 DHYG 446
Students are encouraged to schedule individual tutoring sessions as necessary. Help sessions are offered periodically over the lunch hour, and may be scheduled individually with Patricia via e-mail at either dentistry.library@umich.edu or pfa@umich.edu.
Background Information (Optional)
The criteria for evaluating the site are highly selective. There are many more possible criteria. These are a subset of professional advertising content criteria developed by the American Dental Association, and usability and design criteria developed firstly by the the World Wide Web (W3) Consortium and secondarily by major web usability sites and services such as UseIt (Jakob Nielsen) and ForUse.
I want to emphasize that these criteria are industry standards, developed and endorsed by industry experts. This is true irrespective of how frequently you see them implemented in practice. The importance of adhering to these standards ESPECIALLY for medical information and in the health care environment has been emphasized in so many publications by so many organizations that it would be difficult to compile a list of them all. A few of the most notable who have endorsed or adopted these or similar criteria include:
Note in particular that versions of the W3 guidelines have actually been signed into law (Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1998) in the United States for sites related to the government or receiving any government funding (including, for example, the University of Michigan!). If you wish to test a webpage for its adherence to the W3 Consortium Usability Standards and Guidelines, you may wish to enter the web address (URL) into the Bobby engine recently purchased by Watchfire and previously from Cast / Trace (still a valuable source of information on these and related issues). This assignment is intended to heighten your awareness of the issues, responsibilities, and possibilities involved in providing and using health information on the Internet.
Web Site Evaluation Tools
Bobby: http://bobby.watchfire.com
Professional Care Products:
Instructions:
- Print off the PDF version of the Clinical Product Web Evaluation Checklist. (28K)
- The sites are selected from advertisements in issues of Access by Susan Hipolite-Taichman. If a web address (URL) was given in the advertisement, you are being directed to that web address. If you are unsure of your group assignment or which of the following links you are to evaluate with your group, please contact Dr. Taichman.
- From the page or link below, attempt to find information on the product listed. With your group, complete the Checklist for the product information pages found. Remember, you are looking for information for a professional or health care provider to use in decisionmaking.
- If you are unable to find the product information on the web site of the company which produces the product, you have two options.
- First, you may search for product descriptions or information from another dental site. I recommend using GOOGLE as the search engine, since these are very technical specific product names. I noticed that some of the product manufacturers listed one web site in the JADA Advertisers index, but actually have an entirely different primary corporate identity web site. (For example, Listerine is a subdivision of Warner-Lambert and Proclude is a subdivision of Ortek.) If you wish, you may also try the same project using the company's other web site, but be sure to note this on the Checklist. Complete the Checklist for the product information found, being sure to notate clearly that you were unable to locate the product information on the producer's web site.
- Second, you may select a similar product from the same company on the same web site, and evaluate that information and web page. Be sure to note the change of product and the reason on the Checklist turned in for your group.
- If you are still unable to find a functional or accessible web site to evaluate, please contact Dr. Taichman to discuss an alternative.
List of Sites
- Fluoride, Topicals
- Gloves
- Prophy Angles
- Prophy Paste
- Scaling System
- Sealants
- Site-specific Antimicrobials
- Tooth Bleaching Systems
- Ultrasonic Scalers
Personal Care:
Instructions:
- Print off the PDF version of the Patient Information Web Evaluation Checklist. (28K)
- The sites are selected from advertisements in issues of Access by Susan Hipolite-Taichman. If a web address (URL) was given in the advertisement, you are being directed to that web address. If you are unsure of your group assignment or which of the following links you are to evaluate with your group, please contact Dr. Taichman.
- From the page or link below, attempt to find sufficient information from the site to complete the Checklist. With your group, complete the Checklist for the product information pages found. Remember, you are looking for information for a patient or health care consumer to use and access.
- If you are unable to access the web site, contact Dr. Taichman for a different assigned URL for your group.
List of Sites
- Chewing Gum
- Dry Mouth Relief
- Floss
- Irrigator
- Mouthrinses or Mouthwash
- Toothbrushes
- Toothpaste
BAD SITE EXAMPLE:
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