Legal resources for MN residents
LawHelpMN.org is one of many statewide legal aid websites across the US, each dedicated to connecting low-income residents with legal information and legal service providers.
The Minnesota-based website had been serving residents for a number of years, but was in need of an overhaul. The site overwhelmed users with confusing navigation and an overload of information on every page.
Users were sometimes connected to the wrong information and services, or missed pages that could help them with their legal issues. Electric Citizen was selected to lead the planning, design and development of the redesigned site.
The design itself was reworked to be clean and clear. The general idea was to get out of the way of users, and keep sharp, simplified design elements in the background. A critical portion of the site users may be coming to the website in legal crisis, and the last thing they need is a confusing, slow-loading or overly designed interface.
The self-help library is presented in an easy-to-read grid, with simple but effective icons. Defining a single icon for sensitive or ambiguous legal topics was a challenge.
For example, we wanted abuse victims to quickly find the category they require, while not presenting an image that could offend or trigger negative emotions. we worked through with the client. Having the icons, however, provided a quick visual clue to help users of varying degrees of literacy and knowledge of legal terms. We worked with the client to redefine and narrow categories to more relevant (and fewer) titles.
The triage tool takes a similar approach of minimal design, as do the handful of static webpages and contact forms. All pages and web components are responsive to a range of device and screen sizes.
The LawHelp identity is represented through their logo and color palette, while making small, necessary adjustment to ensure proper contrast for meeting WCAG accessibility requirements.
The biggest new feature is the “triage” tool, called the “Legal Help Guide.” This React.js-powered online tool guides users through a series of questions to find the legal aid they need, either through online resources or a direct referral to a service or clinic in their county.
We worked with the client to map the options and define the complex logic trees which power the tool. The client has the ability to update the database without code, and the logic tree is updated upon save.
Another great new feature is the Legal Organizations Online Network (LOON). For statewide providers of legal services, the new online tool lets them search across all registered providers, filtering across categories such as legal topics, FPG limit, age range, and service type. Legal organizations now have a central source of information, connecting their clients with the appropriate services for their legal issue.
As a site serving all state residents, it is important to provide content accessible to as many people as possible, including non-English speakers. While the old site contained links to some pages and documents in various languages, the redesign site is built upon Drupal’s core multilingual capabilities.
On the backend, editors can edit any piece of content and simultaneously enter translations for languages other than English. Content that is repurposed throughout the site only needs translations entered once. When a user loads a page that includes translated content, a series of links appears along the top of the page, indicating the choices available.
While a widget such as Google Translate offers free and useful translation, having true multilingual content is critical for accuracy of language. Translations are currently focused on three groups of Minnesota’s largest non-English speakers–Spanish, Hmong and Somali.
