GlossaNet: Parsing a web site as a corpus

Law & Psychiatry: Legal Concerns for Psychiatrists Who Maintain Web Sites

The debate over teaching evolution has once again reached a fever pitch in the United States. Earnest nineteenth-century clashes between scientific and religious worldviews have given way to the politically charged arguments of creation science and now intelligent design. The Web site of the National Center for Science Education (NCSE; www.natcenscied.org) is the online destination for keeping abreast of the cultural battles over teaching biological evolution. At NCSE, you will not find teaching resources per se, but information and ideas for keeping evolution alive in the curriculum. The site contains up-to-date information on legislation and school board activities nationwide. The site also specializes in debunking intelligent design arguments.

National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability Web Site The National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability has a mission to improve health behaviors and weight management for children and adults with disabilities. The Web site (www.ncpad.org) is supported by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and managed by the University of Alabama and Lakeshore Foundation Research Collaborative. The majority of the Web site is focused on providing information related to exercise, physical activity, and nutrition, specifically for individuals with various chronic health conditions and disability levels, who may have difficulty participating in traditional exercise programs. The home page contains links to numerous articles with diagnosis-specific advice for increasing participation in exercise, wellness, and improving nutrition. A wide range of both mental and physical health conditions are covered in the articles, from arthritis and autism, to spinal cord and brain injuries. Links are also provided for articles about community physical activity program development and competitive sports. For those less familiar with exercise, a fact sheet describing various exercise techniques and methods such as aquatic therapy and tai chi is also available. On the home page, individuals will also find links to an adaptive fitness program that includes both aerobic and resistive exercise. The program has 3 levels, and has been adapted to accommodate a multitude of functional abilities. The three levels target individuals who have the use of all four limbs, individuals who have the use of upper body including some core muscles, and individuals with a limited use of upper body and core muscles. This exercise program is updated weekly with new exercises, although it is currently unclear who actually develops the exercise program. The weekly program relies on the use of standard fitness equipment. For those who do not have access to the necessary equipment, links are available to a 14-week program that is customized on the basis of responses to questions concerning physical ability and available equipment. While the Web site is a wealth of information with many good articles and fitness programs, it is sometimes both troublesome to navigate and difficult to find specific content. For example, under Articles, there is a long list subheadings with a number of redundancies, including Spinal Cord Injury, Paraplegia, Quadriplegia, and Tetraplegia. Furthermore, the system for allocating articles between these categories is not clear. The design of the Web site is also text-heavy, requiring a large amount of time and scrolling to find specific content. In addition, it appears that the online shop where books and DVDs focused on exercise for those with various diagnoses were previously available for purchase is now closed due to “administrative reasons.” There is no current indication whether or when these items will be available for purchase. It is also unclear how often the Web site is updated. The articles posted on the Web site span 13 years, with publication dates from 2001 to 2013, but it is unclear whether older articles are removed as newer information becomes available. The Web site was updated in 2013 (no specific date provided). In summary, this Web site is most likely to be beneficial for people with disability who are looking for information about exercise and a specific diagnosis or those who wish to use the customized exercise plans. Given the time-consuming nature of finding information on the site, it may be a beneficial but frustrating site for individuals to visit. (Last accessed March 7, 2013). Odessa Addison PT, DPT University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah American Association on Health and Disability Web Site The American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD) has a Web site designed to improve awareness of chronic health conditions and promote wellness for people with chronic disease and disability (http://www.aahd.us/). Membership is available to interested individuals for a fee and includes a subscription to the Disability and Health Journal, access to a listserve containing the latest research and policy information, and a quarterly newsletter. Membership fees are also used to support efforts on Capitol Hill for individuals with chronic disability, through education and promotion of public health initiatives to members of Congress and the public. In addition to the fee-based services, there are a number of free resources on the Web site. Current evidence is presented for a number of topics, with dates ranging from 1997 to 2012. Abstracts are available on 32 different chronic health conditions as well as best practice guidelines for 29 topics, such as assistive technology, healthcare transition, and obesity. This section is easy to navigate and provides valuable guidelines, educational information, and evidence on health promotion and quality of life for those with chronic health conditions. There is also a “News” section, which provides links to numerous recent media articles from 2012 to 2013 about a wide variety of topics. The “News” section is separated by week and is easily navigable by the user to search and find links of interest. There are also links to Webinars from 2011 to 2013 that have been presented on various disability-related topics. This section has topics ranging from health care reform to disease prevention and is a good educational resource for clinicians, educators, and people with chronic health conditions. The AAHD is involved in a number of different initiatives as well as public policy. The Web site provides valuable information for members and prospective members who may be interested in knowing what their membership fees are helping to support. The Public Policy Center outlines the legislative agenda for the AAHD and provides links to contact members of Congress. The “Initiatives” section provides a number of useful links, including resources for emergency preparedness for individuals with chronic health conditions. Another valuable tool on this Web site is the “Site-Wide Disability Research Tags” section. This section has links to information about many conditions and topics related to health promotion. For example, if an individual wanted to learn more about diabetes, a click on the “Diabetes” tab would results in 4 pages of links, including abstracts, best practice guidelines, and news articles on different aspects of diabetes. This is a beneficial resource for individuals who may be visiting this Web site, seeking information about a specific topic. Overall, this Web site provides valuable, accurate, and current information related to chronic health conditions that may be useful to clinicians, educators, caregivers, and individuals with chronic disease and