November 25, 2009

Enhancements coming to the Family Law in BC website!

(www.familylaw.lss.bc.ca)

The family law website team has begun modifying the navigation on the Family Law website and will change the way pages are organized to make it easier and faster to find useful information.

Stage 1 (already done): move the navigation links from the left side of the page to a top row of tabs.

Stage 2 (to come mid-December): introduce new subcategories below the tabs (The basics, Do it yourself, FAQ, Who can help, Links, Legislation/Court rules) and organize all information under those subcategories. The picture above shows what that will look like.

Moving to a top navigation and tabs will improve usability for everyone. It opens up more white space and gives our pages a simpler, cleaner look. Users are more likely to find the information they need if they're not overwhelmed by volume. Top navigation and/or tabs is quickly becoming the standard across the Web, and will be familiar for most users. Tabs provide context, give an overview of the information or types of information available on the site, and allow users to develop a sense of where they want to go next.

Currently, our resources are categorized by format: when you select a legal issue, you see a list of the types (or formats) of resources available on that subject (fact sheets, self-help guides, publications, etc.). The data we have gathered shows that most people come to our site to find information and/or download forms. With this in mind, we felt that we could better serve them by re-categorizing and presenting our resources according to the types of information they provide, rather than by format. So when you select your legal issue or community after December, you will see a landing page for that particular issue or community with new subcategories as follows:

• The basics: resources that provide an overview, like fact sheets, publications, and multimedia materials
• Do it yourself: self-help guides and court forms
• FAQ: frequently asked questions about that particular legal issue or community
• Who can help: in-person resources that can help with that particular legal issue
• Links: all links related to that particular legal issue
• Legislation/Court rules: links to legislation and court rules about that particular legal issue

We're looking for volunteers to do some user testing on the site. If you are interested in participating in user testing or have any comments or feedback, please send us an e-mail at FamilyLawWebsiteProject@lss.bc.ca.

Stay tuned for stage 2!