NLM MedlinePlus Website Usability Testing Fast Track

1Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB#: 0925-0648 Exp. Date: 03/31/2018)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: NLM MedlinePlus Website Usability Testing

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to determine if the current content on the MedlinePlus English site (www.medlineplus.gov) satisfies the needs of a low-literacy audience. The mission of MedlinePlus.gov is to deliver consumer-friendly health information to the U.S. public as NIH's consumer health information Web site; the U.S. public includes a substantial number of readers at a low literacy level. No prior usability studies of MedlinePlus have focused exclusively on this segment of the population. Also, the audio-visual interactive tutorials frequently viewed by these users had to be removed from the MedlinePlus site in early 2015. This study will evaluate the usability of the site’s remaining text and video content for these users. The National Library of Medicine will use the results of this study to further develop content strategy and inform improvements to the MedlinePlus site that accommodate these users.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS: Respondents will be members of the public who have a low level of literacy. The working definition for low literacy for this study is adults over age eighteen with a lower than sixth-grade reading level who are native speakers of English. All respondents will be past and/or potential users of MedlinePlus.gov.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[X] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software) [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: ______________________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name: Danielle Walker_____________________________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, is the information that will be collected included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Applicable, has a System or Records Notice been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [X] Yes [ ] No

Members of the public with poor literacy skills do not readily identify as having low literacy. To ensure an adequate number of recruits from this hard-to-reach population, the study will offer a stipend of $40 to each participant for a one-hour session.

ESTIMATED BURDEN HOURS and COSTS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	No. of Responses per Respondent	Time per Response (in hours)	Total Burden Hours
Individuals or Households	20	1	1	20
Totals				20

Category of Respondent	Total Burden Hours	Wage Rate*	Total Burden Cost
Individuals or Households	20	$22.71	$454.20
Totals			$454.20

*Cite source per bls.gov if applicable

BLS National Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates

http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm#00-0000

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is $55610.79

Staff	Grade/Step	Salary	% of Effort	Fringe (if applicable)	Total Cost to Gov’t
Federal Oversight
Librarian	GS-12/8	$94,203	0.5		$471.01
Librarian	GS-9/1	$52,668	0.2		$105.34
Librarian	GS-9/4	$57,934	0.3		$173.80
Librarian	GS-14/6	125,213	0.3		$375.64
Total					$1125.79
Contractor Cost		$54,485	100	N/A	$54,485
Travel					N/A
Other Cost					N/A
Total					$55610.79

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

NLM’s contractor will recruit and schedule sessions with approximately 20 participants who are recruited from a local literacy center in Washington, DC. Clients of this literacy center have already been screened by the center and meet this study’s threshold for low literacy.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[X] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [X] Yes [ ] No

NLM’s contractor will collect usability data via an in-person test session with each individual participant.

Please make sure that all instruments, instructions, and scripts are submitted with the request.

Attachments: NLM MedlinePlus Usability Testing ICR Instrument

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