Charles - I found this e-mail trail from a few months ago that might be
useful.  You might want to try the health section of site.
http://firstfind.info/ <http://firstfind.info/> 

 Also, I agree with Audrey's view below that there are many aspects of a
document or website that affect how easy it is to understand. Reading levels
tell only a small part of the story.  The only true way to tell if something
is understandable is to test it with the intended audience.

Joanne Locke 
Plain Language Advisor 
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion 
240-453-6113 

 

Hello Eugenio,

I was involved as a consultant in the first stage of developing
firstfind.info. Just to clarify, firstfind.info is not a single web site. It
is a portal to web sites. The New York City and Westchester County
librarians -- all experts in web searching, and trained in how to recognize
well-designed web sites for low-literate adults which have high-interest
content -- chose web pages which most closely met the firstfind criteria.
Note that firstfind.info is not a literacy web site, as such, not designed
to provide instruction for low-literate adults. Instead, it is for library
patrons who want to use the web to get information, but whose reading skills
may not be high enough to access many web sites. firstfind.info makes it
easier for them to find web sites which have the information they want and
which have relatively accessible text and a simple, straightforward design.

I would agree that many of the sites chosen are at an intermediate reading
level, not a low literacy level, but that is because not enough web sites
yet exist which fit the criteria (high interest, informative, plain English)
for all the topics.

As Audrey pointed out in her message of February 4th, there is still a lot
to be done, but firstfind.info is a good step in the right direction.

David J. Rosen

djrosen at comcast.net

On Feb 8, 2005, at 10:32 AM, Eugenio Longoria wrote:


> Although this seems to be a good website, it is still not very good  for

people with low levels of literacy. It is not as plain and simple as they
advertise it is.


> Eu-


 

 ----- Original Message -----

 From: "Bruce Carmel" bcarmel at rocketmail.com <mailto:bcarmel at rocketmail.com>


 To: "Multiple recipients of list" <nifl-health at literacy.nifl.gov>

Sent: Saturday, February 05, 2005 7:18 PM

Subject: [NIFL-HEALTH:4633] Re: "Easy-to-read" resources on the web
firstfind.info is probably worth a look for anyone looking for
"easy-to-read" web info. It's a library of non-commercial web sites selected
by librarians. David Rosen, Susan Cowles, Maura  Donnelly, Robin Osborne,
and I helped train them to use more than  grade level as a selection
criterion. In fact we did not use  grade level, but were more holistic.

Bruce Carmel

 <http://firstfind.info> http://firstfind.info

 

 Audrey Riffenburgh <ar at plainlanguageworks.com wrote:

Greetings, all,

 In my ten years working in health literacy, I have seen a huge increase in
materials on the web which are labeled as easy.

There are SOME easy-to-read health resources on the web but many of the
materials labeled 

 as easy-to-read are still far too difficult for most of the  general
public. As you probably know, the average U.S. adult 

 reads at about 8th "grade" level.Much of the material on the web that is
labeled "easy" or  "plain language"

 is written at much higher levels. (There are inherent problems  in using
grade levels to label adult readers but this gives you 

 a general idea of the level of functioning vs. the literacy  demands of
printed materials.)


>


 I recently analyzed the reading level of seven materials on, or  linked to,
MedlinePlus' "Easy-to-Read" area. The average 

reading level was 11 and the range was from 8 to 16. The results were
similar for the FDA's website where they offer "easy"  resources.



>


The problem is in defining "easy." What is easy to an average or lower
skilled reader is entirely different from what is easy 

for those doing the labeling. So I suggest great caution in  using materials
labeled this way. They may not achieve what you are hoping for or assuming
they will achieve.

 

 Plus, keep in mind that there are dozens of factors beyond reading level
that affect a document's appropriateness. These 

 include organization, amount of information, whether the information is
what the reader is looking for, approach, tone, 

design, layout, cultural appropriateness, and more. So even if  the reading
level is at 7th or 8th "grade" level, you cannot 

automatically assume the piece is going to work for the general public or
readers with limited literacy skills.

 Yours for better health in the U.S.,

 

Audrey Riffenburgh, M.A.

President, Riffenburgh & Associates P.O. Box 6670, Albuquerque,  NM 87197

Phone: (505) 345-1107 Fax: (505) 345-1104

 E-mail: ar at plainlanguageworks.com Specialists in Plain Language 

and Health Literacy since 1994 and Principal & Founding, The Clear Language
Group  <outbind://11/www.clearlanguagegroup.com> www.clearlanguagegroup.com


  _____  

From: healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:healthliteracy-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Charles Jackson
Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2005 8:48 AM
To: healthliteracy at nifl.gov
Subject: [HealthLiteracy] Do health websites at 8th-grade level exist?



Is there a health information website like WebMD that is at an 8th-grade
level? 

I know 6th-grade printed materials on specific health topics are available
at some health websites, and some health websites have "Easy-To-Read"
sections.   

I have contacted several literacy groups, but no one is aware of such a
site. 

Charles Jackson

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