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www.arthritis.ca

http://www.arthritis.ca/types%20of%20arthritis/osteoarthritis/

“Website contains the information about osteoarthritis that suitable for patient”

Website evaluation – by PHONG HA - SID: 9726857

 

AUTHORSHIP:

The website publisher is “The Arthritis Society of Canada”, a not-for-profit organization devoted solely to funding and promoting arthritis research, programs and patient care. The publisher/author would be very respected within the scientific community as their team involves many volunteers from leading medical researchers, clinicians such as rheumatology, physiotherapy, orthopaedic surgery, occupational therapy, pharmacy…Therefore, the site is a very credible source of information. The viewers would certainly have high confidence in the honesty of information they are reading, as it is clearly indicated in the home page, the website team bring with them expertise in a variety of disciplines and a willingness to help people with arthritis

The logo, with the name of the organization “The Arthritis society of Canada” would give the viewers the sense of generosity and fairness; it names the organization of high reputation. The contact number provided at the bottom of the page means the authorship can be verifiable; knowing more about the organization or the author will help the researchers make better decisions regarding the information provided. This is also very useful, whenever the viewers need help or further information. However, it may not convenient for viewers outside Canada

 

AUDIENCE:

“The Arthritis Society of Canada” is an organization set up to provide services to general public so it is intended for all viewers especially the patients with arthritis. The photo in the middle of the page give the viewers the friendliness; it appeals strongly to the elderly patients who worrying about their illness.

 

INFORMATION PROVIDED:

The content is free of grammatical, spelling and other errors. This indicates that the writing was done with care by someone with a basic level of education. Most of the time, the language is easy to understand. However, the site provides deep information about the topic, therefore there are some medical terms which non science back ground viewers may find hard to understand. The “Dictionary” is a very useful stuff; it helps the viewers to understand these unfamiliar medical terms. This shows that the author do try to make the web site as comprehensive as possible to maximize the purpose of delivering the valuable information to public.

The information provided is very sufficient. It covers fully researcher’s expectation about the topic. The researchers have enough information about the topic and may not need to search anywhere else for more information. It saves the viewers searching and navigating times.

The link to other “resources” gives the viewers the opportunity to know about the related information and organization if they want more help. However, there is no link to any other reliable web sites that provide information about the same topic, so the viewers have no quick way to compare the information. In the list of “Related information” there is a link to “Osteoarthritis Consensus Conference” and the provided video interview with the medical researchers. The conference was held in the year 2002, although the information provided is most up to date. However, it would be much more useful if the conference was more recent. The 140 arthritis related questions and answers are a fabulous effort of the sites. The questions are carefully selected from the patients, careers and HCPs and the answers provide the enormous clinical knowledge for the researchers about arthritis. “Tips for Living Well” provides the very useful tips that viewers can apply to help make living with arthritis a little bit more manageable.

The page appears to be under regular maintenance as it was last updated on March, 29th 2005. This gives the viewers a good insight about accuracy and currency of the information in this continually changing scientific world.

The information provided in this web site is very comparable with the information from the reliable resources such as: “The Merck Manual” http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec05/ch066/ch066a.html. However, this site does not have any link to any such a valuable sites. So the viewers themselves do not have any quick link to compare the information they are reading with. This may be a negative affects on the currency and accuracy of this web site.

This is a non-profit web site. The provided information is not influenced by any sponsorship/advertisers, so it has a huge advantage compared with other web site about the honesty of the information and services.

 

PRESENTATION:

In general the design is very appealing to the audience. The text is easy to read and the site is well organized and easy to get around. The colors used effectively and the separate spaces between the subheadings and paragraphs help the viewers easy to read and follow through the entire topic. The site has its own search engine so it is easy find information and navigates the page. The pictures in each page are very effective in giving the sense of friendliness.

 

 

USER FREINDLINESS:

The multi-language function is able to attract a lot of researchers all over the world as it is also in France. The list of general questions about the topic and their links to the answers would be very convenient for the viewers. It gives not just an overview about the information in the whole page but also helps the viewers quickly come to the answer that they want to know.

The website is set up in the way to make it friendly and easy to use. The “Help” is a very useful icon which directs the viewers to the place, where they can get help or further information. The “Site map” and the internal search engine help the viewers to go other topics and go back without getting lost. The members have benefit from receiving regular update information on how to live with arthritis with a cheap annual fee. It is also a great way to encourage patients to stay active; have a healthy and happy social life. Once again, this may not work for oversea patients. By going into “send us your comment” the viewers are able to tell what they think about the web site. In this way, the author sometime will have the very useful feedback from the public. This will help the author to maximize the outcome from the purpose to serve the public.

 

DISCLOSURE/PRIVACY POLICY:

The “privacy policy” indicates clearly that the site is managed in strict accordance with the Canadian Marketing Association’s mandatory Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice; and the site committed to high standards that require honesty, integrity and fairness in all customer relationships. This gives the viewer a full confidence when accessing to the information within the site without any worry about disclosure of personal details.

 

SUMMARY:

The web site is well presented and has a professional appearance. An effective maintenance strategy is well in place. The authorship has a high reputation in scientific community. The information provided is very efficient as it would provide the valuable knowledge about arthritis to the viewers. However, this website is created from Canada and mainly to serve Canada public, therefore it may be inconvenient for viewers outside Canada when seeking for further information and help. Viewers from outside Canada such as Australia may not be able to access to services other than the information provided on the web and in someway it may not be practicable in Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Authorship
Author of website details are clearly displayed
ü        
Source of information is reliable ie. author is accredited/ medically trained
ü        
Audience
General Public
ü        
Health Care Professionals 
ü        
Information provided
 
Objective information
ü        
Evidence based/ accurate information
ü        
Supported by linked references
0
Links to other reliable related sites
0
Information is recent/current
ü        
Non-commercial/not influenced by sponsorship/advertisements (or sponsorship/advertisers are clearly identified)
ü        
Appropriate language/ spelling/ grammar
ü        
HONcode (or recognized by another code of conduct)
ü        

Presentation

 
Professional/ good looking design

ü        

Appropriate illustrations

ü        

Appropriate/ legible typography

ü        

User friendliness
 
Free to access
ü        
Site is easy to browse 
ü        
No annoying pop-ups or advertisements
ü        
Search engine provided
ü        
Frequently Asked Questions
ü        
Subscriptions to receive updates via mail/e-mail
ü        
Discussion forums/ message boards
ü        
Online medical assistance
ü        
Site map provided
ü        
Table of contents provided
ü        
Site is easy to locate
ü        
Disclosure/Privacy Policy
Site contains a privacy policy
ü        
Confidentiality assured
ü        
Other
Site reputation/popularity
ü        
The site complements other material/ medical advice (ie supports the relationship that exists between a patient and their physician)
ü        
TOTAL SCORE (out of 30)
28