I receive lots of questions about the rating system used at Berit's Best Sites for Children. Each Web site listed on Berit's Best Sites for Children includes a brief description and a rating out of five. These features are intended to help you decide which sites you'd like to visit. I only include sites that rate 3/5 and better, in other words, the best sites for children. Over the past few years I've been to thousands of kids' sites and I make judgements based on my experience and the following criteria:

Content
First of all, there must be content! I don't include homepages with only a handful of links or sites that are almost entirely under construction. Once again, if a site sells a product there must also be something worthwhile for kids to do online in an area away from the catalog and order page. Text must be easy to read, devoid of spelling and grammar errors, and so on.

Organization
Sites must be sensibly organized with clear explanations of each area. We don't want to get lost!

Ease of Use
It must be easy to navigate around a site-- backwards, forwards and every which way. Links must work, activity and coloring pages should be printable, games must be playable, et cetera. I prefer a site to fit comfortably on my computer screen so I don't get dizzy sliding back and forth. Icons and image maps should be labeled so users know what's behind the squiggle or the happy face. Labels should be helpful, not simply cute or catchy.

Appearance
Sites for children should use some color and graphics. They should look interesting, fun, be pleasantly designed and use graphics wisely.

Bells and Whistles
I dislike excessive use of additional software, animations, huge graphics, and other bells and whistles. When extra software is used a site must notify users what they need and where they can get it. In my descriptions of each site I list additional software required to use them. A site must load in a reasonable amount of time and be consistently available (or else I delete it from the directory).

Audience
A site must be for children or have some kid-appeal, and not be directed to parents, teachers or any other adult audience.

Credibility
Sites should include their author's name and email address, and preferably information about the author. A date should be included to indicate how current the site is. Whenever possible I mention the author of the site so you'll know how credible the information is.

Fees
I only include sites that are available for free. I do not include links to fee-based children's sites or children's shareware because there are so many programs available and there are children's sites directories that specialize in shareware.

Privacy
For privacy and safety reasons personal information should not be requested. Club membership forms, contests and questionnaires on commercial sites may request personal information, such as your full name, address, email address, telephone number, and so on. Do not give out this information! Visit the Safe Play on the Internet section for more safety tips.

As you can see, I'm very picky!