Here's the message I give to web competitors every year:
Everyone keeps neglecting a MAJOR part of FIRST websites.
THEY TELL YOU WHAT JUDGES WANT TO SEE.
As a 4-year website judge, I encourage EVERY FIRST kid to do this, it makes a big difference if you just READ.
If you look at the Website Award section of the manual, they give you the grading process for the judges from last year. The outline of the award basically explains what FIRST is looking for.
Quote:
9.7.2.1 General
The ideal website is a genuine reflection of the team, its participants, spirit, and goals. It should not be just a bulletin board with information accessible via a menu. It should tell an individual story and also detail how it is part of the larger FIRST community.
9.7.2.2 Content and Design
The content (text, pictures, music, etc,) and design of a website should work together to provide a pleasing user experience. Good content with a confusing interface, or vice versa, will not be scored as highly as a site
with better balance.
They want to see content, that's the key of any team website. They want the inside, human perspective of a team, and to see how this team interacts within both the FIRST community and their own local community. They want multimedia, pictures, video, flash animation is a nice bonus. They want up-to-date information, maybe even what the team is currently working on and how it's going.
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Here's what I explained to my kids when they were looking for examples of websites:
Quote:
To be honest, the web criteria is more about the content of the site than the presentation of it. Looking professional and good is a plus, but it is not what counts.
Here is 555's website.
They won the Website Award at the NYC Regional in 2005. http://www.montclairrobotics.org/
Here is 103's website.
They have won the website award multiple times, I believe.
http://www.cybersonics.org
Chiefdelphi has won the Website Excellence award two years in a row
2004: http://team2004.chiefdelphi.com/
2005: http://team2005.chiefdelphi.com/
This is the kind of stuff judges look for:
team success stories
appreciation and recognition of sponsors
resources for other teams
photos of members/mentors/coaches
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One thing FIRST is big on is letting people know about the impact its had on teams. 358 has a list of where their graduates have gone and what they're considering for majors. That's awesome! They also have a schedule up as far as their upcoming events are concerned. They have a nice archive of the newspaper and other media spots they've had too. Seriously, the content of this site is awesome.
http://www.team358.org
One of my favorite things to see is an alumni page. Unless you're a rookie team, you've had kids graduate from your group. So, what have they gone on to do/study? Are they working in science, engineering, or technology fields? It makes SUCH an impact to people in FIRST if they realize just how much progress your team is making in inspiration.
Team 1089 (my team) won the website award at the NJ Regional this year (again). If you would like, please feel free to stop by our website and compare/contrast with ours (
http://www.mercury1089.com ). I worked with the students this year to supply a massive amount of content and work with the fluidity and interactivity of it as well. If you would like to talk to me more about what I personally think is important in a FIRST award-winning website, feel free to PM me.
I know this post is long, I'm sorry.
But I hope it was informative.
2005-2008 NYC Website Judge | 2006-2008 Philadelphia Website Judge | 2008 NJ Website Judge Advisor
And here's some more good information from KathieK:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...3&postcount=12