Health Web sites should use few graphics for low-literacy users

Health Web sites should use few graphics for low-literacy users

Web users with low literacy skills face significant barriers when trying to use the Internet for health information, health literacy expert Christina Zarcadoolas, PhD writes in Hospitals and Health Networks. However, there are ways to modify Web sites to make them more accessible, and doing so can open the Internet to millions of additional health information seekers. Rather than filling sites with a lot of text and graphics, sites should use more basic navigation tools. Links embedded in highlighted text are easier to use than graphic links, such as logos or photos, and sites should use fewer pop-up windows. Language can also present a barrier. Although roughly 90 million adults in the United States have a reading level at or below fifth grade, most Web information is written at a 10th-grade level.