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QUATRO Tools - a previewPrinter-friendly version (PDF, 2.8MB) 
This short sequence of screenshots shows the two tools that the QUATRO project partners are now developing. These are:
Both tools work with a "back office" application known as the Quatro Proxy or QUAPRO. It is this application that actually locates the labels and performs various tests to see whether the label is valid and can be trusted. The ViQ toolbarWith ViQ installed, a small icon appears when the user visits a site carrying a label of some kind at the bottom right hand side of the browser window. Clicking the icon brings up the list of labels that are available and gives an immediate indication of their trustworthiness (as calculated by the QUAPRO).  In this example, we've shown the ICRA label to be trustworthy. This occurs when the label is compared with the result from a real-time content analyser and the difference is found to either zero or within a small margin or error. Furthermore, QUAPRO has made a call to the ICRA database and found that a person has reviewed the label within a defined period of time providing two independent checks on the label's trustworthiness. The validity of the ICRA label is also made explicit using rollover text as shown below.  In a similar way, the user can see at a glance that the IQUA label is invalid. IQUA, the Internet Quality Agency, runs a trustmark scheme covering a wide range of issues such as legal compliance, eCommerce and so on. In order for the label to be valid, QUAPRO must have identified the label and made a live query to the IQUA database. This is the automated version of the typical trustmark scheme model where a user clicks the logo to retrieve data directly from the scheme operator. The invalid response means that the database was queried and a negative result obtained (further strengthening the value of labels that receive a positive result). The set of possible responses is completed in this example by the WMA label. Web Mèdica Acreditada runs a scheme for labelling the accuracy of medical information on the web. Unlike IQUA and ICRA where the data is held on the labelled site's server, WMA makes its labels available from its own servers to which accredited sites point. Since the data is entirely within the control of WMA, if a label is found it can be considered as valid. In the example here, the question mark icon tells the user that the system was unable to make contact with the WMA database and that therefore, although the site includes a link to WMA, no information is available on that link's trustworthiness. Selecting a label scheme from the menu brings up a separate dialogue box as shown below.  In this example we've selected the ICRA tab and can see what the label says and when it was issued. Notice that the user has the option to tell ViQ to ignore a given label scheme in future. Annotated search with LADILike the ViQ toolbar, LADI presents the user with information based on labels found and their trustworthiness/validity based on behind the scenes checks performed by the QUATRO Proxy. Unlike ViQ however, it is possible to use LADI without installing any software on the user's machine, or indeed, without any new work being necessary by Yahoo! or Google.  The screenshot above shows (real) search results for the word "Quatro". For illustration, LADI has inserted a generic logo besides every third result. In the functional system, these will be clickable to generate a popup that will convey information in a very similar fashion to the ViQ toolbar. Although no end-user software is involved, searches do need to be made through the LADI system. This can be achieved easily by websites including a search box. The websites operated by participating labelling schemes are an obvious place for such search boxes to be included. In addition, it takes a very small bit of software to add a LADI interface to the Firefox browser and the ViQ toolbar includes such an interface itself (both of these options are shown in the screenshots). The QUATRO ProxyThe identification of labels and the tests carried out on them is handled by a separate server. It accepts up to 10 URLs at a time and implements different policies for each label. These are encoded by the various labelling authorities within their label schema. For example, whether labels are held on the site or at the label authority's database, whether content analysis can be used to assess the trustworthiness of a label and, if so, the URL of the relevant service. The interaction with labelling authorities' systems all takes place server to server and so are not constrained by domestic bandwidth and computing power. Whilst some latency is inevitable, steps will be taken to keep it to a minimum. Questions and answersDoes LADI affect results from Yahoo! or Google?The ranking of results returned from those search engines will be unaffected by LADI, however, labelled sites will clearly be more prominent. Search engines capture the choices made by users when presented with a page of their results and use that in page rank algorithms. It is a core aim of QUATRO that extra visibility will encourage more website owners to seek trustmarks and to provide reliable descriptions of their content. Does ViQ only work in Firefox?No. A version for Internet Explorer will also be made available. Will it only support QUATRO project members?No. The system is being built to be flexible so that other trustmarks and labelling schemes can be integrated. For example, QUATRO partners are working with Segala on integrating their web accessibility trustmark. Who's doing what?The QUATRO Proxy is being built by Kostas Stamatakis and Vangelis Karkaletis at NCSR "Demokritos" in Athens and includes their content analyser (commercialized as FilterX). Andrea Perego at the University of Milan is building the ViQ toolbar and David Rose of Coolwave is developing LADI. When will all this be available?Our target is to have the full system to at least working demonstration standard in time for Safer Internet Day in February 2006. Can I try a demo now?Watch this space! Where do the names ViQ and LADI come from?ViQ began life as the "Metadata Visualizer" and has gone through several name changes. Think of it as being "Visualize Quality". LADI is the Label Display Interface. Quatro itself is derived from the Quality Assurance and Content Description Project. Links
Quatro is co-funded by the European Union's Safer Internet Programme Version 1.0
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