EAE Award Criteria and Application
Basic RequirementsFurther CriteriaApplication
There used to be many Star Trek website awards in the 1990s and early 2000s. Most of them were given out just as a courtesy or as a banner to attract more visitors. The Ex Astris Excellentia Award, in contrast, is presented only to the very best sites in the view of a small jury (usually consisting of yours truly alone). The EAE Award used to be given out once every month from June 1999 to June 2009. Owing to the ever decreasing number of notable Trek sites, there is no fixed interval any longer.
Although there is no stringent "point system", the assessment won't be arbitrary. There are basic requirements that have to be fulfilled and further criteria a site should meet for an increased chance to win.
Basic Requirements
Type
Only real websites are eligible, no social media accounts or YouTube channels.
Scope
The site must be specifically about or with a major portion dedicated to Star Trek, not a general science fiction or TV site.
Content
The site must have a sufficient amount of genuine content. Don't nominate a site that is mainly composed of index, links, poll, visitor comment or similar supporting pages. Don't apply if most of the content was copied from other websites. Don't apply if the content is outdated. Also, the site must not contain any illegal content.
Style
The design has to be consistent. Randomly changing font styles, colors, alignments or pages titled "Default Page" have to be avoided. Fonts should be well readable; the colors must not be obtrusive. A navigation structure or categorization is mandatory.
Technical quality
The site will be tested with common browsers. Pages crammed with countless images, videos, scripts or other stuff have to be avoided. Sites should be largely free of broken links.
Web design crimes to be avoided
Excessive redirecting, denial to work with a common browser, deactivation of the context menu or of other common browser elements, use of scripted or otherwise obfuscated links, links that open new windows for each and everything, ads that block or hide the site's content, other forms of obtrusive ads, more than one pop-up window prompt per visit.
Further Criteria
Scope
We favor non-commercial sites. Ads are acceptable, but only in small numbers and only if they don't disrupt the design. Sites in any language are eligible as long as we can decipher the letters and get an impression of its quality.
Content
Original content is preferred, but data collections are welcome as well. The first will be mainly judged by their originality and plausibility, the latter by their reliability and comprehensiveness. While we accept award nominations of RPG or computer gaming group sites, for a chance to win they have to offer something interesting also for non-members. All text and images should be properly attributed. It goes without saying that regular updates and additions are beneficial.
Style
Fast and easy navigation is advantageous; the fewer sub-page levels, the better. Blogs should have some sort of navigation (not just a chronological order). Graphical elements ought to be precisely designed and harmonized with each other. We would like to see novel design approaches, rather than default designs for a CMS.
Technical quality
Sites that don't require user-side scripting for vital functions are preferred. Fast loading and stability is decisive, not ambitious programming. Pages should look good on large monitors, and not only on mobile devices.
Application
In order to nominate your site, please read the above explanations carefully. If you feel your site fulfills *all* of the basic requirements and *many* of the further criteria, please contact me.
Unless your site has been completely reworked, don't nominate it more than once. Theoretically any Star Trek site can win the award any time, there is no contest. Also, there is no negative notification about sites that don't win the award.
If you don't win: free awards here ;-)
See Also
List of Previous Winners - beginning in 1999
