Nearly every organization these days has a website, in order to spread its message, provide information and promote its policies. This paper will look at four websites, designed to discuss health issues.

The American Sexual Health Association’s website, discusses, as per the name of the organization, sexual health. It discusses different types of sexually-transmitted diseases, what those diseases are, and other issues, such as healthy relationships and abstinence. It has pages on information on different types of birth control, and another page which shares personal stories, many of whom tell of having their own sexually-transmitted disease. There are pages for youths and people older than 50, pages for men only and women only and a section for gays.

There is a vast amount of information on the website, with a listing of different categories at the top of the homepage. One can click on a category, open up a table, and see more categories. Going to one of the sections brings up a page with a couple of paragraphs of information at the top, followed by FAQs with plus signs to click on to open up more information. It is a good way to not overwhelm the reader with a vast amount of text, and puts the page in a neat order. The home page only has two topics listed, one promoting National Women’s Health Week, the other one celebrating ASHA’s 100th anniversary. The information on the website is presented in an encouraging way, designed to make the reader feel comfortable about the topic.

UN AIDS discusses its work with the HIV virus around the world. In the upper corner, the reader can change the language from English, to either French, Spanish, or Russian. On the homepage, there is a three-page carousel: one page discussing Mother’s Day, another about a book on HIV for children and a third on their Protect the Goal campaign, which is teaming up with the sport of soccer to promote HIV awareness. Above the carousel is a short listing of contents. Underneath the carousel is a list of various topics, including, Media, Highlights, Photos and Videos. It is easy to look at because there is a picture accompanying each topic, giving the reader a good idea on what to expect.. Clicking on one of the pages, such as Media, brings the reader to a whole new vast amount of information. There is a listing of press releases, plus, the reader can go to one of the other categories from the homepage without actually going to the homepage. The others are listed on the right side, with photos.

The organization makes the page very user friendly, which is important for a subject that isn’t the most pleasant to think about. For a website with a lot of information, it is not cluttered; rather, it is very helpful.

The Body’s web site on HIV/AIDS education features a four-page carousel in the middle, with stories on medications, studies on THC’s effects and two personal stories. There is a left rail with basic information, a list of resources and requests for more personal stories. At the top is a horizontal listing of more pages. Under the carousel is a listing for what is new with the topic, and on the right side is a personal story video, a listing of the most viewed and most emailed stories from the web site, and a Twitter feed.

It is a more cluttered site than the other two previously mentioned, with a vast amount of things to read. It almost is too overwhelming, as a lot of the links end up getting lost in the shuffle. The links at the top don’t unfold into easily viewed other links; one has to click on it to see the contents of the link.

Parents Without Partners, by contrast, doesn’t have as much clutter, and has fewer links in total. It doesn’t have a carousel at all; rather, it has some stock photos in the middle of the homepage. At the top is links to other pages, which unfold vertically so the user can see the contents of it. There are three news listings on the left side, two of which list a small amount of information and require a clicking a link to another page. There is a Facebook page listing of upcoming events right in the middle of the page, with news and a calendar at the bottom.

There is a decent amount of information on the site, and I think they try to keep it understated because it’s a pretty sad topic. The site also allows users to sign in, but strangely, that is also at the bottom of the homepage, making it difficult to see.

All in all, it is interesting to see how different organizations present their information on their web sites. They all have serious information to give out, and they all try to be encouraging and try to help the user have an open mind. Some sites are easier to navigate than others, however, they all have a purpose, which is to inform.