disability. The Web site is easy to navigate and is set up in an intuitive manner. Some of the resources (eg, Best Practice, Fact Sheets, Abstracts) do not appear to have been updated recently, and there is no indication on the Web site of how frequently information is updated. (Last accessed February 28, 2013) Brady Whetten, DPT Northwest Rehabilitation Associates Salem, Oregon Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—Disability and Health Web Site The Disabilities and Health subpage (www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth) of the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is jointly sponsored by the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. If one were not to remember the entire name, then a broader search should begin with cdc.gov and this subpage can be easily accessible under multiple categories, such as healthy living and/or disabilities. This page is primarily a springboard to multiple other Web pages providing deeper resources for people with disability, clinicians, caregivers, students, teachers, and researchers. The intent of the page is to provide information to various stakeholders on disabilities and health and healthy living with a disability. The following topics can be accessed: (1) healthy living for individuals with disabilities, (2) basics (types of disabilities), (3) data and statistics on disabilities, (4) scientific articles, (5) emergency preparedness, (6) resources and materials, (7) partners and programs, (8) about the CDC, (9) information for you (people with disabilities, women, health care providers, family caregivers, and partners), (10) disability and obesity, and (11) personal stories. The CDC Disability and Health page is a great beginning resource to launch a search for information about disabilities and health. This Web page was last updated on January 30, 2013. However, since its purpose is to provide links to other pages, one needs to look at the content update for the pages beyond. For example, clicking on “data and statistics” takes the user to a page that was last updated on December 16, 2011, and the graphs represent data from 2008. Despite some pages that have not been updated recently, browsing through further links on the data and statistics page provides access to graphs and statistics that are easily customizable for topics and states, which would be good for teachers and researchers. The Web site has numerous resources and links, and the interface is relatively easy to navigate. For example, accessing “scientific articles” leads you to a list of articles that have been published in varying journals by CDC authors within the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities. Many of the articles allow access to full text. The “Basics” link on types of disabilities leads the user to further links on defining disabilities and provides a simple explanation of World Health Organization, the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health model that may be helpful for students. The link to “personal stories” and “resources and materials” provide excellent videos of individuals with disabilities and is definitely worth a look and is a potentially valuable resource for teachers, students, and clinicians. While the sheer number of potential links from the main page makes the Web site a valuable resource, it may be easy for the user to forget how they arrived at a specific link. This makes it difficult to find that link again unless it has been bookmarked. The Web site was accessed and functional across platforms and browsers. In addition, the content was also available in Spanish. In sum, the Web site has value for physical therapists in all practice areas (clinicians, instructors, students, and researchers) as a way to access to an array of additional resources on healthy living and disability. Clinicians may find the Web site beneficial to share with patients or clients to help them with concerns about healthy living with a disability. (Last accessed February 27, 2013). Heather Hayes, DPT, NCS University of Utah Salt Lake City, Utah Helpguide.org—Exercise and Fitness Help Guide Helpguide.org is an online resource that aims to support better mental health and lifestyle choices by empowering readers with trustworthy information and encouragement. The Web site (www.helpguide.org/topics/exercise.htm) was founded in 1999 by Jeanne Segal, PhD, and Robert Segal, MA, and is funded entirely by charitable contributions. Dr Segal is an experienced psychotherapist and has authored several books on emotional intelligence, health, and wellness. Helpguide.org covers numerous topics in the areas of mental health, healthy lifestyles, children and family, and seniors and aging. This review focuses on one topic under healthy lifestyles: Exercise and Fitness. Four main pages address the topic. Three of these follow a similar format, listing many ways in which exercise enhances mental and physical health, discussing several commonly perceived barriers to exercise, and offering suggestions for incorporating exercise into daily life. The “Easy Exercise Tips” page contains broadly applicable information, targeted to the general public. Under “Senior Exercise and Fitness Tips,” exercise is promoted as a key contributor to healthy aging and a feasible way to lessen the impact of illness and chronic health conditions. The page titled “Chair Exercises and Limited Mobility Fitness Tips” discusses many issues encountered by people with disabilities and other medical conditions, including safety concerns, mental and emotional barriers, and practical aspects of adapted exercise. Readers are directed to consult with their doctor or physical therapist for suitable exercise options. A separate page, titled “How to Practice Yoga and Tai Chi,” provides an introductory description of each method and recommends that beginners learn from a qualified instructor. Helpguide.org also includes an educational supplement titled “Creating Your Personal Exercise Plan” through collaboration with Harvard Health Publications. This resource offers more detailed, scientifically supported guidelines regarding aerobic exercise, strength training, balance, flexibility, and relaxation. After learning the components of exercise and considering their individual circumstances, readers are encouraged to develop a personalized program for themselves. Each page on Helpguide.org includes a collection of links to resources and references. Many of these contain specific exercise instructions and multimedia tools, which may facilitate implementation more readily than textual articles. For example, the National Center on Health, Physical Activity, and Disability (www.ncpad.org/content/61/Video) Web site and the National Institutes of Health Senior Health Web site (www.nihseniorhealth.gov) provide instructions, photos, and videos demonstrating many common exercises for various diagnoses. Overall, the Exercise and Fitness topic of Helpguide.org is motivational, easy for consumers to read and understand, and generally contains accurate information based on current fitness guidelines. Content related to specific health conditions is minimal, however, thus offering limited usefulness for physical therapy professionals. Each page consists of well-formatted text, a few photos, and links that allow easy navigation between pages. When the site was last accessed on March 5, 2013, all links were working. The most recent updates were in December 2012. Although there were no audio, video, or interactive features, there were links to an active Facebook page and a Twitter account. (Last accessed March 5, 2013) Stacey L. DeJong, PT, PhD, PCS University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City, Kansas

