Preliminary evaluation of a Web site to support students with dyslexia at the Sheffield University School of Nursing and Midwifery

The Dyslexia Information Site (DiS) is a live research project and results from an interdisciplinary partnership between the School of Nursing and Midwifery (SNM) and the Department of Information Studies. The design of the DiS site takes into account the problems of nursing students with dyslexia and specific needs that are not met elsewhere. Requirement analysis for the site included the identification and evaluation of general dyslexia issues and how they apply to nursing students as well as the needs of tutors supporting them. The site is now being tested as a means of using the web to provide just-in-time anonymous support to students with dyslexia; and specific information to tutors who support them. This paper presents the preliminary results of this evaluation. INTRODUCTION The Dyslexia information Site (DiS) is an ongoing project within the School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Sheffield (SNM), to provide information about dyslexia and support to nursing and midwifery students as well as to the lecturers who tutor them. SNM provided the content expertise and technical expertise is provided by the Department of Information Studies, University of Sheffield. The project, therefore, is an interdisciplinary partnership and represents an example of a collaboration to develop a product that one of the partners could not easily undertake on their own. Since the project was already presented and discussed by Wright et al. [1], only a brief outline of the development is reported in this paper. BACKGROUND Literature relating to health care professionals with dyslexia is sparse. The literature that does exist suggests that nursing students with dyslexia are disadvantaged. For example, Nganasurian [2] and Anonymous [3] describe three students who indicate a general lack of understanding, awareness of their needs and a reluctance of educationalists, involved in their programme, to provide support. If nursing and midwifery students with dyslexia are going to succeed a support system is important. Currently there is little or no support for students with dyslexia within nursing schools. The development of DiS is part of the SNM's undertaking to support students with disabilities within a very limited budget. In the UK nursing and midwifery students on a non-means tested bursary are not entitled to extra financial support to assist them if they have disabilities [4]. This means that support has to be found within existing budgets, and DiS is a part of the support network. THE DYSLEXIA INFORMATION SITE (DiS) The Dyslexia Information Site (DiS) is designed to try and resolve some of the deficiencies in supporting students with dyslexia within SNM. The general aims that led to the design and development of DiS were: to provide readily available specific information on student nurses with dyslexia not available elsewhere; to providing support information, for staff tutoring and supervising students with dyslexia, not available elsewhere;