State Support & CMLS Partner to Gauge User Understanding on LawHelpMN

Central to LawHelpMN.org, Minnesota’s award-winning legal information and referral website, is its Self-Help Library. With the help of legal services attorneys and professional translators, Legal Services State Support curates and maintains a robust collection of fact sheets on a wide range of civil legal topics. Though accessed by thousands of visitors each year, little was known about the effectiveness of these resources in helping self-represented litigants (SRLs) understand their legal issue or problem. As part of a recently concluded Technology Initiative Grant (TIG), State Support teamed up with Central Minnesota Legal Services (CMLS) to create 15 videos and 30 knowledge tests (quizzes) to gauge SRL understanding of the legal issues presented in a selection of fact sheets. “Can My Landlord Enter My Home? A Tenant’s Right to Privacy” offers an example of a video and a quiz utilized to measure the helpfulness of the resource.

The TIG project included four objectives: 1) Create quizzes to integrate within fact sheets; 2) Create short, animated videos to integrate within fact sheets; 3) Explore real-time use of knowledge test answers to guide users to other resources and referrals; and 4) Revise fact sheets based on quiz results to improve understanding and effectiveness.

Quizzes were paired with short videos that explained the legal issue through animation. State Support saw high engagement with the quizzes and they appeared to help SRLs better understand the legal concepts presented. The quizzes have provided staff with new insights about what should be highlighted and expanded upon when revising fact sheet content. Video views were quite low and there was no preference for animated versus narrated video types.

Having a different perspective on LawHelpMN’s content, as well as data about how visitors are engaging with it, was both eye-opening and instructive. State Support staff found the initiative to be a useful exercise for taking a fresh look at the kinds of questions SRLs might have and how we can best answer them.

LawHelpMN.org Integrates Essential Criteria Established by Pew Charitable Trusts

Last year, the Pew Charitable Trusts released “What is a Legal Assistance Portal?” to help policymakers and the public recognize the promise of portal tools and understand how they work. Pew identified four essential elements that are ideal for helping users navigate a legal issue and take informed action: 1) Ask, 2) Refine, 3) Learn, and 4) Connect. LawHelpMN’s Guide tool was chosen as exemplary in the use of refining questions (element #2) to clarify a user’s issue and generate more tailored, and therefore helpful, responses.

In a new fact sheet released this week—What Are the Essential Elements of Legal Assistance Portals? —Pew again emphasized this critical framework and how it facilitates a user’s access to timely, relevant, and accurate guidance. Pew analyzed 15 publicly available, statewide, multi-issue portals and used the framework to examine each. 10 met the criteria, including LawHelpMN.org.

For more about the four essential elements of online legal portals, read the full fact sheet.

State Support and InterFaith Action Collaborate on Work Safety Video

With the return to the workplace for so many Minnesotans, safety is front of mind. In response to the concern, State Support and Interfaith Action of Greater Saint Paul recently partnered to create a work safety video as part of the Education for Justice fact sheet “COVID-19: Work Safety and Going Back to Work.” In addition to work safety rules and other information visitors can read on LawHelpMN.org, the video adds an extra dimension to the explanation of employee rights and employer responsibilities, increasing accessibility and reach.

Special thanks to Randi Roth, executive director of Interfaith Action, for bringing the community’s legal questions to State Support staff, who drafted the script. Alva Dial is the video’s featured speaker and it was produced by TwelvePlus Media of St. Paul.