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine whether differences exist between public and private universities' web sites in terms of visibility and accessibility of the web sites.Design/methodology/approachThe approach that was taken to study the issue of visibility and accessibility is using the software Alexa and EvalAccess respectively. Alexa is able to determine web site usage, which is an indicator of online quality by showing the number of in‐links and web traffic volume of the web sites. Using Alexa ten public universities' web sites and ten private universities' web sites were ranked. Similarly, EvalAccess is used to evaluate the accessibility problems of these web sites.FindingsIt is found, in the case of public universities' web sites, that the International Islamic University Malaysia has the highest in‐links while Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has the highest web traffic volume. In the case of private universities' web sites, the Multimedia University has the highest in‐links, while the Malaysia University of Science and Technology has the highest web traffic volume. In respect of accessibility problems, the private universities' web sites are having more problems compared to public universities' web sites.Research limitations/implicationsThis research on the visibility and accessibility issues of universities' web sites is limited to the situation in Malaysia where public universities are more prominent and seldom face financial constraints if compared with private universities. This research shows that top ranked universities' web sites, whether they are from public or private universities, are highly visible and accessible.Social implicationsIt is highly important for those universities' web sites that are not highly visible and accessible that the universities should initiate the necessary measures to improve the development of their web sites.Originality/valueNot much research has been addressed to issues on visibility and accessibility of universities' web sites in developing countries and this research is conducted to fill that gap.

Web Alert

Web sites and services are probably the most used digital channels today, from ordinary web-sites to cloud services that enable many aspects of our digital lives. Due to the popularity of the web, it is also a very common target of cyber attacks that typically focus either on web application itself or on the underlying server infrastructure. Regarding the highest level of the stack - the web application - there are many available frameworks and content management systems (CMS) for rapid web development, from the ones more oriented to developers (e.g. Spring, Django) to the ones that focus on end users (e.g. Wordpress, Joomla). Typical problem with using a framework or a CMS is the need for constant care of its security, which is done by regular patching of the systems. When going a bit lower towards the web server, one can observe the security related features that might or might not be implemented on the server, such as header security (e.g. cookie related flags, force of encryption etc.). The state of all the mentioned parameters can well be obtained by web crawlers that can browse the web and collect specific information about web applications, sites and servers that run them. In this paper, we propose a model for estimating the possibility of web compromise based on the historical crawler collected data. Due to large amounts of data that can be gathered from the web sites and, especially, indication of compromise of particular web sites, we can determine what factors might lead to a compromise in near future. In this sense, we propose a method for analyzing web site data with respect to known compromises from historical data. We build a model that describes a web site's security state and use the method for estimating how secure the modeled web is and how likely it would become a victim of compromise.

