Rubric Maker

Website Project Rubric Template

A ready-to-use, analytic website project rubric for Student-built website (portfolio site, class project site, or informational site) made with a site builder or code (Grades 6–12 and college). Score the site as a visitor meets it: does it say who it is for and why, hold accurate content, let a person find their way, look readable, and work for everyone on any device? This rubric does not grade code quality. Edit it for your own assignment, print it, download it as a Word file, or share a link with your students.

Edit this template in the maker →

The website project rubric

CriterionExcellent (4)Proficient (3)Developing (2)Beginning (1)
Purpose & audienceThe home page says in one or two sentences what the site is for and who it helps, and every page contains something that audience would want (content that does not fit is left out).The purpose is stated on the home page, but the audience is only implied, and one or two pages hold content that does not serve the visitor.The site's topic is clear but not its purpose or audience, and pages read as an unfiltered collection of everything the student found.It is unclear what the site is for, or the home page is missing or a placeholder.
Content quality & accuracyEvery page has enough substance to justify its own page, facts are accurate and traced to named sources listed on the site, and the text is the student's own words or clearly quoted.Pages have solid content, and sources are listed, but one page is thin (a few sentences or a single image) or a fact is unsourced.Several pages are thin or repeat each other, sources are missing, or long stretches sound copied from another site.Pages are mostly empty, contain placeholder text (lorem ipsum, 'coming soon'), or contain copied text with no source.
Navigation & structureA menu appears in the same place on every page, labels say what the page contains, every page is reachable in two clicks or fewer from the home page, every link works, and each page has a title that appears in the browser tab.The menu is consistent and links work, but one label is vague ('Stuff', 'Page 2') or one page takes more than two clicks to reach.The menu is missing on some pages or changes place, or one or two links are broken, so a visitor sometimes has to use the back button.There is no working navigation; pages can only be reached by typing an address, or most links are broken.
Visual design & readabilityColors and fonts are consistent across pages, text contrasts strongly with the background (dark on light or the reverse), body text is readable at normal size, images are sharp and sized to fit, and space is used to separate sections.The design is consistent and readable, but one page has a color, font, or image size that does not match the rest, or an image is stretched or blurry.Text is hard to read in places (light text on a light background, tiny type, or long unbroken blocks), or the styles change from page to page.The page is hard to read overall: clashing colors, text over busy images, or elements overlapping each other.
Accessibility & works on any deviceThe site displays correctly at phone width with no sideways scrolling, every meaningful image has alt text that describes it, link text says where it goes (not 'click here'), and it can be moved through with the keyboard alone.The site works on a phone, and most images have alt text, but one link says 'click here' or one page needs sideways scrolling.The site works on a computer but breaks on a phone (text cut off, overlapping menus), and alt text is missing on most images.The site only displays correctly at one screen size, has no alt text, and includes pages that do not load or show errors.

Four levels — Excellent (4) to Beginning (1). Print this page, or open it in the editor to change the wording, levels, or points.

How to use this rubric

A website project is not a coding project with a webpage on the end. A visitor never sees the code; they see whether the site tells them what it is for, whether the information is correct, whether they can find their way, whether the text is readable, and whether it works on their phone. This rubric grades those five things. Each row can be checked by opening the site in a browser and clicking through it, and none depend on which builder the student used or how the site was coded.

Why these criteria

Each row targets something the assignment is really teaching, with descriptors written to be observable rather than vague:

Purpose & audience
A site with no clear reason to exist is just a pile of pages. Knowing who the visitor is decides what to include and what to leave out.
Content quality & accuracy
Content is what a visitor came for. Checking that facts are correct, sourced, and in the student's own words separates a real site from a copy of other pages.
Navigation & structure
If a visitor cannot find a page in a few seconds, they leave. This row checks that the site is organized around what visitors look for, not around how the student built it.
Visual design & readability
Design here is about whether the page can be read easily, not whether it is fancy. Contrast, type size, and consistency are measurable; taste is not graded.
Accessibility & works on any device
A site that only works for one person on one screen is unfinished. Checking phone width and image descriptions covers the basics without needing special tools.

How to adapt it

Frequently asked questions

How is a website project rubric different from a coding project rubric?
A coding project rubric grades the code: correctness, organization, testing. A website project rubric grades what a visitor experiences, so it looks at purpose, content, navigation, readability, and accessibility. If the assignment is a program, game, or script, use the Coding Project Rubric. If students hand in a site, use this one, and add a code row only if the code is part of the lesson.
Can I use this if students build with Google Sites or Wix?
Yes. None of the five rows depend on code. Google Sites and similar builders can still fail the rows: menus can be inconsistent, images can lack alt text, and pages can be thin. The phone check in the last row works in any builder's preview mode.
How do I check accessibility without special software?
Use three quick checks. First, shrink the browser window to phone width and scroll: sideways scrolling is a fail. Second, right-click an image and look for alt text in the page settings or builder, or ask the student to show it. Third, press the Tab key repeatedly and see whether you can reach every link and menu item.
Should I grade the site's originality or creativity?
Not in this rubric. Creativity is hard to score consistently and often rewards students who already had design experience. If you want it graded, add one row for the choices the student made for their audience, such as how the content was arranged, and score it separately from the five rows.

More rubric templates