Group items tagged

PART 1 OF 4 Title: Family Support America - http://www.familysupportamerica.org Purpose and content: The purpose of the website seems to be to provide educational and/or public service information for parents, teachers, and caregivers. The content is basically brief definitions and information regarding child abuse prevention, tips to avoid lashing out at your children, tips on adoption, education, daycare, divorce with children, work and family balance, caregiving, and links to other web resources. Accuracy of information: None of the information is comprehensive in nature. However, the brief text that is present does seem believable. It seems the purpose is to direct visitors to outside sources -- or to the "sponsors" shown at the bottom of most pages, which are for-profit businesses. All the information on the pages within this website seemed to be generic tips and definitions that could have been copied and pasted from almost any other website with similar information. Qualifications of the author or group that created the site: There is nothing on this website to determine the author's identity or establish any qualifications, expertise, or credibility of anyone associated with this website or organization.

PART 3 OF 4 Title: Family Support America - http://www.familysupportamerica.org The domain Whois report shows Avid Amiri to own about 17 other domains and is associated with over 1,000 more. This is not concrete evidence that information is biased and the site is actually for advertising, but it is conspicous. Either Avid Amiri is the person hired by the organizations to register and host the domains -- which does not seem plausible since the address is the same for all contacts and the organization -- or Avid Amiri is in fact also the author. If the latter, I would venture to presume Avid Amiri is using domains as an underhanded method of search engine optimization (SEO) for the for-profit businesses shown as sponsors on many pages of the website. Further investigation of Avid Amiri revealed there is one with the name Avid Amiri located in the Salt Lake City area that is a member of LinkedIn and Twitter. When looking at the Twitter page connected to that Avid Amiri, that person is in fact a consultant specializing in search engine optimization. Contact information / means of communication with author or webmaster: On the Contact page there is an email address that looks like it is attached to administration -- whether it intends to be web administration or organizational administrative staff member or author is not clear. The address is admin@familysupportamerica.org. There is a mailing address on the Contact page as well. It lacks the two-letter state abbreviation. There is no phone number. There are no specific contacts displayed. Broken links: The link to the "learning center" hangs on a blank page and is therefore broken (http://www.familysupportamerica.org/familysupportamericalearningcenter.html). The Links and Resources page does not provide any links or resources at all.

PART 4 OF 4 Title: Family Support America - http://www.familysupportamerica.org/ Design, organization and ease of use: The overall appearance of the website is generic. It is what I call a "cookie-cutter" template. It is easy to read and navigate, but that is because there isn't much on it. The home page template is fractured, i.e., the left panel link image is too large for what is allowed in the template causing a fracture in the design elements. A site map is available, but the learning center link does not work. There are no help screens. There is no search available within the site. Final evaluation remarks: At first glance, this site is revealed as a non-profit site (.org domain extension) sharing family support information. At second glance, it appears to be a bare bones approach to direct visitors to other sites for more comprehensive assistance and/or information. The home page reads they can help with child abuse, alcoholism, and more, but continues that if they cannot help, they can direct the visitor to someone who can. There are no individuals featured. There is nothing to indicate anyone has any credentials of any type in the field of Family Support. Again, it appears to be directing visitors to other sites and it does not appear to do that well. The closer look reveals misrepresentation and sneaky SEO tactics to pump up search results for the businesses shown as "sponsors" on many of the pages. I will say the information that is on the pages is not useless and it does pertain to families and work as I feel the real-world pressures of work and bills to pay has a lot to do with family abuse and the ability or non-ability to deal with those issues.

Target audience, purpose and content: The purpose of the website is to share research results and action programs with women's perspectives. The target audience is women and men who wish to make a difference in women's lives. Accuracy of information: This site seems credible. It has clear contacts that include divisions, phone numbers, and email addresses. It also includes a list of resources for those who are in need of services, although they do not provide direct care. Links to their Board and directions to the actual brick & mortar location on the Wellesley College campus in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The Wellesley Centers for Women is a community of scholars engaged in research and training. The list of scholars and trainers is on the appropriate page with photos and links to bios with credentials. These are all determining factors that enable me to trust the accuracy of the information on this site. Qualifications of the author or group that created the site: Again, the scholars and trainers are listed with their bios, photos, and history of accomplishments. There are also events, publications, projects, and news. There are plenty of ways to communicate with someone associated with this site to confirm the reliability of the information shown. Contact information / means of communication with author or webmaster: There is plenty of contact information on the Contacts page listed under divisions with phone numbers and email addresses. A fax number is also included as well as directions to the organization's physical location. Design, organization, navigation, links, and ease of use: I did not discover any broken links or hanging pages. Each page was clearly titled and subtitled, showing it as part of the Wellesley Centers for Women site. Navigation was clear and pages loaded quickly. The site is easy to read and is not overloaded with gaudy text design or unnecessary graphics. The colors are soothing and easy on the eye. Th

Wellesley Centers for Women - continued .... part 2 of 2 due to the character limit cutting off the text............. The colors are soothing and easy on the eye. There is also a working search utility within the site. Final evaluation remarks: This is a credible, informative website with many sources, resources, and publications. Its purpose is to generate gender-focused changes in attitudes, practices, and public policy through research and action. It's an interesting site that is easy to read and navigate. Since this site focuses on gender research, I feel it does have much to do with family/work balance. As we have learned in this class, the roles of men and women and how they are defined in relation to work and family are a major aspect of balance.