On
National HIV Testing Day, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that AIDS.gov, the gateway to all federal HIV /AIDS information and resources, has been relaunched and redesigned using responsive design.
Responsive web design is a
next-generation web development method of designing content so that it
works well on both a laptop screen and a smartphone, automatically
adjusting its size to fit the screen. Since smartphones, tablets,
computers, TVs and video game consoles all have different content
display capabilities, use of responsive web design ensures that a site’s
content is equally accessible via all devices without adding the extra
cost of designing and maintaining separate “standard”
and “mobile” sites.
AIDS.gov is among the first full-scale
federal website launched using responsive design, one of the modern
tools and technologies that the Obama Administration’s new
Digital Government Strategy instructs federal agencies to use in order to deliver better digital services to any device, anytime, anywhere.
“With so many Americans accessing the
Internet via mobile devices, federal agencies are beginning to adapt to
better meet the public’s information needs,” said Howard K. Koh, MD,
MPH, HHS assistant secretary for health. “Redesigning
AIDS.gov using responsive web design ensures that more Americans can
easily access critical information about HIV/AIDS, including the latest
news on the government’s efforts to usher in an AIDS-Free generation.”
AIDS.gov was first launched in 2006 on
World AIDS Day. Since then, the web site has remained in the vanguard of
the use of new technologies, adding podcasts and social media in 2007
and 2008, and releasing the
HIV Testing Sites and Care Service Locator
– an online location-based search tool for HIV testing and care
services – in 2009. It launched a mobile website, optimizing additional
services for mobile use in 2010 and 2011.
Visitors to AIDS.gov can navigate
through a wealth of HIV/AIDS resources: the latest HIV/AIDS news; basic
HIV/AIDS information on prevention, testing, treatment, and care; and
information on federal HIV/AIDS resources, including
the National HIV/AIDS Strategy. It also includes podcasts and a
blog with posts by federal officials and others working to combat HIV/AIDS.
The launch of the redesigned site
coincides with National HIV Testing Day (NHTD), which is observed every
year on June 27. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate
that one-in-five of the more than one million
people living with HIV in the United States are unaware of their
infection. As a result, they are unable to access life-extending care
and they may unknowingly pass the virus on to others. AIDS.gov promotes
NHTD and the many free testing opportunities offered
across the nation today, in cooperation with federal and non-federal
partners, and often sees a spike in visitors around the observance. This
year, more of these visitors will be able to easily access the
information they are seeking as a result of the new
responsive design.