By Courthouse Libraries BC
Earlier this week, we launched a new look and feel for Clicklaw Wikibooks‘ mobile experience.
Clicklaw Wikibooks are collaboratively developed, plain language legal publications that are published and kept up-to-date on a wiki, where they can also be printed and downloaded. They are free to download and share with British Columbians who seek reliable, up-to-date information to address legal problems or learn about the law. The publication titles include JP Boyd on Family Law, People’s Law School’s Dial-A-Law, and TRAC’s Tenant Survival Guide.
We know half of its visitors arrive on mobile devices. In 2018, we had started exploring our options for this user group, beginning with a default, minimalist setting. Last year, we started the project that delivered today’s version.
What’s improved?
Here are three things you need to know about the new experience
1. Better navigation. Use the hamburger menu (top-left corner) to go to a wikibook. The new mobile version includes the same left-side navigation bar like on the desktop version, allowing future refinements.
2. Easier wikibook download. Use the options on the hamburger menu or on a wikibook’s main page. The old version hides the download options as “Page issues”.
3. Improved readability. The old mobile experience was cluttered, partly because of the way desktop elements are placed and configured (what you see when you use your computer and not your mobile device). We added white space and adjusted alignment whenever possible, without changing the desktop elements. Below is just one example.
Check out the new look on your mobile device now. We hope you like it!
The scope for today’s version
We replaced the skin – the codes that make this site look good on your mobile device – then chose another that is more robust and customized it. To keep the project manageable and within budget, we tried to balance keeping the existing desktop elements and applying the heuristic evaluation recommendations.
Future opportunities
After the launch of today’s version, our work is not over yet. We have identified a few pain points to prioritize for the next round of updates. Some items could be addressed immediately, while the rest would require further investigation and usability testing.
Questions or comments? Please email editor@clicklaw.bc.ca.
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