- A local theme (see below: "Local Theme")
- Identified sources of information with links back to sites used for research if appropriate
- Correct spelling and grammar
Audience Awareness (10%)
- An introduction to the site and its intended audience, or a mission statement (not necessarily on the home page)
- Content and language appropriate for the users
- Attention to needs of different kinds of users, including those with slow phone lines or sight impairment
Functionality (20%)
- Easy navigation
- Consistent use of menus, buttons, and other icons
- Alternative routes through the material
- No broken links
- A site map and/or "breadcrumbs" if appropriate
- Elements working as expected - for example any visual, audio and interactive features
Something extra or special (20%)
- Evidence of creativity or flair, for example, your own:
- Interactivity - working e-mail or other feedback option
- Animations
- Digital photographs
- Encouragement for users to find answers to questions
Description (10%)
- A technical description of your web site. Explain the reasons for the design you chose, the tools you used, and any interesting challenges that you faced. Describe the roles of each team member (artist, writer, HTML expert etc.).
- Describe how the site links in with your coursework
- Explain what you have done to make the site usable and how you checked its usability
You may submit the technical description on paper or (preferably) in pages on the web site itself.
Local Theme
This year, you are strongly encouraged to build your competition entry with a local theme, linked to your coursework.
This local theme can be tied in with the schemes of work for geography at Key Stages 1, 2 and 3. Here are some of the topics from Key Stages 1 & 2 which have a local theme. The full list can be found on http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk.
- Unit 1. Around our school - the local area
- Unit 2. How can we make our local area safer?
- Unit 6. Investigating our local area
- Unit 8. Improving the environment
- Unit 12. Should the high street be closed to traffic?
- Unit 14. Investigating rivers
At Key Stage 3, you could link your website with topics listed under "ICT supporting other subjects: English, Geography, Science and Mathematics". The list of topics is quite wide and a website should be a good way to present your results.
For older pupils who are not taking any subjects with local links, a site related to some other aspect of your coursework will be acceptable. For example, one of last year's winners was a website to help with Maths and Science SATs revision.