Urologic Diseases Research Updates
Winter 2007

NIDDK News

New NIDDK Website Makes Debut

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) unveiled a new and improved website in September, offering the National Institutes of Health staff, researchers, and the general public more online information and resources in an easier-to-use format.

The website redesign features an improved look, better navigation, and more user-friendly functions. Users who visit www.niddk.nih.gov will now enjoy

• new “Scientific Areas” sections that enable researchers to easily find funding areas and opportunities in their field of interest with up-to-the-minute information about

  • special NIDDK initiatives
  • upcoming conferences
  • research resources
  • NIDDK staff contacts
  
  
  

• easier navigation for finding information about the kinds of science the NIDDK funds and instructions necessary for completing the grant application process

• a redesigned health education section for the public with basic information on diseases, along with statistics, links to additional resources, Spanish translations, and lists of available NIDDK publications

Many website improvements also occurred behind the scenes. “The new website now has a database-driven content management system, giving us much better tools to maintain it as a truly living document,” said Maren Laughlin, Ph.D., senior adviser for integrative metabolism at the NIDDK. “The new, improved site structure should allow website visitors to more easily see all that is available to them.” Laughlin served on the NIDDK 18-member content committee, one of two committees set up to rework the website’s extramural sections.

More To Come

The recent facelift is only phase one of a three-part plan to revamp the entire NIDDK website. While the first phase focused on site architecture and updated content, phases two and three will put design and color to work to give the home page and other parts of the site a fresh look.

Final improvements include the addition of multimedia content and more database tools, such as an automated event calendar and an organizational chart to make finding staff contact information easier. Professional and NIDDK web staff also will have new, interactive, electronic tools to help update and maintain the website.

A user survey—the American Consumer Satisfaction Index—reported an 82 percent overall satisfaction rate with the health information sections of the NIDDK website for November 2005 through January 2006.

That score is among the highest achieved by all participants in the survey, which is administered jointly by ForeSee Results and the University of Michigan. The NIDDK redesigned the health information sections 3 years ago and set the standard for this effort.

“Our website is truly the public face of the NIDDK,” said NIDDK Acting Director Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D. “It facilitates the conversation that takes place among biomedical researchers at our universities and small businesses, the American public, and the Institute. With this new website, we hope to invite greater participation and better serve our mission of improved health for the American people.”

NIH Publication No. 07–5743
March 2007

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