In the interest of recognizing outstanding HTML authoring, the Web Design Group has developed a set of standards by which to judge World Wide Web sites. The basis for this award is to provide motivation for authors to create browser independent, client friendly and HTML standards based sites. Check out the current list of Recipients!

The following is a list of qualifications which must be met in order to earn the WDG Award:

All pages must be Non-Browser specific.

The only exception to this rule is if there is a choice offered either manually or automatically for pages tailored to a specific browser. In this case, ALL Browsers must still have an acceptable alternative.
If any page says anything about being best viewed in any particular browser, you might as well forget it.
( By the way, do they pay for those advertisements? )

All pages must be Non-Resolution Specific.

Each page must display well in resolutions down to 640x480 VGA. We know that it might look better in another resolution, but it must still be acceptable in 640x480!

There is a 50k text and graphics limit to each page unless the client is specifically warned otherwise.

A lot of people out there still have 14.4 access... on top of that, not everyone is located in the same geographic portion of the world... and to make matters even worse, all telephone systems are not up to par with the one in America. There is no reason to make others suffer needlessly.

There must be Alternate text assigned to all graphics.

NO EXCEPTIONS! And remember, this is meant to replace the graphic in case the graphic does not display... so keep that in mind when you are deciding what to put there.

Browser-specific constructs must degrade well in alternative browsers.

The use of Frames, Tables, and other Browser specific goodies such as Java Applets, Banners, and animated Gifs will not specifically exclude a site from the award... However, special care must be taken to ensure compatibility with Browsers that do not support these features.

There must be no technical HTML errors.

All pages on the site must pass validation from one or more of the validators listed on the Links page. Additionally the pages must be free from other errors that are not caught by the validators.

All links must be valid.

No explanation necessary...

There may be other qualifications that are not listed here because there are certain things which may arise that were not anticipated. These issues will be dealt with on a case by case basis and added to the list if applicable.

If you feel your site can meet our demanding set of expectations, you're ready to send in your application for inspection. You will be notified ASAP whether or not your site qualifies and if not you will be given at least one reason.

(PLEASE NOTE: We will not fix your site for you...we will not repeatedly critique a site...and we will not list every error that we find. It's your job to do a little work if you want this award.)

Good Luck, from the WDG...

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