Words seeking action

Web sites are important components of Internet strategy for organizations. This paper develops a theoretical model for understanding the effect of Web site design elements on customer loyalty to a Web site. We show the relevance of the business domain of a Web site to gain a contextual understanding of relative importance of Web site design elements. We use a hierarchical linear modeling approach to model multilevel and cross-level interactions that have not been explicitly considered in previous research. By analyzing data on more than 12,000 online customer surveys for 43 Web sites in several business domains, we find that the relative importance of different Web site features (e.g., content, functionality) in affecting customer loyalty to a Web site varies depending on the Web site's domain. For example, we find that the relationship between Web site content and customer loyalty is stronger for information-oriented Web sites than for transaction-oriented Web sites. However, the relationship between functionality and customer loyalty is stronger for transaction-oriented Web sites than for information-oriented Web sites. We also find that government Web sites enjoy greater word-of-mouth effect than commercial Web sites. Finally, transaction-oriented Web sites tend to score higher on mean customer loyalty than do information-oriented Web sites.

The North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society on the Internet.

First, the current theory, minimal cognitive processing theory (MCPT) is summarized. The MCPT applies Newell and Simon’s cognitive processing theory [1] from human computer interaction (HCI) to user behavior on retail Web sites. It proposes that the two latent variables are responsible for a user staying on or leaving a Web site. Clickstream cost is the amount of cognitive processing required to reach a given page in the Web site, which is operationally defined by counting the number of Web site features and applying the Hick Hyman law. Personal cost limit is the total amount of cognitive processing that the visitor is willing to invest in the Web site. When the clickstream cost exceeds the personal cost limit, the visitor exits unless he/she has already found and purchased the desired product. From this it is deduced that the major latent variable responsible for Web site abandonment is Web site complexity (amount of cognitive processing required by the Web site). Second, an empirical study evaluating the MCPT is summarized. In this experimental study, two Web sites were created: a low-complexity Web site (with minimal features) and a high-complexity Web site (with all of the features provided as defaults by the Web site building software osCommerce). The Web sites were otherwise identical. In total, 120 participants (each buying a product on both Web sites) were used. Four major hypotheses were deduced from the MCPT: the higher the Web site complexity, (a) the lower the number of products found and purchased, (b) the greater the amount of time required for purchase, (c) the greater the abandonment rate, and (d) the lower the user satisfaction. All major hypotheses were confirmed with p = .000. Secondary analyses suggest an effect of knowledge of B2C Web site design, self-reported experience in Web purchasing, and a learning effect across Web sites, as suggested by the MCPT. Third, plans for generalizing are summarized.

IntroductionSome organizations have established a set of minimal standards every medical web site should meet. On the other hand, certain evaluation and rating systems rank plenty of web resources following subjective criteria. Finally, some authors have proposed the citation analysis of medical resources on the Web as a democratic way to evaluate and rank large amounts of medical web sites.MethodsA sample of pediatric web sites compiled from eight evaluation and rating systems which give the results of their evaluation as numeric or analog scales were studied in april 1998 about three characteristics: number of daily visits, time since their last update, and the number of inbound links. The reliability of those three characteristics as quality markers was studied by comparing them to the web sites evaluations, and the same web sites were studied again a year later in order to know their predicitive power as quality indicators. In addition, we studied some cybermetric parameters defined in basis to the number of inbound links and the size of each web site, which were calculated by means of the search engine Infoseek.Results363 pediatric web sites were included in the 1998 survey. After removing some not available web sites (11%), we studied 134 domains or subdirectories and 188 web sites in 1999. The variables showed certain stability a year later, that is, the more updated and visited a web site was, and the higher number of inbound links received in 1998, the more updated, visited and linked was in 1999 (rS=0.69, p<0.001; rS=0.87, p<0.001; and rS=0.92, p<0.001, respectively). In the 1999 study, several quality markers were found. So, the number of inbound links, their absolute increment for the last year, the grade of web sites update, and the size (number of pages) of the domains and subdirectories, significantly correlated with their evaluations by the rating systems.DiscussionThis study demonstrates not only that certain web sites characteristics are good quality markers of them, but also that they have certain predictive power as quality indicators. Similarly, a dinamic quality parameter has risen, such as the absolute increment of inbound links for a period of time. Certain cybermetric parameters based on the absolute number or the increment of inbound links to a medical web site could be good cybermetric indexes. However, this method have got some technical limitations. For instance, it is sensible to changes in the syntaxis of the web sites URLs, and it depends on the power of the search engine database we employe. In any case, a ranking based on this method would be so reliable as one based in the web sites evaluation by third parties. Moreover, some cybermetric indexes based on this method could provide a means of dinamic evaluation of a given web site

