Judge: web sites for health - consumer guidelines - how to judge

	2.0 How to judge:

		2.1 Trust and reputation 2.2 Who produced the site 2.3 Purpose of the site 2.4 Funding sources 2.5 Date 2.6 How the information is written 2.7 Descriptions of conditions and treatments 2.8 Medical research 2.9 Personal experiences 2.10 Foreign sites 2.11 Communication 2.12 Links 2.13 Disclaimers 2.14 Kitemarks 2.15 Design 2.16 Interactive facilities 2.17 Other quality guidelines

2.4 Funding sources

The sources of funding for the organisation and site should be clear. For charitable organisations look at sections like 'How you can help'.

If the organisation is a registered charity it should give its registered charity number. It should give details of its accounts and annual reports on the site too.

Purpose and financial information for registered charities can be seen on the Charity Commission's Web site (http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/) [Opens in new browser window].

Any items for sale should be clearly stated as such. The price and the method of payment should be given.

Any organisations or individuals sponsoring the site should be listed.

Be cautious of sites sponsored by, for example, pharmaceutical or medical product companies.

Where sponsors are not listed, do not assume that the site is not sponsored.

If a site does not accept sponsorship it should say so.

When adverts are used it should be obvious that they are an advert. The types of adverts accepted by a site could give you some indication of its potential bias.

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© Copyright for this site is held by Contact a Family and the Information Society Research and Consultancy Group, School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences, Northumbria University. Site published February 2003. Last updated October 2006. Review date October 2007.