Justification for Change

OMB Clearance

CDC Web site Usability Surveys (OMB NO. 0920-0735)

This document shows Justification for Requested New Questions / Verbiage and General Requests, as outlined in the attached document.

We would like to submit a request for some changes to OMB No 0920-0735, the clearance for CDC Web site Usability Evaluation.

The changes are just verbiage edits or additions in the following Attachments to the package. The changes do not involve changes to burden hours or any other part of the package.
4 - Consent Forms                           
5 - Demographic Questions                           
6 - Introductory questions                          
7 - Core Questions

8 - Activity/Task Questions                         
9 - Follow-up Questions                     

The changes to Attachments 4 - 9 involve the following:
- New options for Consent forms           
- New questions           
- New, flexible Probes to the set of Follow-up questions

- Flexibility to change [Bracketed Text] as needed:

May need to customize [SITE], [TIME], [INFO], [ACTION], and other bracketed text

- Flexibility to change Multiple Choice Responses as needed:

May need to edit text of multiple choice responses.

May need to remove multiple choice responses

May need to remove “Other:_________” from a list of multiple choice responses

May need to make multiple choice questions freeform or rating

The above changes are necessary to conduct useful usability surveys on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site. After conducting many surveys across the CDC Web site, we have discovered new questions that need to be asked of potential or current users of the CDC Web site to determine how well CDC’s Web site is performing. These new questions will enable us to observe and collect data on how users interact with the Web site and are critical in ensuring that users can find information, that the site is easy to use, and that the Web site is designed to meet the needs of specific audiences.

This package provides a list of tasks and questions for the surveys that can be used to develop a survey for a specific CDC Web site. A list of screening questions (comprised of demographic and introductory questions) is also included in the package, and a subset of these screening questions will be used to create the proper sample for each usability survey. Participants in a usability survey are reflective of a Web site’s target audience.

As part of the CDC Futures Initiative, the National Center for Health Marketing (NCHM) was established to help ensure that health information, interventions, and programs at CDC are based on sound science, objectivity, and continuous customer input. We need to be sure the CDC Web site, its web pages and web applications are designed to be easy to use, easy to access, and effective providers of health information and resources to our target audiences.

CDC requested a 3-year clearance in order to carry out its mission. Clearance is needed to ensure that CDC can continuously improve its Web sites though regular surveys developed from these pre-defined questions. CDC has added new content to its Web site - including new media like Podcasts, eCards, etc – and we need to adjust our survey questions.

Adding these questions to the surveys conducted on the CDC Web site on a regular, ongoing basis will help ensure that users have an effective, efficient, and satisfying experience on any of our Web sites, maximizing the health impact of the information and resulting in optimum benefit for public health. Using these new questions in surveys will ensure that this communication channel meets customer and partner priorities, builds CDC’s brand, and contributes to CDC health impact goals.