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explain how Edith Cowan University (ECU) Library improved the accessibility of their web site, aiming for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) version 2.0 Level AA. It describes the results obtained. Design/methodology/approach – Initial testing by consultants was conducted in October 2012. The web site was defined as all webpages which appear part of the library web site, including supplier webpages, plus pages from the university web site and library web site. Library staff applied the recommendations to pages which they could edit, and discussed the recommendations with suppliers to improve their product ' s accessibility. The web site was re-tested in June 2013. Findings – ECU Library web site failed WCAG 2.0 Level A standard in the initial testing and re-testing. Many individual pages which failed initially passed the re-test. The smallest improvement was seen in suppliers’ web sites. Practical implications – This paper could help libraries to improve web site accessibility, as it covers negotiating with suppliers to upgrade their web sites, plus upgrading editable webpages. It shows initial and re-test results, allowing libraries to compare their results to those of ECU. Legislation and guidelines state web sites should be accessible to all users and organisations providing non-accessible web sites risk being sued. Social implications – A web site not complying with WCAG version 2.0 would be very difficult for people with disabilities to access. Upgrading ECU Library ' s web site will provide all users with more equal access to the resources. Originality/value – This study describes problems in upgrading academic library webpages and related supplier web sites and organisation web site to improve accessibility for people with disabilities.

PurposeA fundamental internet marketing challenge is that consumers can quickly move from seeks to one web site to another if they cannot easily find what they want on a given web site. This paper address the web site navigational design issues associated with internet marketing.Design/methodology/approachA two‐year participant observation study in a UK tourism marketing organisation is provided in order to demonstrate a web site design approach in action.FindingsExisting web site design approaches such as hierarchy charts and storyboards can assist in structuring web site content but do not necessarily cater well for making web sites straightforward to use by consumers. Human computer interface web site design approaches typically relate more to style, appearance and functionality than to structuring web site content. Web site content ranking and grouping can allow straightforward access to web site content, by making frequently required content the most accessible and by grouping related content for ease of identification. From a web site marketing perspective, the more accessible web site content relating to products and services offered, the more likely that such products and services will be purchased by the consumer.Practical implicationsIf consumers are to use a web site and use it again in the future they need to be able to find what they require in a straightforward manner. Ranking web site content to present frequently required content earlier in the web site, and grouping web site content so that similar content appears on the same web page or on closely linked web pages can make a web site more straightforward to navigate. In a marketing context, the more accessible a web site, the more likelihood there is of repeat business from the consumer.Originality/valueThe originality of the research reported in this paper concerns the use of web site content ranking and grouping to design web sites that can enable straightforward access to information and transactions by consumers, and thus potentially increase both current sales and future repeat business.

Web Alert

PurposeCommercial healthcare and hospital‐based web sites appear to exhibit distinctive formats. This paper aims to compare two award winning medical web sites with two top commercial healthcare web sites in an effort to determine significant predictors of positive attitudes toward the web sites when actively searching for healthcare information.Design/methodology/approachThree linear regressions were utilized to test the paper's hypotheses. Subjects entered a computer laboratory and were given search tasks for health information to complete within four web sites (two commercial and two hospital‐based web sites – order randomized).FindingsThe study shows how user perception, attitude and gratification are revealing of the strengths and weaknesses of hospital‐based vs commercial healthcare web sites as a means of providing users with healthcare information. Commercial healthcare web sites are viewed significantly more positively than hospital‐based web sites, revealing that overall web site quality and ease of use to be the dominant predictors of positive attitudes toward the web sites.Research limitations/implicationsThe ecological validity of using real web sites presents challenges in terms of controlling for alternative explanations stemming from within web site type. Future research could explore different tasks that can be facilitated by medical web sites and assess the attributes of the web sites accordingly.Practical implicationsThe paper can help design and develop better hospital‐based and commercial healthcare web sites.Originality/valueThis research explored actual information search behavior and the resulting web site user perceptions in an effort to bring academic inquiry into practice. Nothing similar to the hypotheses or this methodology has been found within the web site effectiveness literature, neither generally nor specifically within the healthcare industry.