ArticleHealth literacy research and practice2026
Health Literacy and Usability of Public Health Websites for COVID-19 Vaccine Search.
Article in Health literacy research and practice, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundMillions of United States residents made use of public health websites during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to obtain information about vaccines and determine vaccine eligibility.
objectiveFor public health websites to be effective, they must be usable. This study aimed to evaluate the usability of government websites for vaccine information, by examining whether these platforms helped users determine COVID-19 vaccine eligibility accurately and satisfactorily, as well as how health literacy (HL) plays a role in accurate eligibility judgments and satisfaction with the media.
methodsA within-subject experiment was conducted ( KEY
resultsParticipants' estimate of vaccine eligibility was generally inaccurate for all website conditions, with an overall rate of 53.8% for correct responses. Participants with low HL had more incorrect responses and confusion, and HL was found to be a significant predictor of eligibility correctness when they were determining their own vaccine eligibility using the CDC website. Participants also reported having a significantly higher ability to find information and were more satisfied when interacting with the embodied conversational agent system, compared to the websites.
conclusionsGovernment websites-particularly the CDC website-were found to lack usability, especially for those with low HL. High error rates and low satisfaction underscore the need for simplification of public health site content and design and motivate the development of novel education methods for public health communication.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.