Test Before You Trust – Website Evaluation
Purpose of the Site
Can you tell if the site is fact or opinion?
(Opinion sites may use words like "always",
"never", "best", or
"worst")

Circle One

No it’s not an opinion because the Save the Pacific Northwestern Sea
Octopus does not use opinionated words, only factual words.
YES

NO

Is the tone calm and fair? (Sites that are mean or angry may not be good sources of information. YES

NO

Is the site sponsored by any organizations?
Which ones?

YES

NO

Is the site open to everyone? (no age requirements, fees, passwords, or registration) Yes the tone is calm and fair and gives information on the sea octopus

YES

NO

YES

Trustworthiness of the
Author

Circle One

Is the author’s/ organization’s biography provided, and does he/ she/it have credentials related to the subject of the site?
Was this site recommended by a site you trust? (for example, by a homework help site) Can the author/ organization be contacted if you have questions? (by email, street address, or phone number?)

No the site says it is not sponsored by any organization

Yes, it is open for everyone

Is the site’s domain .edu, .org, or .gov? (Educational, non-profit, & government )

Is the author identified by name or organization? (Some sites are made by many people from a reputable organization, but only the organization is listed as the author.)

Add details to explain

No, the site’s domain is .net
NO

Add details to explain
Yes, the author’s name is Lyle Zapato.

YES

NO

No, none of these are mentioned.
YES

NO

No, the site wasn’t recommended
YES

NO

No, there’s no contact info.
YES

NO

Is the site free of spelling, typographical, and grammatical errors?

YES

Up-to-Date Information

Circle One

Can you find the date the article, page, or site was created?

YES

NO

Can you find the date it was last revised?

YES

NO

Does the page lead you to other, current good information? YES

NO

Do all the links lead to active pages? (no dead links) YES

NO

Ease of Use

NO

Yes, there’s no grammatical errors on the site

Add details to explain
Yes, in the very bottom right hand corner

Yes, in the very bottom right hand corner
No

No

Circle One

Can you understand the text? YES

NO

Do the titles and headings give a clear idea of the content?

YES