Abstract

Created in 1995 in response to consumer enthusiasm for the World Wide Web, Health On the Net Foundation

Health On the Net Foundation: http://www.healthonnet.org/

has developed solutions to address the problem of potentially dangerous online health and medical information. Then as now, no international legal framework regulated online content, and consumers needed to be given the means to check the reliability and the relevance of health information [[1]]. HON was first to introduce a code of conduct for online health and medical publishers, the HONcode [[2],[3],[4]], which was readily adopted by webmasters aware of the need for credibility in the new, competitive online space. HON went on to develop Web applications to enhance access to reliable information, making use of innovative NLP-based and semantic search technologies.

This paper describes the implementation of a quality standard for online information (HONcode) based on the information production process; its evolution through nearly 10 years of effectiveness, its challenges and results. Today, over 4,700 HON-accredited websites, respecting minimum standards for disclosure and responsibility in online medical publishing, constitute the largest voluntary accreditation network on the Web.