American Occupational Therapy Association: Annotated Bibliography

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The American Occupational Therapy Association, www.aota.org
This website is run by The American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc. According to the site’s “About Us” section, the AOTA was founded 1917 by professionals in the field of occupational therapy, which indicates that the website is run by a credible group of individuals. The site’s contact page offers an easy to use email widget, a members-only phone number, a non-member hotline, and a physical address. I believe that the website has many purposes. One is to offer educational information on occupational therapy, but the main purpose is to encourage individuals in the field to join their association. The AOTA represents the interests of those who work or plan to work in occupational …show more content…

At the bottom of the page, an address, phone number, hearing impaired phone number, and email address are all provided. The website offers a plethora of information about various diseases, healthy living, and scientific studies related to diseases. This information is heavily cited and sources are provided, many linking to the original scientific studies the statistics come from. In addition to this, the CDC has a reputation of being trustworthy on its own. The CDC does not appear to be selling anything, but heavily endorses vaccinations and other preventative healthcare measures. No advertisements are present, meaning there should be no manipulation of information to please advertisers. There is also a fair amount of diversity and no hints at stereotyping, with a nondiscrimination notice available on the front page in addition to the various language settings provided. Above that there is a “Newsroom” widget with memos, updates, and other notices the CDC wishes to announce, with updates posted frequently. Medicine is a rapidly improving field, and the CDC keeps up with changes efficiently. Most pages are comprehensive and in-depth while still simple, but more intensive reading if available in the sources provided. Locating specific pages is simple with the search function and the well-organized layout. A simple layout with key elements of the page separated into blue and white blocks is used to increase the visual aesthetic as well as the ease-of-use of the webpage. I believe that this website is a well-developed, visually pleasing, trustworthy source of information that completes its goals