About the purpose of this Rubric

When we submitted this website to our State Conference we ranked poorly and unfortunately we did not get any comment cards or any reasons as to why. This was a wake-up call for us and made us take a good look at the website to identify any areas that were weak against the Website Design Problem brief and the rubric used to evaluate it. This was extremely important to our re-design process for entry to Nationals. The right hand column of the rubric below helped us ensure that we understood and met all requirements to achieve exemplary performance marks.


Rubric

CRITERIA Minimal performance
1-4 points 		Adequate performance
5-8 points 		Exemplary performance
9-10 points		  
Evaluators: Using minimal (1-4 points), adequate (5-8 points) or exemplary (9-10 points) performance levels as a guideline, record the scores earned for the event criteria in the column spaces to the far right. The X1 or X2 notation in the criteria column is a multiplier factor for determining the points earned. (Example: an "adequate" score of 7 for an X1 criterion = 7 points; an "adequate" score of 7 for an X2 criterion = 14 points.)
Content Several inaccuracies occur in the content provided by students, and/ or many requirements have not been met; not enough content is included, or content is very incomplete. Almost all information provided on the website by students is accurate, and all requirements of the assignment have been met, and/or all information is accurate but not all of the requirements of the assignment were met; information is not complete. All information provided by students on the website is accurate and all the requirements of the assignment have been met; i.e., there is sufficient content in the website to learn about the topic and complete a research assignment.
Layout Web pages are cluttered looking or confusing; it is often difficult to locate important elements. Web pages have an attractive and usable layout; it is easy to locate all important elements. Website has an exceptionally attractive and usable layout. It is easy to locate all important elements; white space, graphic elements and/or alignment are used effectively to organize material.
  • Enhanced with over 200 images and 100 videos.
  • Consistent layout between pages.
  • Highly visual custom timeline featuring multiple photos and videos.
  • Thoughtful padding around images
  • Meets best practices for differing screen resolutions.
  • Helpful sub-menus in consistent format.
  • Page layout controlled by CSS for faster rendering.
  • Designed with tablets such as the iPad in mind.
  • Great look and feel through hand coded content.
  • Sensible use of Javascript and JQuery to enhance user experience.
Graphics Graphics seem randomly chosen and are of low quality, and/or they distract the reader; many images are broken. Graphics are related to the theme/ purpose of the site, are of good quality, and enhance reader interest or understanding; there are no broken images. Graphics are related to the theme/purpose of the site, are thoughtfully cropped, are of high quality, and they enhance reader interest or understanding; there are no broken images.
  • High resolution resized and cropped images.
  • Interesting images that are relevant to subject matter.
  • Some images cut-out to enhance page.
  • No broken images.
  • Meaningful alt-tags on images.
Navigation Some links do not take the reader to the sites described; a user typically feels lost. Links for navigation are clearly labeled; they allow the reader to easily move from one page to related pages (forward and back), and the internal links take the reader where s/he expects to go; a user rarely becomes lost. Links for navigation are clearly labeled, consistently placed and allow the reader to easily move from one page to related pages (forward and back); internal links take the reader where s/he expects to go; a user does not become lost.
  • Consistent menu on every page with easy navigation to each major section.
  • Drop-down sub-menus or overview page with sub-menu buttons for improved user experience on mobile devices.
  • Consistent located Previous and Next links where appropriate to walk through a section.
  • Menus clearly show the user where they are located on the website.
Color scheme Colors, fonts, and unvisited and visited links make the content hard to read or otherwise distract the reader. Colors, fonts, and unvisited and visited links do not detract from the content and are consistent across pages. Colors, fonts, and unvisited and visited links form a pleasing palette, do not detract from the content and are consistent across pages.
  • Consistent color palette throughout.
  • Visited and unvisited hyperlinks do not distract.
  • Font choices lend well to theme.
Interest Participants have provided only the minimum amount of information and have not transformed the information to make it more interesting to the audience. Participants have tried to make the content of the website interesting to the people for whom it is intended. Participants have made an exceptional attempt to ensure that the content of the website is interesting to the people for whom it is intended.
  • Use of animated menus and space related graphics to enhance user experience.
  • Images intended to grab reader interest.
  • Refrained from including unnecessary technical specifications that can be difficult to comprehend.
  • Over 320 images to gain reader interest.
  • Over 53 videos to watch.
  • Unique interactive visual timeline includes over 80 major events.
  • Original video interview with astronaut Story Musgrave.
  • Included a video that we made explaining the proposed Moon Base.
Spelling and grammar There are many spelling and/or grammatical errors in the entire site. There are a few spelling and/or grammatical errors in the entire site. There are either no, or very minor, spelling or grammatical errors in the entire site.
  • Content hopefully graded by school staff!
Research base Website is lacking an adequate research base, and/or very few credible sources are referenced. Research has been conducted appropriately, but there are few credible sources. A comprehensive research base that includes credible sources is evident.
  • Our bibliography page can be found here.
  • All references are in Modern Language Association (MLA) format.
  • Research also conducted in person at Kennedy Space Center.
  • Research base includes some web-coding research that we had to do.
Solution to design brief
(X2)		 Website is missing three (3) or more criteria and/or constraints of the design brief. Website is missing one (1) or no criteria and/or constraints of the design brief. Website is missing no components of the design brief.
  • Design a website that features team's research.
  • Website is missing no components of the design brief.
  • Identified key requirements of the design brief in a mind-map.
  • Non-Content related requirements that we identified:
    • Included content above and beyond the design brief requirements.
    • Researched copyright issues and Creative Commons sources.
    • Written permission for copyrighted content is included.
    • Bibliography must be in Modern Language Association (MLA) format.
    • Identified best practices for embedding video and applets to ensure cross browser compatibility.
    • Unique custom design
    • Developed our own timeline display code as we could not find a plug-in that met our needs.
    • Evaluated best practices for use of Javascript, DHTML, Flash Player, PHP and Jquery to enhance website.
    • Compatible with all major browsers including Safari on iPad and iPhone
    • Ability to work and communicate as a team.
    • Visited links do not distract.
    • Objective and unbiased content.
    • Tried to identify all possible rule violations and avoid them.
    • Exceeded the 3 page minimum solution.
    • Maximum of 5 outbound links (site wide) to other websites.
    • Created a user-friendly website.
    • Ensure that NO information is included on the website that might identify the team.
    • Chose a meaningful domain name that does not identify us in any way.
    • All pages hand coded within current school year
    • Availability 24x7x365.
  • Asked for clarification from Richard Broussard on items of which we were unsure:
    • ID Numbers are not required to be included on the website.

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