Re: Awards and award attitude :(

by "Paul Rudolf" <paul(at)ntyc.net>

 Date:  Sat, 25 Sep 1999 13:32:22 -0700
 To:  <Kassianna(at)WiccanWeb.Net>,
<hwg-basics(at)hwg.org>
  todo: View Thread, Original
>For the record guys. . . .
>
>Not all "awards" are free for the taking and not all of them have anything
>to do with HTML.   Some awards are based on the informational content in
>the site being honored.   I give one such award.  I check the pages - all

Please, I'm attempting to show that award sites are all scam.  I personally
believe in "flag flying", despite some posts in other HWG lists against this
practice.  Some people fly the flags thinking this practice will bring other
visitors to their site.  I fly the flags to claim pride in my
accomplishments.

I also refuse to place bumper stickers on my vehicles.  :)

However, when an HTML shop places these award winning sites in their
portfolio (These were the ONLY awards listed in their portfolio) to prove
their excellent work, and these award sites end up being marketing
companies, this lowers my respect for the HTML shop.

>So, unless you are referring specifically to awards given based on HTML
>excellence, I think you might consider that not everyone doing this trying
>to grab traffic, scam "winners" or necessarily pump their own site.
>Rather, in a field where there are lots of trash sites, it is nice to be
>able to have a filtering mechanism, and the awards can serve that purpose.
>The also encourage people to communicate and to focus on some important
>elements in a site.  More than one site I'm aware of has upgraded as a
>result of being turned down the first time.  Now. . .if I was checking
>html, I'd probably never give the award:)

I would be proud to place your "Sorry, your site doesn't meet our standards"
message on my site.

We should look at the URL that offers this list to us http://www.hwg.org.
At the same time, let's not take the W3's recommendation to strict and start
developing sites that will not look good at the expense of creating valid
code.

What makes a site exceptional is still in the eyes of the award giver.  The
current state of awards seems to be leaning towards advertisement.  I
commend you in personally viewing the applicant's site.  I only wish other
award sites would do likewise.

We should all be working to promote the practice of creating good pages,
using good style and good code.  We should also be utilizing the tools and
accessories to bring in new ideas of creation, even if this doesn't prove to
meet all of the validity standards.  However, the bottom line is still to
have a site that can viewed by everyone.  Many magazines have "large text"
versions, and many TV shows have "closed captioning".  A normal person may
never give these any thought, but it sells more magazines, and the person
that can't "hear" the TV show can now "see" the advertisements.

It still comes to the $$$ for profit.  The more people that can buy the
products of our clients web site, the better their recommendation of our
work will be...  The larger our wallets will be...

In regards to the people of this list that are here for fun, would they
really be in this list if they didn't have some interest of what HWG is
trying to promote - - better web pages?

HTML: hwg-basics mailing list archives, maintained by Webmasters @ IWA