Five Galaxies Website Award

Rated Five Galaxies Website Award
Welcome to the alien-technology “Five Galaxies Website Award“. An award devoted to recognizing outstanding science fiction websites and the webmasters who create them.

To find out if your site has what it takes to be “Rated Five Galaxies” by our team of interplanetary judges, please please take a minute to review our criteria on which our decision will be based. Also read if you are a blog host since we do award some high quality blogs.

Submit Your Website

Website Award Benefits

Alien-technology is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of website design and entertainment value within the science fiction community. This means that this award will not be just handed out to anyone who applies. Every application will be carefully reviewed, rated and judged by the criteria set forth below.

Winners of this prestigious science fiction website award will automatically become a member of the alien-technology “Five Galaxies Webmasters Guild” which benefits include:

  • Prominent display the “Five Galaxies Website Award” on their site.
  • Free “Five Galaxies Website Award” window decal or sticker.
  • Ability to purchase “Rated Five Galaxies” t-shirts and products at special members-only discounted prices.
  • Direct link added to a special section on the alien-technology links page. (If your site is already listed, it will be listed twice and thus increasing your link popularity).
  • Your site listed on the alien-technology “Five Galaxies Website Award” winners page.

Award Criteria

Given the technical nature of websites, we realize no website can be absolutely perfect. There’s always something that can be modified or improved and, inevitably, something will go wrong. Therefore, the below listed criteria is meant as a guideline.

If you have any questions regarding the “Five Galaxies Website Award” please email alien-technology

Eligibility

This award is open to both personal and commercial sites featuring science fiction material in a well-designed and entertaining manner. You must be the creator/designer or owner of the website and to comply with the children’s online privacy protection act we do not accept submissions from children under the age of 14.

Websites that will NOT be accepted:

  • Sites that contain, promote, or support any of the following types of content: libelous; defamatory; obscene; pornographic; abusive; violent; bigoted; hate-oriented; illegal; cracking; hacking or warez; or link to a website(s) that do
  • Sites that offer, support or promote the use of any illegal goods, service or substances or link to a website(s) that do so
  • Sites that engage in spamming, indiscriminate advertising or unsolicited commercial email
  • Sites that engage in cybersquatting or typosquatting
  • Sites that are unavailable or are under construction
  • Sites that contain hate / violent / sexually explicit /offensive content
  • Sites that promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age
  • Sites that promote violence or illegal activities
  • Sites that contain extreme religious or political content
  • Sites associated with gambling or lottery activities
  • Sites hosted on free servers

Design

The design of your site will have the highest priority in determining whether you receive an award. The layout of the site should be clearing defined, easy to follow and have a consistent and attractive appearance. Other considerations include:

  • Use of typography & font styles
  • Clarity & simplicity
  • Visual appeal
  • Color harmonies
  • General layout & use of space
  • Effective use of tables, frames, javascript, CSS, HTML, DHTML etc.
  • Use of borders, dividers and rules

The use of java applets, unless they serve a very specific purpose that can’t be communicated in any other way, are HIGHLY discouraged.

Content

The content of your site will be the second most important element. Visitor’s to your site will be looking for something specific ? a benefit that makes their trip to your site a worthwhile experience. We will be looking for the same thing. Below is a list of items to be considered:

  • Minimum of five (5) pages of content. Pages filled with banners and links are not regarded as content.
  • Content must serve a specific purpose or point.
  • Content organized in a manner that is easy for visitors to locate
  • Sites must be in English or have an English version because it’s the only language our alien judges can interpret.

Creativity

Given that this award category is science fiction, creativity is essential. We will be looking for:

  • Originality of components and graphics
  • Elegance & sophistication
  • Variation in style from industry standards
  • Creative use of resources
  • Entertainment value

Images

Not including photos, the majority of the images used on your site must be original and created by you. This goes hand-in-hand with the above mentioned “Creativity” and displays the hard work and dedication in creating a successful site.

Optimized graphics that load fast are a plus while big flashy long loading animations are a minus (please see the note on java applets above).

ABSOLUTELY NO LINKING TO IMAGES ON OTHER SITES (unless they are banners).

Navigation

Clearly thought out and easy to use navigation is key to any successful website. Proper use of frames (if any) will be looked at and we should be able to reach the main areas of your site from any page we view. Rollover javascript or fast loading image links will are always beneficial to a good rating. We will also consider:

  • User friendliness
  • Ease of use
  • Aids, tools & help resources
  • Inclusion of a site map

Customer Service & Support

At one time or another, everyone has been there. The frustrating feeling that comes from having an important question, comment or concern and not being able to easily locate a way to contact someone. The irony is that this is the one area that seems to be neglected the most these days. If you haven’t already included the following features into your site, please do so.

  • Ease of contact & responsiveness
  • Customer testimonials provided
  • Refund policy & privacy practices published

Technical Accuracy

This is the part where we will delve into all the nit-picky items of your site to insure the highest quality of design and production. We will be looking for:

  • Broken and dead links
  • Use of page titles, descriptions, keywords and meta tags
  • Overall page sizes and complexity
  • Clean HTML and java script with no faulty code
  • Audio & video broadcast, use of streaming media
  • Database integration & functionality
  • Cross platform and browser compatibility

Legality

Copyright infringement is not only a BIG NO-NO, it is also against the law. Any site displaying unauthorized content including, but not limited to, articles, news stories, photographs and graphics will be automatically disqualified and a crack team of aliens specializing in anal probes will be immediately dispatched to your location.

Bottom line: If you use intellectual property that doesn’t belong to you, make sure you have permission from the respective owner and/or that the content is appropriately cited.