UWSAG talks to Luuk Francken
of LTS Grail Awards

Winner: UWSAG Award Seekers Pick! for July, 2003

1. What got you started in website design?
   
   "I was scared stiff at the time, bit I felt I had to be part of Internet with a homesite of my own. The first results were indeed disgusting. But my own spot on the Net was born."
   
   
   
2. What do you hope to accomplish with your award program?
   
   "To award those sites, that offer added value with their content to the Net and by doing so, help others. I hope to encourage website owners to strife for excellence."
   
   
3. What advice would you give other program owners?
   
   "An award program means continuous work. But it must be done, year in, year out. Be sure you take the job of evaluating other sites extremely serious. Be sure to keep your work and answers very ethical. Therefore, make sure your criteria are perfect, weigh every word, before you use it. You’re dealing with the feelings and integrity of others. Try to go for a rating of AwardSites! and UWSAG and keep on trying for a higher rating constantly. That way you are obliged to better your program constantly."
   
   
4. What was the biggest problem you faced with your award program?
   
   "To get it known in the world of Award Seekers."
   
   
5. If you had to do it all over again, what would you do differently?
   
   "Oh boy what a question! Sure, the site would look a lot better than my first one, the criteria would be more to the point and the award graphic more professionally designed. But somehow, by making mistakes, I learned a lot. And that I wouldn’t miss for the world."
   
   
6. What plans do you have for the future?
   
   "I am trying to get my site validated for the W3C and WAI norm. That on its own is a big job. But in the end it has to be done, if I want to be seen on the web in future."
   
   
7. What else do you like to do?
   
   "Influence people to be ethical in all their doings on the web, no matter how. Let Internet users know, in any means I can to convince them that others might not think as you do. So, give high priority to ethics and simply be nice to people. That’s what I would like to give to the Internet as an added value."