FEATURE ARTICLE
Ryan White Online: Tips to Enhance Your Web Presence

The Web is an increasingly important communications venue. Clients turn to you to learn what services are available. Agencies and professionals go online to get and share resources about service standards, grant requirements, planning, and other topics.

Many agencies under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program are making great strides in expanding their Web site content. Several are featured on this page. Consider the tips on this page as you enhance your agency’s Web presence.

Items might include:

• An explanation of your Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program work (e.g., services provided, where available)
• Information clients need (eligibility, questions, concerns, costs)
• Information providers and partners need (protocols, standards)
• Links to HIV/AIDS Resources and the Ryan White Community, such as:
• Your State’s Ryan White Network
• HRSA/HAB – Website for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, the Nation’s HIV/AIDS care safety net.
• TARGET Center – the Central Source of Ryan White TA
• AIDS.GOV – information from the Federal government about HIV/AIDS
• Contact information (your agency’s phone number, address, contact person)

Below are some links to consider:

• HRSA/HAB has links to grantee contacts on its HAB Web site
• The TARGET Center has links to all grantee and planning council Web sites
• Establish links to central sites when that makes sense, like a statewide service locator—if this works better than listing your local area’s HIV/AIDS services
• Examples of national sites to link to
• HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau – http://hab.hrsa.gov
• TARGET Center – http://careacttarget.org
• AIDSInfo – http://aidsinfo.nih.gov
• AIDS.gov – http://aids.gov

• Go to the TARGET Center at http://www.careacttarget.org and share a HRSA/HAB or Ryan White tool, idea, or resource with your Ryan White colleagues. All items are reviewed and approved in consultation with HAB project officers. (NOTE: The TARGET Center focuses on items developed by HRSA/HAB as well as materials developed by entities funded under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.)

• Check your Web pages periodically and keep them updated in terms of content (e.g., fix broken links, change language to reflect new provisions and resources).
• Send TARGET Center updates (e.g., broken links, new items) to http://careacttarget.org/uploads/uploadform.asp
• Send HAB Web site updates to http://webrequests.hrsa.gov
• Make sure your site is clear and usable by asking 5 people (clients and staff) for feedback.

• If items are featured, catalogued or otherwise maintained on another site, link to that site instead of posting items on your own Web servers because you’ll miss out on updates and changes that original authors undertake. (And, after all, it’s called a Web for a reason!)
• Post content that is unique to your program.
• Don’t try to cover too many issues, especially those that are being managed by others.

• Consider using existing and emerging Web multimedia tools but think about the pay-off before plunging ahead. Is it needed? Wanted? Affordable?
• Learn more about what’s out there by reviewing the New Media Toolkit