How to Integrate Widgets into an HIV/AIDS Education and Communication Campaign

Part of the AIDS.gov KnowledgeSite

The use of widgets as a communication and advertising tool is on the rise. Widgets (also known as gadgets) are dynamic and live content embedded within an HTML web page. Widgets link to content from many sources including social networking sites, blogs, wikis and homepages.

Many Federal organizations have widgets on topics ranging from salmonella to flu. A catalog of all government widgets can be found at USA.gov. Federal agencies embrace widgets because they require no technical maintenance and the original data source is always up-to-date. They also use widgets to extend their reach and disseminate news, information, data and research. AIDS.gov recommends the use of widgets for the sharing of HIV prevention information, testing locations, treatment information, research news, and HIV/AIDS event photos. They also recommend conducting polls and tracking fundraising efforts with widgets.

AIDS.gov created a widget to ask for suggestions for the National HIV Testing Day Initiative and a National HIV Testing story widget. AIDS.gov also highlights other HIV/AIDS widgets:

AIDS Vancouver’s interactive HIV/AIDS dictionary widget
CDC’s Act Against AIDS local HIV testing site finder widget
World AIDS Day Virtual Ribbon widget
POZ Magazine’s HIV news widget

Many services exist to help create and deploy widgets appropriate for a particular organization. They include Clearspring and Gigya, Widgetbox, Sprout and iWidgets.

See below for a sample AIDS.gov widget.

Additional Resources:

Wonderful World of Widgets, AIDS.gov blog, May, 2009. http://blog.aids.gov/2009/05/the-wonderful-world-of-widgets.html

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