Next Generation of Statewide Websites

1. Next Generation of Statewide Websites Presented by NTAP and Pro Bono Net November 30, 2007

2. Today’s Training • Web Development Today • Trends and Technologies Affecting the Future of Statewide Websites • Low cost ways to enhance your website • Facilitating Interaction • Fresh and Timely Content

3. A few stats to help us set the stage: • More than half (55%) of all online American youths ages 12-17 use online social networking sites. • 28% of internet users have tagged or categorized content online such as photos, news stories or blog posts. • 57% percent of online adults have used the internet to watch or download video • 36% of online American adults consult Wikipedia(All from Pew Internet and the American Life Project. For specific report citations see the resources section at the end of this presentation).

4. Content creation by age

5. Take 20 minutes… • Pew Internet and American Life – • Web 2.0 and what it means for libraries http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/94/presentation_display.asp This presentation contains the latest data from the Pew Internet & American Life Project related to Web 2.0 applications and activities online. It also goes through the implications for libraries and suggests several issues related to Web 2.0 that librarians might help sort out.

6. Trends and Technologies Affecting Statewide Websites • More options • Simpler solutions • Web 2.0 • Web based tools or “add-ons” • Technology moving faster than we can keep up…. • And a new generation of users to reach

7. Where to Begin? Don’t Forget the Basics: • Before we get to the new stuff – let’s remember the building blocks. • A usable website is always the first way to improve for the future. • Don’t know where to start check out: Top Ten Mistakes in Website Design – Jacob Neilson http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9605.html • Good, relevant and readable content trumps any “bells and whistles” (More on this later)

8. Personalization • On websites, personalization is the process of tailoring pages or page content to your users' characteristics or preferences. • Personalization likely makes the most sense on the advocate website (both for staff advocates and pro bono attorneys)

9. Examples:

10. Personalization on Statewide Websites • Personalization likely makes the most sense on the advocate website (both for staff advocates and pro bono attorneys) • Why? • In e-commerce saves customer time, increases sales • Information/subscription sites – saves time, organizes content, makes site more usable

11. Legal Aid Examples: www.illinoislegaladvocate.orgSite Calendar Highlights Recommended Events

12. IllinoisProBono.Org Uses Volunteer Profile to Recommend Opportunities

14. Why personalization? • Cynthia Vaughn – Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation • Decision making that went into redesign • Talking with advocates about what they want • Deciding what to prioritize • The goal of substantive areas with specific features

15. Can’t redesign… • Other ways to “personalize” content • Create an email newsletter • Highlight new content in certain areas • Have “Topic or Role Specific” Newsletters • Pro Bono • Family Law • Have specialized pages or areas • Substantive law “home pages”

17. Low-cost Site Enhancements • Video / Screencasting • Google Calendar • Incoming RSS Feeds

18. Video Content • Fifty-seven percent of online adults have used the internet to watch or download video, and 19% do so on a typical day. • Note: For teens this goes up to 85% who have used the Internet to watch video – 62% report watching videos on YouTube. Pew Internet and the American Life –Online Video Report, Mary Madden, 7/7/2007 http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Online_Video_2007.pdf

19. Video Content Embedding Video • Arkansas Legal Services: Embeded YouTube Videos – How to use the Site – Spanish, Domestic Violence and Access to Justice http://www.arkansaslegalservices.org/Home/PublicWeb/Videos/ ` • Idaho Legal Aid – YouTube Fair Housing http://idaholegalaid.org/Home/PublicWeb/Housing • Vermont Law Help – Stories blip-tv http://blip.tv/file/472613/

20. Screencasting • Captures the display of your computer screen, for example: • A PowerPoint presentation • Walkthrough of a website • Software demo • Graphical explanation of a concept

