Grading Candidates' Websites: The Democrats
by Dave Tufts - October 17, 2007 / 12:12pm View more articles
I just graded every major Democratic presidential candidates' website. Later in the week, I'll cover the Republicans.
It's all well-and-good if a candidate agrees with you on important issues like Iraq, the economy, or building a gigantic wall around Texas, but can he or she build a half-decent website? Let's see. Unlike most of these politrickians, I'll cut right to the chase...
The Winner
Joe Biden's website ranked highest. Followed by Hillary, John Edwards, and Bill Richardson.
And now for the details...
Grading
Each websites was graded on ten criteria.
Splash Page: The website gets 1 point if the it doesn't have a splash page; -1 point if the site asks me to enter my email or zip code before clicking here to enter.
Doc Type: 1 point if the site's HTML specifies a doctype.
Strict Doc Type: Anyone can have a transitional doctype – I give a bonus point if the site species a strict doctype.
Valid HTML: If the site's homepage validates on the W3 validator it gets 1 point. If not, it looses a point.
Lynx Friendly: 1 point is given to sites that are readable in a text-only web browser without accepting cookies. This typically means proper alt attributes and semantic HTML.
Printer Friendly: 1 point if the an candidate's issue pages prints well.
Find An Issue: Everyone's top issue is Iraq, but what does each candidate have to say about the economy. On each site I clicked around looking for any stance on taxes, the economy, the Federal budget, or any Federal monetary issue. Sites that cover economic or tax issues receive one point.
Video Issue: Does the candidate simply write about their stance on issues or do they also link to video? Video clips about specific issues garner a point.
Favicon: Every 12 year-old blogger has a custom favicon. If you expect my vote, you better have one too. No favicon? No point.
Bonus: I tried to stay as objective as possible, but some candidates did something really good or really bad. In either case I gave them a point or deducted a point and made a note about it.
Joe Biden
Total Score: 4 points
| Splash Page | -1 |
|---|---|
| Doc Type | 1 |
| Strict Doc Type | 0 |
| Valid HTML | -1 |
| Lynx Friendly | 1 |
| Printer Friendly | 1 |
| Find An Issue | 1 |
| Video Issue | 0 |
| Favicon | 1 |
| Bonus* | 1 |
| * This site does an exceptional job with cross linking content. Also, the footer and its 30+ links makes navigation easy. | |
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Total Score: 3 points
| Splash Page | -1 |
|---|---|
| Doc Type | 1 |
| Strict Doc Type | 0 |
| Valid HTML | -1 |
| Lynx Friendly | 1 |
| Printer Friendly | 0 |
| Find An Issue | 0 |
| Video Issue | 1 |
| Favicon | 1 |
| Bonus* | 1 |
| * Hillary does an excellent job of embedding relevant video throughout the site. Almost every page has a video summary. | |
John Edwards
Total Score: 3 points
| Splash Page | -1 |
|---|---|
| Doc Type | 1 |
| Strict Doc Type | 0 |
| Valid HTML | -1 |
| Lynx Friendly | 1 |
| Printer Friendly | 0 |
| Find An Issue | 1 |
| Video Issue | 1 |
| Favicon | 1 |
| Bonus* | 0 |
| * There's nothing outstanding (positive or negative) about this site. | |
Bill Richardson
http://www.richardsonforpresident.com
Total Score: 3 points
| Splash Page | -1 |
|---|---|
| Doc Type | 1 |
| Strict Doc Type | 0 |
| Valid HTML | -1 |
| Lynx Friendly | 1 |
| Printer Friendly | 1 |
| Find An Issue | 1 |
| Video Issue | 0 |
| Favicon | 1 |
| Bonus* | 0 |
| * There's nothing outstanding (positive or negative) about this site. | |
Barack Obama
Total Score: 2 points
| Splash Page | -1 |
|---|---|
| Doc Type | 1 |
| Strict Doc Type | 0 |
| Valid HTML | -1 |
| Lynx Friendly | 1 |
| Printer Friendly | 1 |
| Find An Issue | 0 |
| Video Issue | 0 |
| Favicon | 1 |
| Bonus* | 0 |
| * There's nothing outstanding (positive or negative) about this site. | |
Dennis Kucinich
http://www.dennis4president.com
Total Score: 1 point
| Splash Page | -1 |
|---|---|
| Doc Type | 1 |
| Strict Doc Type | 0 |
| Valid HTML | -1 |
| Lynx Friendly | 1 |
| Printer Friendly | 0 |
| Find An Issue | -1+ |
| Video Issue | 0 |
| Favicon | 1 |
| Bonus* | 1 |
|
* On each issue page, Dennis links to relevant articles, videos, and (most important) GovTrack.us pages of his voting record and bills he's authored.
+Upon visiting Dennis' issue page for Saving Capitalism, the only content is "Executive Summary Coming Soon...". Why not just throw an animated gif construction worker saying "Under Construction". | |
Chris Dodd
Total Score: 0 points
| Splash Page | -1 |
|---|---|
| Doc Type | 1 |
| Strict Doc Type | 0 |
| Valid HTML | -1 |
| Lynx Friendly | -1+ |
| Printer Friendly | 0 |
| Find An Issue | 0 |
| Video Issue | 0 |
| Favicon | 1 |
| Bonus* | 1 |
|
* I really like the fact that Dodd accepts user comments on all his issue pages. 1 point for that.
+can not enter site unless you accept cookie | |
Mike Gravel
Total Score: -1 point
| Splash Page | 0+ |
|---|---|
| Doc Type | 1 |
| Strict Doc Type | 0 |
| Valid HTML | -1 |
| Lynx Friendly | 0 |
| Printer Friendly | 0 |
| Find An Issue | 0 |
| Video Issue | 0 |
| Favicon | 0 |
| Bonus* | -1 |
|
* This site is simply too amateurish to be considered on par with the others. There is no depth to any of Gravel's content.
+Mike's home page is basically a splash page, except it includes links to all other pages, instead of an "Enter Website" link | |
View the report card for Republican candidates.
Hiring: We’re hiring a
RSS
2 Comments
(Also, -2 points because those letters are just an image.)