Content Quality (0-10 pts.)
First and foremost your site must have content. This does not necessarily have to be all text, but can be photographs or other graphical elements. The content should be educational and interesting, and of value to the railroad enthusiast. The more quality content you have, the more points you will gain. (Note: Sites that require a password and/or membership to see the majority of content can only receive a maximum of 5 points.)

Break-up of Information (0-6 pts.)
Content should be well-organized and broken into readable chunks. Unless you have good inner page navigation, a long scrolling page (over 10 vertical scrolls in 800 x 600 screen resolution) will lose you one point per page. Every page should have a header.

Website Introduction (0-4 pts.)
An introduction is very important, for it's your first chance to tell new visitors what your site has to offer. If you have a site on a specific railroad tell your audience how long the railroad is, how old and where it's located. If you have a model railroad, tell us the road it's modeled after, the gauge and the time period all in a short, concise description on the first or second page of your site.

Grammar (0-4 pts.)
Spelling, punctuation and proper use of the English language is a must. A point will be subtracted for every 2 errors found on a page. Every Microsoft Windows system has a spell checker - it's called Outlook Express. Simply hilite and copy the text from your website and paste it into a new Email message in Outlook Express. Click the "ABC Spelling" button at the top of the Email to spell check your page. There is also an online spell checker at SpellCheck.net.

Copyright Statement (0-4 pts.)
Every website should have a copyright statement outlining what material belongs to what person or organization. The number of points earned depends on how detailed the applicant's copyright statement is.

Image Descriptions (0-3 pts.)
All supporting photographs, maps and other graphical content should have descriptive copy following the three W's: What, When and Where.

Consistency (0-3 pts.)
All content within the site should be railroad-related and of interest to the railfan.

Clarity (0-3 pts.)
All information should be clear and easy to understand for the novice and even the non-railfan. For example, the first mention of a railroad name should be made in full before using the roads initials or nickname (e.g., Pennsylvania Railroad before using PRR or Pennsy). Have a friend, spouse or relative who is not a railfan read over your site and ask them if there is anything they do not understand.

Current Updates (0-3 pts.)
The website should be kept current and at least display a revision date on its home page. A top grade goes to those sites that have a list of recent website revisions along with links to the specific pages. Zero points will be given to sites with no revisions in the past 3 months.