Quality and readability of English-language internet information for aphasia

Azios, Jamie H.; Bellon-Harn, Monica L.; Dockens, Ashley L.; Manchaiah, Vinaya

doi:10.1080/17549507.2017.1362034

Cited by 18 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…They include two well‐established readability tests, the Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG Index) * and the Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) † formula. 2 , 4 In addition, we include measures of sentence length and word length. Word and sentence length drive the readability tests and including them allow for a disaggregated view of the data.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 1 The Linux tool wget was used to download all the contents on the DHHS and DET websites. 2 The downloaded data contained HTML files as well as other types of documents/images. In this step, we recursively searched all website directories and select only HTML files.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Effective communication with the public is a critical component for managing the health and well‐being of the community, 1 , 2 , 3 particularly during the current COVID‐19 pandemic. 4 There have been persistent challenges with clear and accessible communication during this pandemic on several fronts, 5 including the constant updating of advice, the proliferation of misinformation and lack of accessible content for a range of vulnerable populations such as those experiencing social disadvantage (for example, in Victoria, 13.2% live in poverty 6 and 26% of Victorians identify a language other than English as their household language 7 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…8 , 9 As Smith and Judd 10 (p. 159) point out, governments struggle to enact policies that address the social determinants of low health literacy and access to care, and this had been frequently documented, particularly in the health sector. 2 , 11 , 12 These long‐standing issues are becoming increasingly visible in new ways because of the pandemic. During health crises, structural barriers and negative emotional states such as anxiety tend to further reduce the capacity of readers to process information effectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improving access to COVID‐19 information by ensuring the readability of government websites

Serry

Stebbins

Martchenko

et al. 2022

Health Prom J of Aust

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Issue addressed This study evaluated the readability of web pages from two public‐facing Victorian government websites that were responsible for communicating key health messages relating to the COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020. Methods Webpages were downloaded and filtered to identify relevant materials (English language materials containing HTML files that referred to COVID‐19). The files were converted to text files and two Python packages, SpaCy and TextStat were used to obtain the data presented here. In addition to running two well‐established readability tests, SMOG Index (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook) and Flesch Reading Ease formula, we also calculated the figures for sentence length and word length, which drive the readability measures and allow a disaggregated view of the data. Type token ratio measures were conducted as a reflection of the breadth of vocabulary used in the web pages. Results Derived measures of text complexity were higher than recommended levels of text complexity for health promotion materials, which are generally set at senior primary school levels. This did not vary depending on the intended audience (public or professional). A senior secondary reading level was required for effective engagement with the text published on both sites. Conclusions Improving the readability of materials on key government websites where information about COVID‐19 is being communicated to the public, represents a low cost and potentially effective means of improving public understanding of the pandemic and the steps individuals need to take to protect themselves and the community. So what? Given the challenges widely identified in ensuring compliance with protective behaviours, confidence in seeking vaccination and increasing distrust of government, it would be strategic to improve public communication to ensure health messages are simple and readily understood. Summary The complexity and readability of text contained in web pages during 2020 from two Victorian government departments were evaluated. Communication regarding the restrictions and the management of risks associated with COVID‐19 was the main focus of these 367 individual web pages from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Department of Education and Training (DET). Results indicated that across both sites and on both readability measures used, an education level equivalent to senior secondary school would be required to readily understand the contents.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Improving access to COVID‐19 information by ensuring the readability of government websites

Serry

Stebbins

Martchenko

et al. 2022

Health Prom J of Aust

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…We followed the same procedure to extract data as other studies examining online content. 17,[19][20][21] A panel of two speechlanguage pathologists that served children with a S/LD, nine parents of children with a S/LD, and three early childhood teachers were asked to provide keywords that might be used when searching for information related to S/LDs. They provided 30 unique keywords or phrases they considered to be most likely used when searching for information on the Internet.…”

Section: Data Extractionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A cross-sectional study of the portrayal of childhood speech and language disorders in YouTube videos

2020

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Purpose This study examined meta-data, source, type of informational content, understandability, and actionability of YouTube content related to speech and/or language disorders. Method The 100 most widely viewed videos related to children with speech and/or language disorders were obtained. Meta-data and sources of each upload were identified. Type of informational content within the videos was analyzed. The Patient Education Material Assessment Tool for Audiovisual Materials was used to assess understandability and actionability. Results A significant difference between video source groups was found for length of video, thumbs-up, and thumbs-down, but not for number of views. The YouTube videos related to speech and/or language disorders covered a range of issues, although a majority of the content focused on signs/symptoms and treatment. Videos had close-to-adequate understandability (i.e. 68%), although poor actionability scores (i.e. 32%) were noted. Videos uploaded by professionals were superior to other upload sources in understandability, but no difference was noted between video source for actionability. Conclusions Study insights about meta-data, source, type of informational content, understandability, and actionability of YouTube videos may help professionals understand the nature of online content related to speech and/or language disorders. Study implications and recommendations for further research are discussed.

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