(JACKSON OPEN):
Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa recently joined officials from the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine to launch NIHSeniorHealth.gov, a new talking web site with formats and topics tailored to the needs of older people. The senior friendly site takes advantage of techniques designed to encourage older people to use the Internet, and this site in particular, as a resource for the best information on health and medical research. During a briefing Senator Harkin discussed his interest in the site.

(HARKIN):
"I got interested in the idea of a senior friendly web site on health when I realized how many older Americans are using the Internet to find information on health issues. Unfortunately as we all know it's not always easy navigating the web on your own. And most web sites on health simply are not designed with seniors in mind. So I thought, 'who better to design a senior friendly web site than NIH?'"

(JACKSON CLOSE):
The web site, located at: www.nihseniorhealth.gov , features large print and short, easy-to-read segments of information repeated in a variety of formats. Each topic provides general background information, quizzes, frequently asked questions, open-captioned video clips, transcripts for the videos, and photos and illustrations with captions. This is Calvin Jackson, the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.