Entry Guidelines

Also be sure to review the Judging Criteria and the Official Statement of Policies before submitting an entry to The Student Web Awards.

All submitted Web sites must meet the following guidelines:

• The Web site must be designed entirely by a student currently enrolled and in good standing at a high school in the United States.
• The student Web designer must provide the name, e-mail address, and telephone number of a teacher sponsor who will hold primary responsibility for ensuring the Web site's authenticity and integrity.
• Copyright infringement and plagiarism will not be tolerated. Any borrowed work, including any graphics on a submitted Web site that were not created by the student, must be properly cited and used only with appropriate permission.
• It is permissible to use an HTML editing tool or other Web authoring software, such as Macromedia Dreamweaver or Adobe GoLive.
• No "unofficial fan sites" will be accepted.
• Web sites must be in English.
• The site must not require the installation of any third party plug-ins to function correctly. (For example, embedding a QuickTime movie would not be allowed, but linking to the file would be acceptable.)
• The site must not contain any explicit language nor depict any nudity, sexual material, or violence. The site must not promote discrimination, harm to others, illegal activities, or material that might be perceived as setting a bad example for young children. Web site submissions that feature, support, or otherwise promote the use of alcohol, tobacco, or firearms will not be considered. (See the Official Statement of Policies for complete details on our nonsupport policy regarding inappropriate content.)

Other things to think about

• Make sure that all links on your Web site are working correctly.
• Avoid "under construction" or "coming soon" areas of your Web site.
• Any borrowed work must be appropriately cited and used only with permission.
• While Web sites will not lose points if they are hosted on a free service (such as Geocities or Angelfire), try to avoid banner advertisements and popup ads on your site.
• Carefully choose your color scheme so that your site is visually appealing and your content is easily viewable.
• Visitors should not be prompted to download a component or plug-in when viewing your Web site.
• While there is no minimum number of pages for a Web site entry, a site with only one or two pages could receive low scores in the "Ease of Navigation" and/or "Sense of Place" judging categories (since the site-wide navigation structure would not be very complex).
• Web sites will be tested with multiple browsers, on multiple computers, with Internet connections at varying speeds. Try to make your Web site as accessible as possible.
• "Aesthetic Integrity" is one of the most important and comprehensive judging categories. Read this article on aesthetic integrity (Adobe PDF, 78 KB) to better understand what this term means.

A note on copyright infringement and plagiarism

Copyright infringement and plagiarism are illegal and unethical. Web sites containing either will be automatically disqualified from The Student Web Awards and the entry fee will not be refunded.

Plagiarism is passing off someone else's writing or ideas as your own. It includes quoting or paraphrasing someone without giving credit, using key phrases or wording as your own, and stealing ideas to pass off as your own. A copyright means that only the creator of a work has the legal right to distribute it. Copyright infringement is using someone else's creation -- music, photos, graphics, etc. -- without permission. It's important to understand that you don't have to be making money off of someone's work for it to be considered copyright infringement or plagiarism -- if you use it without their permission and without giving them credit, it's illegal. In today's digital world, plagiarism and copyright infringement also apply to digital concepts, ideas, music, video, graphics, pictures, design elements, layouts, and content.

A copyright is a legal notice, but does not have to be applied for like a patent. Almost everything that is created is automatically considered copyrighted upon completion.

According to the U.S. copyright office (www.loc.gov), copyright is shown by the word "copyright" or the © symbol, followed by the date of first publication or completion and the author's name. But this notice does not need to appear on someone's work in order for it to be copyrighted.

The following are some possible plagiarism issues and copyright infringements to watch out for as you design your Web site:

• Photos (If you didn't take them, give credit to where you got them from)
• Quotations
• Design elements like graphics, layout, color schemes, visual effects, etc.
• Written content

In other words, if you don't create it yourself, get permission from the creator to use it and give them credit on your site. You'll appreciate it when you create something and know that it is protected from other people using it without your permission.