A comparison of websites from Spanish, American and British hospitals

Objective: To evaluate and compare the user-orientation of Spanish, American and British hospital websites. Methods: A descriptive study of 32 hospital portals (12 Spanish, 10 American and 10 British) was carried out in which the following were analyzed: website readability according to the Flesch Index, websites accessibility using the Web Accessibility Test, and the quality of information provided using the e-Information Scale of Health Care Centers. Results: Fifty percent of the user-oriented information quality attributes ate met. Readability indices tend to be below 60 (standard readability), and only 10 of the 32 websites meet the accessibility criteria. Conclusions: Most portals exhibit accessibility problems that favor computer illiteracy. There is a wide variability in terms of website readability and in terms of user-oriented content.