Availability and Quality of Web Resources for Parents of Children With Disability: Content Analysis and Usability Study (Preprint)

Abstract

BACKGROUND There is a wealth of information on the web for caregivers of typical children who are looking for additional information or activities for them. However, the challenge begins when caregivers need information about children with special care, especially for non-English speaking caregivers. OBJECTIVE This study aims to describe the type of information, the actionability, and the opportunity for networking available on the internet for caregivers of a child living with a disability. METHODS We carried out a search and evaluation of the current websites destined to caregivers of children living with a disability that contain information, tips, and tools for everyday life. We extracted structural, textual, and visual characteristics of relevant websites to evaluate them using the PEMAT tool. RESULTS Of the 42 websites that we analysed, less than half relied on a professional of scientific review committee. Advice, information, and references were presented in 76% of the sites but only 17% offered opportunities for users to network. Most websites obtained high scores on the PEMAT (over 90%) because they organised their information well and proposed actions that were easy to understand and to apply. CONCLUSIONS Of note, it is quite easy to find information about some disabilities (e.g. autism spectrum disorder and learning disabilities), while it remains difficult to find information about others (e.g. developmental language disorder, behavioral disorder). Finally, while the Internet could potentially provide a place for caregivers of a child with a disability to network, we did not find such examples in the current study. CLINICALTRIAL NA