The ICRA vocabulary, often referred to as “the ICRA questionnaire,” was devised by an international panel during 1999 and 2000. A wide range of expertise was called upon to create a descriptive system that would be cross-cultural and able to be translated with as little room for interpretation and subjectivity as possible.
The vocabulary was designed to be used by webmasters to describe their content, most of which was collections of text and images delivered through a “traditional” website. This is the content providers’ way to empower parents to make choices about what their children can and cannot see online. As digital media and delivery systems converge, it’s time to review the vocabulary with a view to creating a more broad-based descriptor set applicable across all media.
ICRA’s principles of creating a cross cultural system that is as objective as possible remains a foundation stone. However, the review will consider media types other than websites delivered to desktops. The needs of the mobile communications industry will be of particular relevance, as will the trend in many countries to seek a labelling system that can be applied across all media types. 4 years’ experience of using the existing vocabulary will also be highly relevant!
ICRA will again be seeking the views of a wide range of interested parties as well as operating an open consultation exercise through its website. ICRA is particularly interested in which parts of the vocabulary need modification, explanation, or clarification. Are there categories that are no longer relevant, or subparts that can be eliminated? Are there categories that are missing and should be added to make the system more relevant to the way people use information? Is there too much granularity? Too little? We want to know what you think on these and other issues you have.
- See the complete current vocabulary.