ICRA - the Internet Content Rating Association
The Internet Content Rating Association, an international, non-profit organisation, offer responsible adults an opportunity to take an active informed decision on the suitability of website content minors and other individuals within their care view while surfing the Web.
And let it be made absolutely clear, here and now, this is not yet another form of censorship wielded by a governing body; the reins of guidance are held firmly within the hands of the adult consumer.
Website Content Labelling
From their inception, ICRA have used the PICS system - the Platform for Internet Content Selection - to label the content of website pages in the header section of a page as a meta descriptor tag in conjunction with their descriptive vocabulary or 'ICRA questionnaire' to present a discrete summary of content. Content providers - aka we happy band of developers - complete the 45 elements of the questionnaire and submit the form, to be rewarded with a snippet of meta markup to insert in our site pages. It's that simple, takes just five minutes to complete and the resultant meta tag can be dropped into the page without modification.
The actual filtering software sits on the user's system, reads the content labelling then decides whether or not to display a web page. If no filter is installed or is disabled, the tag is ignored.
Not a Moral Stance
It's important to note no moral stance is adopted; it's a question of responsibility. Webmasters are asked to identify whether certain elements exist on their site or not. There is no compiled 'black list' — but website content labelling is noted by the increasing number of adults electing to block unlabelled sites. It pays to make the effort to label with ICRA, especially if you have products or services to promote to children.
Respecting the Sensibilities of Others
As a responsible developer I have labelled with ICRA for over 4 years, not because I am a prude but because it is the right thing to do. The Internet is the greatest form or global communications ever developed and by and large it is not policed. There is no form of censorship like boards of film censors who determine and afford appropriate content labelling to visual media (albeit certain governments have barred specific sites through local ISPs ... but that's a political issue). It's a question of respecting the sensibilities of others, notably children or those with learning disabilities, whose ability to comprehend the information supplied them and integrate it accordingly may not have developed sufficiently so not to cause shock or profound disturbance when assaulted with adult content. So too is it about respecting your peers by not diluting the content of the Internet to a nightmare playground full of syringes and broken bottles where their minors may injure themselves.
A Safe and Secure Internet
ICRA offer an associate membership program in support of their twin aims of protecting children from potentially harmful material and protecting free speech on the internet. The benefits of membership are considerable, especially with regard to pragmatic SEO (search engine optimisation): decent inbound page rank. But perhaps more importantly, the ICRA-labelled business or personal site is presented on the Internet as a reflection of development philosophy, affording kudos in the business world as a statement of commitment to build a safe and secure Internet for the children of the world.
Build a safer Internet by labelling with ICRA, today. Better still, become an associate member and fund the Web's leading non-profit content labelling organisation.