21. Colorado Screencasts

22. Colorado project summary From Molly French, mfrench@colegalserv.org: “CLS submitted a grant proposal to the Colorado Bar Foundation to create two audio visual presentations to add to the public site of its website. Topics include How the Courts Work and Adult Name Change. We requested a total of $2300 for the project and in 2005 the proposal was funded. We have posted one of the presentations on the site and the others are still in production but very close to being finalized and uploaded. The budget items included equipment (at the time we included costs for a file hosting arrangement, FTP software, computer microphone, audio editor (Camtasia Studio) and an upgrade to PowerPoint). We purchased the microphone and software, and have also purchased an upgrade to Camtasia since the project's inception. We also requested money for translation of the presentations (they will be available in English and Spanish) and the remaining funds were designated to help pay for outreach materials we use at community education sessions. We recruited a summer intern from one of the local law schools to focus on this project. She took materials on the state court website and wrote a script for each presentation. We recruited court personnel (both were on our stakeholder committee at one point) to review the scripts and also had CLS attorneys review them before we created the slides. Our volunteer actually was donating a lot of her time to us over the summer, and she, with some direction as far as graphics to use, built the slides in PowerPoint. She then 'dumped' the slides into Camtasia and recorded the audio. We had both scripts translated by a local consultant that we had used previously to translate other web content to maintain continuity in our translations. We recruited another volunteer who worked in our intake unit to record the Spanish audio for each presentation. Camtasia, we thought anyway, is very easy software to learn how to use and also it is fairly simple to make edits and revisions. (It is easier to delete a visual, slide or audio in Camtasia than it is to add anything, so make sure that you have all of your content included before you record your audio.)” Summary Budget/Equipment Production

23. Free screencasting tools and resources • Jing (http://www.jingproject.com/) • Wink http://www.debugmode.com/wink/) • Idealware Introduction to Screencasting: http://www.idealware.org/articles/screencasting.php • Audio/mic quality important • Consider hosting needs

24. Google Calendar

25. Google Calendar Option to include events in Google’s Public Events search too

26. Getting started with Google Calender “In MN, we started using Google Calendars for our immigration clinics, because it looks better than what we used to have, which was basically a list.  It's posted as a "special bulletin" in our immigration topic area.  Google has a nifty tutorial on how to create calendars.  There is even an option that allows you to allow others to add events to the calendar - so for example, the people hosting immigration events could add their own clinics to our calendar if they wanted to, and save us the work.  Once you've created a calendar you can embed it into any HTML page you want - we used a LawHelp resource cluster page because it's basically a blank slate, whereas each Dynamic HTML page has that yellow "related resources" box on the right-hand side, which can cause formatting issues.  To turn it into a news bulletin, we linked the "news item" straight to the resource cluster, then put the cluster inside an inactive topic.”  - Patrick Noonan, former AmeriCorps *VISTA, Minnesota Legal Services Coalition

27. RSS Really Simple Syndication (or Really Super Stuff)

28. RSS: Creating Custom Feeds

29. RSS - Creating custom feeds tailored to your audience • RSS feed builders • Yahoo Pipes • http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/ • Ice Rocket • http://rss.icerocket.com/

30. Getting started with RSS • rss.lstech.org hosts feeds generated by national legal services organizations and some states. • Feeds also available from: • LSC (News) • CLASP (News) • Brennan Center (News) • NLADA (News, Jobs) • LSNTAP (News, Blogs)

31. More on RSS • LSNTAP RSS trainings & resources http://www.lstech.org/bookshelf?tid=8&name=RSS. • PBN RSS trainings http://www.probono.net/link.cfm?8254

32. Which of these tools is right for you? Review options in the context of how they: • Promote the content on your site • Provide a better way of delivering the content • Ease the administrative burdens of updating or adding new content

33. Facilitating Interaction • Live Help • MySpace/Facebook • Blogging

34. The LiveHelp Concept • Provides virtual, live assistance for Web site visitors • Helps visitors find information and referrals • Doesn’t provide legal advice

35. Where is LiveHelp being used? • Navigation assistance on MontanaLawHelp.org, IowaLegalAid.org, LawHelp.org/LA • Cross-state assistance test underway • Upcoming activities: • Integration with document assembly in Montana • Support for pro bono attorneys via GeorgiaAdvocates.org • ArkansasLegalServices.org • 2008 TIG grant for additional capacity at PBN to support LiveHelp replication in other states

