Best practice guidelines for community legal informationVLAF Online Legal Information Guidelines

Joh KirbyExecutive Director Victoria Law Foundation

About the Victoria Law Foundation

• State statutory body

• Focus on Victorians

• Advocacy for plain language and communication skills for lawyers

• Helping them understand the law • Grants• Education• And…

…information

What I will cover

• VLAF online legal information guidelines• How they came about• Take you through the guidelines• Questions?

To start a question

Ever tried to find the answer to a legal question online?

• Could you find what you wanted?

• If you did, could you understand it?

• Was it current? Could you tell?

• Did it relate to your jurisdiction?

• Did it tell you where to get more help?

• Or did it make you want to…

VLAF Online Legal Information Guidelines

• Developed to address these issues

• Ultimately improve the quality of legal information available to the public online

• Reduce duplication

• Improve coordination

What does this have to do with plain language?

Effective communication

• Plain language fundamentals

• Online you need more

• The whole picture

Their genesis• New government perceived duplication in community legal information

• In December 2012 held a forum on issue (government, not-for-profits attended)

• Some duplication, some necessary

• Overall poor quality

• Asks VLAF to consider issues and come back to them

Who is this VLAF?• Victorian Legal Assistance Forum

• Made up of lead Victorian legal bodies• Share ideas• Coordinate

• Allows for sector wide consideration of ideas

VLAF’s approach• VLAF establishes working group

• Draws together experts in• Online communication• Communication• Representatives of key legal bodies

Objectives• Establishing best practice guidelines that set out standards for the

development and distribution of resources that reduce duplication and improve efficiency.

• Reference tools

• Involve grant makers

• Newsletter

• Training

The Guidelines

Guideline 1Conduct research before undertaking

a new project

Conduct research before undertaking a new project

Guideline 1

• Do other similar resources exist?

• Is there a real need for the project?

• CLEAR Database and Everyday-law.org.au, grant bodies

Guideline 2Online legal information should be audience-focused

Online legal information should be audience-focused

Guideline 2

• Who is your audience?

• Tailor your project to your audience’s knowledge and skills

• Consult with your identified audience- Don’t make assumptions- Use reference groups and evaluation

Online legal information should be audience-focused

Guideline 2

• ‘Lead’ audience through information – simple to complex

• Use plain language- Consider literacy levels- Provide contextual information

Guideline 3Websites and other digital formats must meet appropriate

usability and accessibility guidelines

Usability and accessibility guidelinesGuideline 3

• Easy to use for all users - well designed, visually appealing

• Accessible to users with a wide range of disabilities (WCAG 2.0, Level AA standards)

• Evaluate and test at all stages to check that it meets your audience’s needs

Usability and accessibility guidelinesGuideline 3

• Clear easy-to-use navigation -

Usability and accessibility guidelinesGuideline 3

• Clear easy-to-use navigation - clear menus,prominent search tools

Usability and accessibility guidelinesGuideline 3

• Clear easy-to-use navigation, clear menus,prominent search tools

• Work on multiple browsers

Usability and accessibility guidelinesGuideline 3

• Clear easy-to-use navigation, clear menus,prominent search tools

• Work on multiple browsers

• Designed to work on multiple formats

Usability and accessibility guidelinesGuideline 3

• Clear easy-to-use navigation, clear menus,prominent search tools

• Work on multiple browsers

• Designed to work on multiple formats

• HTML over PDFs

Guideline 4Ensure the information is accurate

Ensure the information is accurateGuideline 4

• Check information is correct- Legal – use an appropriately qualified lawyer- Non-legal – don’t make assumptions

• Use reference groups made up of relevant experts to assist

Guideline 5The currency of the information should be clearly noted

The currency of the information should be clearly noted

Guideline 5

• Include the date that the material is legally accurate to

Guideline 6Maintain material

Maintain your materialGuideline 6

• Review your content at least every 12 months

• Let your audience know how often it is reviewed

• Tell your audience the last date it was reviewed

Maintain your materialGuideline 6

• Review your content at least every 12 months

• Let your audience know how often it is reviewed

• Tell your audience the last date it was reviewed

• Review the effectiveness of your site- Google analytics- Ask your users

Guideline 7The jurisdiction of the legal information should be clear

The jurisdiction of the legal information should be clear

Guideline 7

• Tell your audience where the material relates to

Guideline 8Link to other relevant resources

Link to other relevant resourcesGuideline 8

• Provide access to material produced by other organisations- Reduces duplication - Improves user experience

• If linking to primary information explain its purpose

Guideline 9Provide access to a legal glossary

Link to a legal glossaryGuideline 9

• Explains unfamiliar words

• Victoria Law Foundation has developed a plain language glossary that can be used by other organisations

Guideline 10Use standard terms where possible

Use standard terms where possibleGuideline 10

• Car/automobile (taxonomy)

• Builds on knowledge

• Gives your reader the best chance of understanding what they are reading

Guideline 11Websites that contain community legal information should

include information on how to obtain further advice and support

How to obtain further advice and supportGuideline 11

• Stop the ‘referral roundabout’

• Not just legal advice

• Need to include information on next steps

• Range of services

• Contact details (but check they are accurate)

Guideline 12Raise awareness of new online legal information resources

Raise awareness of new online legal information resources

Guideline 12

• Let people know what you have produced

• Share your experience

• Promote your publication to your audience

• Host videos of YouTube (not just your website)

• Search engine optimization (SEO) – meta data

• Work cooperatively

In summary

In summary• Effective communication online must consider the whole picture

• Small steps can make a big difference to your users

• Tell people about the guidelines

• Are you meeting the guidelines?

For more informationwww.victorialawfoundation.org.au/betterinformation

•More information on guidelines•Resources for guidelines•Plain language database (Clarity Journal articles)

Questions?

For more information visit:www.victorialawfoundation.org.au/betterinformation

Joh KirbyExecutive DirectorVictoria Law Foundationjkirby@victorialawfoundation.org.au

For more information visit:www.victorialawfoundation.org.au/betterinformation