NOAA -Harmful Algae Website Clearance Request Submission Form

Request for Approval under the “Generic Clearance for the Collection of Routine Customer Feedback” (OMB Control Number 0690-0030)

TITLE OF INFORMATION COLLECTION: Harmful Algae Website User Survey

PURPOSE:

To provide information about user needs before revising a NOAA-funded Web site.

NOAA funds the Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) National Office through the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region (CINAR). The National Office maintains a Web site (http://www.whoi.edu/redtide/) to provide information on Harmful Algal Blooms, which currently has 6,500- 7,500 visitors/mo No data are available to determine who those visitors are except for e-mail domain names. They are thought to include K-12, undergraduate, and graduate students, teachers, researchers, journalists, tribal, local, state, and federal public health, resource, water quality, or program managers, industry, and members of the public.

The Web site last underwent a major revision in 2007 and now needs updating. Before it is updated, it was decided that it would be useful to know the target audience(s) and their interests. Anyone visiting the Web site will be asked to fill out the attached 3-question survey; participation is strictly voluntary.

DESCRIPTION OF RESPONDENTS:

Anyone who visits the Web page and is willing to fill out the survey. We estimate that 10% of the ~7,000/mo visitors will respond to the survey.

TYPE OF COLLECTION: (Check one)

[ ] Customer Comment Card/Complaint Form [ ] Customer Satisfaction Survey

[X] Usability Testing (e.g., Website or Software [ ] Small Discussion Group

[ ] Focus Group [ ] Other: _ __________

CERTIFICATION:

I certify the following to be true:

1. The collection is voluntary.

2. The collection is low-burden for respondents and low-cost for the Federal Government.

3. The collection is non-controversial and does not raise issues of concern to other federal agencies.

4. The results are not intended to be disseminated to the public.

5. Information gathered will not be used for the purpose of substantially informing influential policy decisions.

6. The collection is targeted to the solicitation of opinions from respondents who have experience with the program or may have experience with the program in the future.

Name:___Quay Dortch_____________________________________________

To assist review, please provide answers to the following question:

Personally Identifiable Information:

1. Is personally identifiable information (PII) collected? [ ] Yes [X] No

2. If Yes, will any information that is collected be included in records that are subject to the Privacy Act of 1974? [ ] Yes [ ] No

3. If Yes, has an up-to-date System of Records Notice (SORN) been published? [ ] Yes [ ] No

Gifts or Payments:

Is an incentive (e.g., money or reimbursement of expenses, token of appreciation) provided to participants? [ ] Yes [ X] No

BURDEN HOURS

Category of Respondent	No. of Respondents	Participation Time	Burden
People who visit the Web site (estimate that 10% of 7,000 visitors/mo will respond)—since one purpose of the survey is to determine the categories of people viewing the Web site, it cannot be broken down further at this time	700	2 min	23 hr
Totals	700		23 hr

FEDERAL COST: The estimated annual cost to the Federal government is <$1000 one-time cost.

If you are conducting a focus group, survey, or plan to employ statistical methods, please provide answers to the following questions:

The selection of your targeted respondents

1. Do you have a customer list or something similar that defines the universe of potential respondents and do you have a sampling plan for selecting from this universe? [ ] Yes [X] No

If the answer is yes, please provide a description of both below (or attach the sampling plan)? If the answer is no, please provide a description of how you plan to identify your potential group of respondents and how you will select them?

The respondents will be whoever visits the Web site and chooses to answer the questions. We will use all responses.

Administration of the Instrument

1. How will you collect the information? (Check all that apply)

[ X] Web-based or other forms of Social Media

[ ] Telephone

[ ] In-person

[ ] Mail

[ ] Other, Explain

2. Will interviewers or facilitators be used? [ ] Yes [ X] No

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