ONTARIO COURT WEBSITE ENHANCEMENT

PROJECT

ENVIRONMENT• Legislative

– Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005

Political– criminal reform– family law reform

ENVIRONMENT --2• Standards – CCCT guidelines– Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

(WCAG 2.0 AA)– privacy

• Technical –Web 2.0–Mobile PDAs– Security breaches

HISTORICAL CONTEXT Launched June 1998 Key audiences: judiciary, legal profession

and consumers (self-represented litigants) Partner: Ontario Judicial Education

Network Website redesign 2007 Ontario Court of Justice (OCJ)

enhancement 2012

PICTORIAL EVOLUTION 1998-2012

2007-2012

2012

OCJ GOALS• Enhance access to a variety of public

audiences• Ensure ongoing value to the legal

profession Promote access to:

TeachersMediaConsumersGeneral public

NEW DESIGN PRINCIPLES

• One stop access • Consistent look and feel• Visual appeal• Phased in approach• Develop robust processes to keep

information current and accurate

WEBSITE TEAM

• Judicial Library Services (1 FTE) 2 staff• Judicial Information Technology

Office (1 FTE) 3 staff• Content developers• Project manager (OCJ)

PROJECT PHASES• Information audit and consultation• Design (story boards to acceptance)• Technical (selection of CM, plugins, testing)• Content development• Testing – accessibility, penetration• Usability testing of website• Launch and marketing• Documentation• Review / Ongoing enhancement

OCJ IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Phase I - First> Select Content

Management System

> Do minor adjustments to

current website (e.g.,

consistent drop-down menu for Councils

> Confirm Visual Interface

Design Guidelines> Design all

web elements (e.g., logos,

icons, graphics)

Phase II - Foundation

> Map existing website

content to revised home

page> Write/find new content on a priority basis (e.g.,

“How can we help you?” is a high priority)

> Assign writing of new

content

Phase V – Future

> Develop items from

“Future wish list,” e.g., video

tour of courtrooms, interactive

learning tools, increased

functionality via CIMS, e.g., related to fines payment, etc.

> Conduct User

Evaluation six months after

launch

Feb-Sept 2011 Nov 2011 Mar 2012

Going forward

LESSONS LEARNED

• Communication, communication, and communication

• Translation issues• Technology

GOVERNANCE

• Under development• OCJ visual style manual• Documentation

FUTURE

• Enhancements for the Superior Court and Court of Appeal

• Ongoing review• Ongoing security enhancement to

website and back up

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONOCJ WEBSITE

• Operating System: Windows Server 2008 R2 EnterpriseWeb Server: Internet Information Services (IIS) 7.5Supported Server Side Scripting languages: PHP, Perl, ASP, ASP.Net

• Database: MySQL• Content management: WordPress 3.4• Search: Sphider 1.3.5 PHP Search engine (driven by

PHP 5.4.3 and MySQL 5.5)• Usage tracking: Awstats version 7.0 (Requires Perl:

ActivePerl 5.14.2.1402)

To manage mobile access, visual interest, support for two languages, security, etc. a number of plugins are employed.

• WordPress Mobile Pack• JQuery Mobile

Framework• Mobile Analytics• WordPress Multi-Site• Use of Widgets

• WP-chgFontSize• Multilingual WordPress• TinyMCE Advanced• Portfolio Slideshow• Maintenance Mode• JavaScript save mail• Captcha

WEBSITE HOSTING

• Dedicated server, with a few high-availability features, but not a full HA environment.

• Perimeter protection with intrusion detection and a dedicated firewall

• Access via remote KVM (as if we are there at the local keyboard, monitor and even power-on button).

• Backup to a local, secondary hard-drive and also to internal storage.

• 24/7 call centre support

USEFUL SITES – Court websites• CCCT_CCTJ blog

http://ccct-cctj.ca/category/blog/feed• Court Technology Bulletin (US)

http://courttechbulletin.blogspot.ca/• National Center for State Courts (US)

http://www.ncsc.org/Topics/Media/Court-Websites/Resource-Guide.aspx

WEBSITE DESIGN LINKSGeneral: • http://uxmag.com/• A list apart

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/the-infinite-grid/

Usability:• http://www.useit.com/• http://www.usability.gov

Web Design Training & Tutorials:• http://www.netmagazine.com/• http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/• Site Point http://www.sitepoint.com/• Tut+ http://net.tutsplus.com/ • http://webdesign.tutsplus.com/ • http://wp.tutsplus.com/• Web Experience Toolkit (WET)

http://wet-boew.github.com/wet-boew/index-eng.html

Accessibility• http://www.evengrounds.com/• http://www.uxbooth.com/view/blog/acc

essibility/

• http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php

Louise HamelJudicial Library ServicesOntario Ministry of the Attorney

GeneralLouise.Hamel@ontario.ca416-327-5750