http://www.icra.org/
Introduction
ICRA's dual aims are to:
protect children from potentially harmful material; and,
to protect free speech on the internet.
In short, ICRA is about choice not censorship.
As a web author, we invite you to use our system to generate a label which you can then apply to your site. The system is designed to be objective: ICRA makes no value judgements at all about any site.
Users - principally parents of young children - then apply their own judgement in deciding which sites should and should not be available in their homes or workplaces. This is done by means of the filtering software such as ICRAfilter or the Content Advisor function in Microsoft's Internet Explorer, first included in version 3.0 (released in February 1996). ICRA continues to work with software companies, ISPs and other industry members around the world to incorporate ICRA-based filtering into a variety of products.
So what do I have to do?
Labelling your site involves filling in a questionnaire and submitting it to ICRA. The form generates a label which you add to your web site. This is not visible to users but is read by the filter if this feature has been enabled. If you so choose, you may then add one of a choice of ICRA logo buttons or a text link to show that you have labelled your site.
Is it difficult?
No. Absolutely not. If you can copy and paste in a word processor, you can add a label to your site. If you can't copy and paste - we'll even show you how to do that as well!
For web professionals, we are able to offer advice on how to configure your servers to include ICRA labels in HTTP headers. This is the efficient, elegant way of labelling web content. Please click here.
How much does it cost?
It's free!
Why bother to label?
There are a number of compelling reasons why you should consider labelling your site with ICRA. Let's take four examples:
If you run a commercial site or any other site with little or no objectionable material you don't want your site to be blocked "by default." When a parent sets up the filter for their child, they will be offered an option to allow or disallow access to "sites that have no rating" (i.e. unlabelled sites). As the ICRA labelling system gathers momentum, more and more parents are likely to choose "disallow".
If you run a site designed specifically for children, labelling your site will make a positive, machine-readable statement that the site is "childsafe."
If you run an "adults only" site, an ICRA label is a simple step you can take to help to avoid access by children. As well as protecting children, it sends a clear signal to governments that the World Wide Web is willing and able to self-regulate, rather than have the heavy hand of legislation decide what is or is not acceptable.
All other things being equal, a site carrying an ICRA label is more likely to be perceived as trustworthy than one which is not.
The ICRA Questionnaire
Below is the list of "descriptors" in the ICRA questionnaire. You'll be asked to indicate (by check box) whether each one is present on your site. The descriptors fall into natural groups, some of which include "context modifiers." Further explanation is given in Definitions.
The questionnaire and help is also available in these additional languages:
Nudity and Sexual Material [Definitions]
Erections or female genitals in detail
Male genitals
Female genitals
Female breasts
Bare buttocks
Explicit sexual acts
Obscured or implied sexual acts
Visible sexual touching
Passionate kissing
None of the above
Context - this material ... [Definitions]
appears in a context intended to be artistic and is suitable for young children
appears in a context intended to be educational and is suitable for young children
appears in a context intended to be medical and is suitable for young children
Violence [Definitions]
Sexual violence / rape
Blood and gore, human beings
Blood and gore, animals
Blood and gore, fantasy characters (including animation)
Killing of human beings
Killing of animals
Killing of fantasy characters (including animation)
Deliberate injury to human beings
Deliberate injury to animals
Deliberate injury to fantasy characters (including animations)
Deliberate damage to objects
None of the above
Context - this material ...[Definitions]
appears in a context intended to be artistic and is suitable for young children
appears in a context intended to be educational and is suitable for young children
appears in a context intended to be medical and is suitable for young children
only appears in a sports related context
Language (No additional definition is felt necessary)
Explicit sexual language
Crude words or profanity
Mild expletives
None of the above
Other topics [Definitions]
Promotion of tobacco use
Promotion of alcohol use
Promotion of drug use
Gambling
Promotion of weapon use
Promotion of discrimination or harm against people
Material that might be perceived as setting a bad example for young children
Material that might disturb young children
None of the above
Chat [Definitions]
Chat
Moderated chat suitable for children and teens
Neither of the above
Return to top
I've seen enough, I want my label!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adding the label to your site and what happens next
There are two elements to an ICRA label:
the actual piece of code that carries the information about your site (the label); and,
either: one of a choice of "logo buttons" or a "Labelled with ICRA" text link you can display on your site if you so choose.
(The glossary includes definitions for all the key terms used here).
Full details of how to physically add the two elements to your site are given in FAQ 3.1 on the support page. As well as basic instructions, a complete "walk-through" is provided along with plenty of extra information to cover a range of situations. There's a separate set of instructions for professional webmasters responsible for large complex sites.
About a week after you rate your site (or a week after a date you give as the predicted publication date) the ICRA system will check whether the label is in place. If so, all well and good. If not, we'll contact you and see whether you need any further help. Ultimately however, sites not carrying the label more than 30 days after its issue will be deleted from the database.
Displaying an ICRA logo button or "Labelled with ICRA" text link without carrying the label is a breach of our terms and conditions, full details of which are available here.
ICRA makes both automated and manual checks on sites to verify that labels are in place and that they are applied appropriately.
Return to top
I've seen enough, I want my label!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Protecting Kids with Digimarc?
As well as using the ICRA system to label your web site, if appropriate, you can also label your individual images as having "adult content." The Protecting Kids with Digimarc? scheme allows you to add a persistent watermark-like flag to your images which will stay with the images wherever they go on the internet. For full details of this free service, please click here.
