Abstract
Objective:
To evaluate and compare the user-orientation of Spanish, American and British hospital websites.
Methods:
A descriptive study of 32 hospital portals (12 Spanish, 10 American and 10 British) was carried out in which the following were analyzed: website readability according to the Flesch Index, websites accessibility using the Web Accessibility Test, and the quality of information provided using the “e-Information Scale of Health Care Centers”.
Results:
Fifty percent of the user-oriented information quality attributes are met. Readability indices tend to be below 60 (standard readability), and only 10 of the 32 websites meet the accessibility criteria.
Conclusions:
Most portals exhibit accessibility problems that favor computer illiteracy. There is a wide variability in terms of website readability and in terms of useroriented content.
Llinás, Gilberto, D. Rodríguez-Iñesta, José Joaquín Mira, S. Lorenzo, and C. Aibar. “A comparison of websites from Spanish, American and British hospitals.” Methods of Information in Medicine 47, no. 2 (2008): 124-130.
