Characteristics of clinical trial websites: information distribution between ClinicalTrials.gov and 13 primary registries in the WHO registry network

Table 4 Website function, communication, design and accessibility

Assessment item	JPRN	CT.gov	ANZCTR	ReBec	ChiCTR	CRiS	RPCEC	EU CTR	DRKS	IRCT	ISRCTN	NTR	PACTR	SLCTR
Function
Clinical trial data output (RSS, XML or CSV)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Function to evaluate the content	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Function to submit opinions and requests	Partly	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Partly	No	Yes	No
Communication
Use of social media	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No
Email address	Partly	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Phone number	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Fax number	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
Transportation guide	Yes	No	No	No	No	–	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Inquiry form	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	–	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No
Contact for each purpose	Yes	No	No	No	No	–	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Alternate contact method	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
How to apply for the clinical trial	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Apply for the clinical trial from the website	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Design
Website compatible with smartphones	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Website compatible with feature phones	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Website compatible with tablets	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Accessibility
Font size	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Images with alt attribute	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partly	Partly	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Partly	Partly	No
Elimination of layout by < table > tag	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No

‘No’ encompasses ‘not provided’, ‘no description’ and ‘no distinction’. A dash (–) indicates that the response is summarized in the answer of another item or could not be evaluated.
CSV, comma-separated values; RSS, RDF site summary; XML, extensible markup language.

ISSN: 1745-6215