Introduction
ICRA's dual aims are to:
protect children from potentially harmful material; and,
to protect free speech on the internet.
In short, ICRA is about choice not censorship.
As a web author, we invite you to use our system to generate a label which you can then apply to your site. The system is designed to be objective: ICRA makes no value judgements at all about any site.
Users - principally parents of young children - then apply their own judgement in deciding which sites should and should not be available in their homes or workplaces. This is done by means of the filtering software such as ICRAfilter or the Content Advisor function in Microsoft's Internet Explorer, first included in version 3.0 (released in February 1996). ICRA continues to work with software companies, ISPs and other industry members around the world to incorporate ICRA-based filtering into a variety of products.
So what do I have to do?
Labelling your site involves filling in a questionnaire and submitting it to ICRA. The form generates a label which you add to your web site. This is not visible to users but is read by the filter if this feature has been enabled. If you so choose, you may then add one of a choice of ICRA logo buttons or a text link to show that you have labelled your site.
Is it difficult?
No. Absolutely not. If you can copy and paste in a word processor, you can add a label to your site. If you can't copy and paste - we'll even show you how to do that as well!
For web professionals, we are able to offer advice on how to configure your servers to include ICRA labels in HTTP headers. This is the efficient, elegant way of labelling web content. Please click here.
How much does it cost?
It's free!
Why bother to label?
There are a number of compelling reasons why you should consider labelling your site with ICRA. Let's take four examples:
If you run a commercial site or any other site with little or no objectionable material you don't want your site to be blocked "by default." When a parent sets up the filter for their child, they will be offered an option to allow or disallow access to "sites that have no rating" (i.e. unlabelled sites). As the ICRA labelling system gathers momentum, more and more parents are likely to choose "disallow".
If you run a site designed specifically for children, labelling your site will make a positive, machine-readable statement that the site is "childsafe."
If you run an "adults only" site, an ICRA label is a simple step you can take to help to avoid access by children. As well as protecting children, it sends a clear signal to governments that the World Wide Web is willing and able to self-regulate, rather than have the heavy hand of legislation decide what is or is not acceptable.
All other things being equal, a site carrying an ICRA label is more likely to be perceived as trustworthy than one which is not.
The ICRA Questionnaire
Below is the list of "descriptors" in the ICRA questionnaire. You'll be asked to indicate (by check box) whether each one is present on your site. The descriptors fall into natural groups, some of which include "context modifiers." Further explanation is given in Definitions.
The questionnaire and help is also available in these additional languages:
Nudity and Sexual Material [Definitions]
Erections or female genitals in detail
Male genitals
Female genitals
Female breasts
Bare buttocks
Explicit sexual acts
Obscured or implied sexual acts
Visible sexual touching
Passionate kissing
None of the above
Context - this material ... [Definitions]
appears in a context intended to be artistic and is suitable for young children
appears in a context intended to be educational and is suitable for young children
appears in a context intended to be medical and is suitable for young children
Violence [Definitions]
Sexual violence / rape
Blood and gore, human beings
Blood and gore, animals
Blood and gore, fantasy characters (including animation)
Killing of human beings
Killing of animals
Killing of fantasy characters (including animation)
Deliberate injury to human beings
Deliberate injury to animals
Deliberate injury to fantasy characters (including animations)
Deliberate damage to objects
None of the above
Context - this material ...[Definitions]
appears in a context intended to be artistic and is suitable for young children
appears in a context intended to be educational and is suitable for young children
appears in a context intended to be medical and is suitable for young children
only appears in a sports related context
Language (No additional definition is felt necessary)
Explicit sexual language
Crude words or profanity
Mild expletives
None of the above
Other topics [Definitions]
Promotion of tobacco use
Promotion of alcohol use
Promotion of drug use
Gambling
Promotion of weapon use
Promotion of discrimination or harm against people
Material that might be perceived as setting a bad example for young children
Material that might disturb young children
None of the above
Chat [Definitions]
Chat
Moderated chat suitable for children and teens
Neither of the above
Return to top
I've seen enough, I want my label!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adding the label to your site and what happens next
There are two elements to an ICRA label:
the actual piece of code that carries the information about your site (the label); and,
either: one of a choice of "logo buttons" or a "Labelled with ICRA" text link you can display on your site if you so choose.
(The glossary includes definitions for all the key terms used here).
Full details of how to physically add the two elements to your site are given in FAQ 3.1 on the support page. As well as basic instructions, a complete "walk-through" is provided along with plenty of extra information to cover a range of situations. There's a separate set of instructions for professional webmasters responsible for large complex sites.
About a week after you rate your site (or a week after a date you give as the predicted publication date) the ICRA system will check whether the label is in place. If so, all well and good. If not, we'll contact you and see whether you need any further help. Ultimately however, sites not carrying the label more than 30 days after its issue will be deleted from the database.
Displaying an ICRA logo button or "Labelled with ICRA" text link without carrying the label is a breach of our terms and conditions, full details of which are available here.
ICRA makes both automated and manual checks on sites to verify that labels are in place and that they are applied appropriately.
Return to top
I've seen enough, I want my label!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Protecting Kids with Digimarc?
As well as using the ICRA system to label your web site, if appropriate, you can also label your individual images as having "adult content." The Protecting Kids with Digimarc? scheme allows you to add a persistent watermark-like flag to your images which will stay with the images wherever they go on the internet. For full details of this free service, please click here.
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