Learn
 
 
 
 
 

Site Set Up

The Public Health Emergency Dark Site is set up using the Google Sites template gallery, which includes:

These templates were developed by the Stanford University Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SIE) Program, in collaboration with Santa Clara County Public Health during the H1N1 response and with local emergency managers to address other emergencies.

The Public Health Emergency Template is designed to provide information during public health emergencies. The All-Hazards Template is designed to provide information about county-wide response, not just public health response. The All-Hazards Template pages are set up to display information for each local jurisdiction and to give information about shelters, evacuations, first aid, and school and road closures. The All Hazards Template also includes Google mapping features.

Instructions to set-up a Google Account

1. Go to the Google homepage.

2. Select “Sign-In” at the top right hand corner of the page.

3. Under “Don’t Have a Google Account?” Select “Create an
    account now”.

4. Fill in required information to open a Google account. For the
    account name, use the organization name, not your personal
    name. For the email address, use an email for your organization;
    not a personal email.

Instructions to set up a Public Health Emergency Site

1. Log on to the Google Account.

2. Click on http://sites.google.com/site/einfopht/ to access the
    Public Health Emergency template.

Public Health Emergency Template User Guide

Detailed instructions to set up a site using the Google template can be found in the Public Health Emergency Template User Guide. The User Guide explains how to:

  • Create the site
  • Insert or change the site logo
  • Edit the sidebar
  • Delete pages
  • Localize pages
  • Create pages
  • Use Google Maps
  • Post updates
  • Set up automatic translation

Public Health Emergency Template User Comments and Email Updates

Comments on the Public Health Emergency Template and your experience using it can be sent from the Public Health Emergency Template User Guide.

In the User Guide, click on Comments in the left hand column. This will open an email to send your comments to the site manager.

Click on Get Email Updates in the left hand column to subscribe to an email list to receive updates about the Public Health Emergency Template.

More Information - Google Sites Help

Google Sites includes an excellent help section. After creating an account and signing in, select Google Sites Help for more information.

SITE SHARING your organization will need to determine how the site is shared before and during activation. Google Sites allows you to manage the site and establish who can prepare, edit and view the site.

Site Owners can:

Pre-prepared risk communication materials:

  • Invite other owners, collaborators, or viewers.
  • Change site themes, and layout.
  • Change the site name.
  • Delete the site.
  • Do everything a collaborator can do.

Site Owners are assigned to maintain the Public Health Emergency Dark Site for your organization. Site Owners should be comfortable using the site and have a good understanding of web sites, cloud computing and how emergency dark sites work.

Site Collaborators can:

  • Create, edit, and delete pages.
  • Move pages.
  • Add attachments.
  • Add pages to and remove them from the sidebar navigation.
  • Subscribe to site and page changes.

The Site Owner invites Site Collaborators by email. Google Sites provides instructions for doing this. Site Collaborators may be, for example:

  • Public Health Department personnel involved in response.
  • Public Health support staff trained to assist at the Department, City or County EOC.
  • City or County Emergency Managers.
  • City, County or Departmental Information Systems personnel.

Site Viewers can:

  • Only view pages.

The public is only able to view the public emergency site when the Site Owner selects, “Everyone in the world can view this site”. This is only done when the Public Health Department PIO decides to make the site “go live” by enabling this option. Otherwise, the site sits ready, but not seen on the Google servers.

Using PDFs, RTF, and HTML

  1. Whenever possible, static content should be in text (HTML) format for performance reasons. When using Word documents, save them as RFT files first, and then copy and paste them into the emergency dark site to render them in HTML properly.

  2. Use of PDF or other attachments should be minimized as these can take up valuable bandwidth. If needed, the file size should be optimized whenever possible. Use the web profile conversion setting and the built-in PDF optimizer within Adobe Acrobat.

  3. Using HTML also ensures that Section 508, web accessibility requirements are met. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology. Under Section 508 (29 U.S.C. 794d), agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others.

Language Translation

The Public Health Emergency Example Site have been set up to be automatically translated into Spanish, Vietnamese, and Chinese.

The translation of dynamic and static content is an important risk communication requirement and also a challenging task during response. Fortunately, Google provides a unique and automatic translation tool. Go to translate.google.com and follow instructions to automatically translate your site and all the linked material to another language.

The Google automatic translation feature is a starting point. Nothing can replace the expertise of native speakers to translate important information during emergencies. For this reason, we recommend that you use the Google translation feature and have the translated document reviewed by a native speaker. The reviewer can correct any context, grammar or spelling errors directly into the translated document. As this is done, the Google software learns from the editing for future translations.

RSS Feeds, Email Subscription Groups and Social Media Tools

You can set up subscriptions so that viewers will receive RSS feeds and set up links or badges to social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Myspace. You can also include “+Share” buttons to share pages and articles on other social media sites. When adding these social media tools to the emergency dark site, consider these lessons learned:

  • If you use Twitter or other social media platforms, the risk communication staff and PIO must be able to consistently monitor and post fresh content in a timely manner in order to keep it interactive and engaging. This may require dedicated staff.
  • Email subscription groups should be audience-specific so that emails can be targeted to user groups such as:
    • The public
    • School officials
    • Physicians
    • Emergency managers and emergency responders
    • News media

 

|