Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Department

English

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

There is a massive flow of information about the COVID-19 pandemic from news coverage, daily announcements from local and national political leaders and health authorities, as well as social media. Because of this, a focus on providing clear, honest, and valid information is needed. One way to achieve this goal is through impactful state websites that can act as the main resource for COVID-19 related news.

This project will be analyzing three COVID-19 state response websites, kycovid19.ky.gov (Kentucky’s website), oregon.gov (Oregon’s website), and ldh.la.gov (Louisiana’s website) in terms of their use of website design and crisis communication strategies. I will be looking at two aspects of content strategy and website design — usability and impression — and three aspects of crisis communication— ambiguity, complexity, and predictability. This project will define these terms in detail. I then will analyze these aspects through looking at the homepage and a few pages linked from the homepage in detail. It will then offer the most important takeaways as a resource for these websites as well as any future content that may need to utilize both design and crisis communication resources.

Advisor(s) or Committee Chair

Daniel Liddle, Ph.D.

Disciplines

Health Communication | Other Communication | Technical and Professional Writing

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