"Concept Demo" Awards Program

Thank you for reading this far. This is the last "real" page; the privacy policy doesn't have any further comments. I would like to close by addressing an objection.

I'm being a bit hypocritical, aren't I? I mean in what I say about time. I'm asking reviewers to look at websites, and a good review is a very involved process--much more than applying for an award. Isn't it hypocritical of me to say all this?

A fair enough question. Let me answer by giving you another question: Would you rather read ten pages of an interesting story or one page of the phone book?

I know how I'd answer. I'd rather read ten pages of an interesting story than one page of the phone book. For that matter, I'd probably prefer to read a hundred pages of an interesting story than one page of the phone book.

There's a difference here, a difference between taking time and wasting time. An award applicant that submits a site with major HTML errors is wasting the reviewer's time. Period. An award applicant who submits a polished and fascinating site will probably end up taking much more of the reviewer's time (instantly disqualifying a site is a much faster process than reviewing and granting an award)--but reviewers don't resent those applicants for wasting their time. Those applicants are asking them to read ten pages of story, not one page of phone book. And the same thing is true for applicants.

I'm not sure if you noticed, but the program described here would have more reading that is requested of an experienced applicant. It takes more time. It doesn't ask the experienced applicant to reread that browser crashes, porn, and internal broken links are disqualifiers, but it does say several things about user-friendliness. These are things that the applicant may not have learned from any other program, and they're something new for the applicant to learn. It's OK to ask the applicant to read things. It's even OK to ask for a password or secret phrase to confirm that the applicant has read what good applicants should read. I've done that too. But please, pretty please with sugar on top, only ask me to read things that will tell me something new. Please, pretty please, if I've done my homework, don't treat me like I need to do it over again. Telling me something I don't already know is using my time appropriately. Telling me things I've read hundreds of times over (literally), and treating me as if I don't understand those ground rules is wasting my time. There is a difference, and it is important.

It could make a world of difference in how you present yourselves to those webmasters you want to meet.

Two basic comments:

• I have intentionally not added a "clear form" button. Many web awards programs seem to take this easy step so they can provide a nice extra. To an applicant, a "clear form" button doesn't say "Here's a nice extra we've provided." A "clear form" button says: "This looks like the submit button you want to press, but if you press it, you'll lose all your typing and have to start over again." However well-meaning the intent may be, it functions as a nasty decoy. Applicants don't need this kind of decoy to fill out your application.

• Because most awards programs feel they're not doing their job unless they add "something extra" to comply with COPPA, I've requested the name and parental consent. But please, if someone is 13 or has parental consent, there is no additional COPPA compliance if you add additional discriminatory measures. You're not being more legal if you refuse applications from any applicant under 18. You're just being more discriminatory.