Search Results for: design
Florence Cols
Florence Cols is a legal design expert at Droits Quotidiens since almost 10 years. Droits Quotidiens works for making law understandable and accessible for all by : (1) explaining rights and obligations in plain language; (2) creating visuals; and (3) helping professionals to rewrite their legal documents.
Improving access to criminal justice, by rewriting the Belgian letter of rights
Published in The Clarity Journal 82 – 2020. Introduction Persons under arrest receive a Letter of Rights, which explains them what are their rights : right to keep silent, right to get a lawyer, right to get medical help, etc. But this document isn’t adapt for them to correctly understand their rights, especially as they […]
Virtual International plain language conference (2021) – Access for all : Plain Language is a Civil Right – Part 2

DESIGN. LITERACY. PRACTICE. Access for All: Plain Language is a Civil Right, is a virtual conference dedicated to using plain language to break down barriers in society. Through our three themes – design, literacy, and practice – we will explore how to bring access to all through plain language. Co-hosted by Clarity, the Center for Plain Language […]
PLAIN International conference (2019) – Oslo, Norway

Plain language discussed through (1) Democracy and inclusion, (2) Digitalization and design and (3) Saving time and money. And more! Meet more than 100 speakers from 25 countries. See the website for more information about this wonderful conference.
Usability testing results for legal icons Northwest Justice Project – a case study
Published in The Clarity Journal 82 – 2020. Background Northwest Justice Project (NJP) and the Superior Court of Washington have long relied on plain language and readable design to support people who want access to legal forms and information, but do not have lawyers. In 2018, NJP asked Transcend to create 6 new legal icons […]
Maria Mindlin
Maria Mindlin is CEO of Transcend, a company that provides plain language and translation services to courts and agencies in the U.S. She also teaches and trains others in the legal sector so they can learn more about readability and user testing. Maria’s work integrates today’s technologies with plain language, accessibility, and design.
Tanushree Padath
Tanushree Padath is a Project Manager/Visual and UX designer at Transcend. She makes plain text more accessible by incorporating design principles and iconography. She also conducts design and usability workshops for the legal sector. She has served as a judge in the 2019 Clearmark awards in the website category.
Justice: Plain language in family law helps but it’s not enough
Published in The Clarity Journal 81 – 2020. Introduction This article discusses how plain language in Australian family law combined with a clear process makes justice more accessible. Both substantive and procedural law are discussed. Justice requires minimal delays, minimal costs and accessibility. Law is accessible when substantive and procedural laws are understood by lay […]
Does plain language only benefit the higher literate? Avoiding the Matthew-effect in plain language revisions
Published in The Clarity Journal 80 – 2019. Every reader of this journal will be convinced that plain language revisions improve reading success. But in this article, I will argue that this improved success might not help the people you wanted to help in the first place; people who do not read as easily as […]
Éric Kavanagh
A linguist by training, Éric Kavanagh has been a professor at the Université Laval’s school of design since 2002. Director of the Master’s program in interaction design, he teaches design theory and specializes in service design and information design, which he has been practicing in Québec for 20 years. He has supervised over 200 graduate […]