Environmental health Web maps: An innovative content delivery mechanism

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) conduct research, assess health effects of hazardous waste sites, and respond to emergencies, all of which occur in defined locations. NCEH/ATSDR hypothesized that the strong association between environmental health and geography would motivate visitors to the centers' Web sites to prefer a map as a point of entry. User-centered research validated this hypothesis, and NCEH/ATSDR initiated development of a Web-based mapping application. Environmental Health WebMaps is an innovative content delivery mechanism linking users to environmental health data and information from sources across NCEH/ATSDR. The project was designed in phases. Phase I, released in March, 2007, allows Web visitors to create a geographic display of hazardous waste site and contaminant information on an interactive national map. Visitors can also access links to NCEH/ATSDR activities and funded programs as well as documents providing detailed descriptions of activities, contaminants, and health issues connected with the site such as Public Health Assessments and Health Consultations. Additionally, visitors can link from the map to scientific and consumer information about chemicals found at the site. WebMaps responds to research indicating that interactivity improves user satisfaction and provides for improved access to information by placing scientific information into a context and a format that meets the needs of multiple primary audiences such as public health professionals, health care providers, policy makers, and community members.