Epi Info™ User Guide

Web Survey

Confirm Web Survey Compatibility

To ensure the web survey functions properly, check the tab order and enter test data into the survey. Additionally, practice sample analyses on the test data before publishing the form.

A logical tab order is critical, especially if the participant might use a mobile device like a smart phone or tablet computer. As previously mentioned, tab order determines the order in which the fields are displayed on the mobile device. Even if the survey participant will use a desktop or laptop, any Check Code used to validate the data entry may depend on a logical tab order. For information regarding Tab Order, refer to the Form Designer section – How To: Set Tab Order.

Review all field names to ensure each is concise and logical. Field names cannot be changed after publishing the final version. A user-friendly way to check the field names is with the Data Dictionary feature. For information regarding Data Dictionary, refer to the Form Designer section – How To: View a Data Dictionary.

With the tab order and field names confirmed, enter sample test records. Click the Enter Data button from the Form Designer menu bar to preview the form in the Enter tool. When entering test data, record any changes that need to be made prior to publishing the survey. Check the field validation to determine if the field should be required, or if there is a valid range for number and date fields, or any other Check Code that may be used.

With test data in the form, attempt the analyses you anticipate performing. Confirm the field names are clear and easy to use. If you intend to use a tool other than Epi Info™ 7 for analysis, export the test data in the desired format. Common corrections include resetting a long field name, or changing/adding a field type.

Note: Corrections to field names and field types can only be made before the survey is distributed to participants for data collection.

Next, practice publishing the survey as a test by following the Publish Form to Web instructions. Confirm that you can successfully publish the form, navigate among the pages, enter more test data, and reconfirm the validations and Check Code behavior is all working properly. To ensure full functionality, download the test data and perform a sample analysis. If an error is observed, make the necessary corrections and repeat this step until the survey functions as desired.

When testing is complete, remove all test data using the Delete Data Table function and publish the final version. For information regarding Delete Data Table, refer to the Form Designer section – How To: Delete an Existing Data Table Without Deleting the Form.