41. Chat Transcript INFO: You are now chatting with ‘Navigator‘ VISITOR: Hello NAVIGATOR: Hello. I can help you find information about the law and legal rights. I can't give you any legal advice or tell you what to do. Do not tell me anything confidential. You and I don't have an attorney-client relationship. The other side in your case may contact LiveHelp for more information. In that case, we will also give him or her information. Is this okay? • VISITOR: I guess...I need information though. do you do that? NAVIGATOR: I can certainly try. What can I help you with? VISITOR: on the 6th of Dec of 06 I was given notice to move from a trailer space I am renting. move out date? 1/1/07 water to be turned off 1/5/07...they claimed the County Sanitarian was closing down the trailer park… this is a “lie” according to the Sanitarian VISITOR: I cannot find legal assistance as I am not rich. I need help. where do I go? NAVIGATOR: Are you in Montana? VISITOR: yes

42. Chat Transcript (con’t) NAVIGATOR: First of all, here is a link to some useful information on evictions: evictions link. VISITOR: thanks. how do I file an injunction? what is the form number/name? NAVIGATOR: I am unable to find the kind of form you are looking for. You might want to try contacting Montana Legal Services. If you are eligible for their services, they can give you legal advice and possibly find you a free attorney. Their telephone number is 1-800-666-6124 VISITOR: ok, wrote it down. I am sure I qualify. is there something else? NAVIGATOR: Calling legal services would probably be the most helpful. Be sure to let them know that you are up against a deadline and they will help you address the problem immediately VISITOR: great. Thank you very much. You have a good new year. NAVIGATOR: Can I help you with anything else? VISITOR: No, thank you though

43. 2007 Usage (through July) • Montana – 313 “Acts of Help” MontanaLawHelp.org usage: 24,982 visits and 135,138 page views. • Iowa – 322 “Acts of Help” IowaLegalAid.org usage: 34,718 site visits and 132,853 page views

44. Live Help works • LiveHelp user profiles fit generally within the income-eligible and target populations of legal aid. • LiveHelp seems to increase users’ understanding of their legal problems and what needs to be done to solve them. • LiveHelp significantly increases both the extent to which visitors are able to find the information and the speed with which they are able to do so.

45. Interim Analysis of Potential Broader Access to Justice Usage • Advocate Support for Pro Bono Attorneys • Pro Bono Advice or Information to Web site Users • Cross State Assistance • Multi-Lingual Support • Document Assembly Support • Low-Literacy User Support • Service Finding and Online Application Assistance • Diagnostic Software Support • As Assistive Technology Considerations • Self Help Centers • Public Legal Information Consortium • Binding Together the Full Range of Access To Justice Web sites with Single Integrated Support Service

46. Live Help Resources • Christine Mandiloff, MLSA • cmandilo@mtlsa.org • Liz Keith, Pro Bono Net • lkeith@probono.net • Jordan Bergsten, Pro Bono Net • jbergsten@probono.net • Additional resources on probono.net/statewebsites and lsntap.org

47. Your Online Presence…Is your website enough? • With the growth of social networking websites more organizations are considering whether to have a presence in those networks. • More than half (55%) of all online American youths ages 12-17 use* online social networking sites, according to a new national survey of teenagers conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/198/report_display.asp • 20% of online adults have profiles.

48. Social Networking Sites • “Using” a social networking site means more than browsing or searching

49. MySpace…Facebook • More effective than a search engine? • How many of your organizations have a MySpace page? • How many of you have a personal MySpace page? • What is appropriate for a non-profit organization? • http://www.diosacommunications.com/myspacebestpractices.htm

50. Want to learn more? • How to Use MySpace to Raise Awareness: Three nonprofit organizations share their experiences http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page6016.cfm • A Beginner's Guide to Facebook: How nonprofits can get started on the popular social networking site http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/internet/page7430.cfm • Social Networks Part 1 – somepocho –http://lsntap.org/node/2297 • NLADA Conference Session – Technology Trends that Impact How You Practice http://lsntap.org/nlada_techsession_blog