Criteria for Evaluating Educational Websites

Name: OPAC for the Kishore- Mahbubani Library. It is the Secondary

School Library for the United World College of Southeast Asia (UWCSEA)
East Campus located in Singapore.
URL of website: http://catalog.uwcsea.edu.sg/common/servlet/presenthomeform.do?
l2m=Home&tm=Home&l2m=Home
Type Yes or No next to each question.

A. ORIGIN -What is the website's origin? The information about Origin is found
via a link on the home page of the OPAC to the Librarys website. It is labeled East
Libraries Homepage

1. Yes The organization providing the site is clearly indicated.

2. Yes There is information about the site's authors (About Us, Our Objectives, Modus
Operandi, Mission Statement, etc.)
3. Yes The site's creators have provided their credentials (if need be).
4. Yes The site's creators have indicated the source of their materials where it is
necessary to do so.
5. Yes There is an address made available for further information and questions
concerning the site's information and content.
B. DESIGN -Is the website well designed?
1. Yes The site's general appearance is appealing to its intended audience (colors,
graphics, layout).
2. Yes It is easy to navigate through the site -links are clearly marked and selfexplanatory making navigation intuitive.
3. Yes The links appearing on the site work (take the user to a new page).
4. Yes Supporting pages have a link back to the site's main page.
5. Yes The text on the site is easily readable (font, size, color scheme).
6. Yes The graphics on the site serve a purpose and are not too big.

7. Yes The site is not cluttered with advertising -overshadowing its content.
8. Yes The site is interactive -there is something to DO on the site (game, fill-out
forms, chat, newsgroup/message board, etc.).
9. Yes The site's design and added features (graphics, sounds, video, databases, Active
X, Shockwave, CGI, JavaScript and Java Applets) do not hinder the enjoyability of
the site but enhance it.
C. CONTENT -Is the website's content meaningful in terms of its educational value?
1. Yes The title of the site is indicative of its content.
2. Yes The language is developmentally appropriate for its targeted audien
3. ce.
4. Yes The use of text and graphics as links is appropriate to level of understanding of
targeted audience.
5. Yes The targeted audience has required skills to comprehend content.
6. Yes The targeted audience has required skills to navigate with ease through the site.
7. Yes The site is free of spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, syntax errors, or typos.
8. Yes The site promotes equal and just representations of racial, gender, and religious
issues.
9. Yes The content is informative.
10. Yes The site contains a wealth of information and deserves more than one visit.
11. Yes The site has links to other websites relevant to the same topic.
D. ACCESSIBILITY -Is the website accessible?
1. Yes The site does not take a long time to load.
2. Yes The site provides a "help feature" or instructions on its use.
3. Yes The site does not require special "plug-ins" or other types of special viewing
helpers. If it does, this is clearly indicated.

4. Yes The site does not require usage fees to be paid.

5. No- (There is a link to rules and guidelines concerning use of materials and
library)The site has rules to its use.
6. No(to search)/Yes(to check out ebooks, reserve spaces, join groups, etc,), The site
requires a registration or password to access and use it.
E. CURRENCY -Is the website current?
1. Yes The site has been recently updated.
2. Yes The information recently updated is highlighted for the user.
3. No implicit statement but Yes (implied). There is a Last Updated widget on
bottom of each page. There are live Google calendars on the Home page that are
obviously current.Users are invited to schedule events to calendars. This all
indicates a commitment to keeping the site up to date. There is a statement pledging
to current updates.
Taken from:
http://pages.infinit.net/seguind/criteria.htm