Environmental Education (EE)

• Identify the needs of your audience
  • Ask questions of your audience or collect existing information about your audience. For example, conduct a literature or Internet search to find out how your target audience uses the Web and review other Web sites that target a similar audience.
  • Create focus groups to help investigate your audience. A focus group is a facilitated meeting comprised of a small group of selected individuals, typically 6 to 12, who explore and discuss an issue. Generally, participants are led through a series of questions designed to reveal in-depth responses to the issue or topic being explored.
• Assess your target audience's prior knowledge
  • Determine the environmental literacy of your audience. See step 3 of Analyze Your Audience [PDF, 107 KB, 1 page, about PDF] from chapter 2 of “Education Projects in the Office of Water.”
  • You may want to consider conducting a survey to fully assess your target audience. However, be aware that conducting surveys requires clearance from the Office of Management and Budget. For more information on EPA survey guidelines, see the EPA's Information Collection Request Center.
• Approach the development of the Web site from the perspective of your audience
  • Identify the best approach for reaching your audience; for example, would a visual-based approach that is more visually stimulating be more effective than a textual-based approach that requires a user to read more?
  • See Web Site Content and Usability Criteria by Grade Level [PDF, 651 KB, 1 page, about PDF] for suggestions and guidance.