[Terminology ] Clarify terminology "expungement, clearance, reduction, etc."

[SamHyler]

Dependency

https://github.com/hackforla/expunge-assist/issues/999 waiting on results from UXR in this issue. Update from UXR: issue 999 completed in March 2024. UXR Glossary linked in resources.

Overview

Clarify terminology around expungement, record clearance, reduction, and other terms to use on the website (user facing). Clarify what courts in CA, what regular people might understand, and what legal terms are used and their definitions.

Consider limiting terms to those encountered in the user journey surrounding the declaration step, what appears on the website, and what they would need to know in order to get through the letter generator. This is a somewhat subjective exercise, use your best judgement and we'll work out gaps in future user testing.

Action Items

• [x] Find and clarify legal terminology relevant for our website (think terms we use on the site and related/possibly similar sounding terms), write a description for each - UXR & Content
• [x] Save and compile any useful links found along the way in the same doc at the end, possibly later on we can link users to further resources in appropriate places
• [ ] Recommend how to use terms and when/where on the website - UXR & Content
• [ ] Update writing guidelines with instructions around terminology (how/when to use) - Content
• [ ] Check product for consistency and make a list of changes needed - Content
• [ ] Make recommendations for defining and explaining (multiple terms for the similar) legal terms at a logical place on the website (tool tip? hover over? something else? where and when) - Content

Resources/Instructions

Here is the UXR Glossary updated in March 2024.

Figma, create a google doc, writing guidelines

This document is the current version to be worked on (as of July 1st 2022) This document is the updated version to be used for content purposes (as of July 26, 2022)

Refer also to this document to see previous work done on this.

This Google Doc is for the Content Glossary

Ana & Irene please clean up between the docs, merge, or create a new source of truth for this.

[SamHyler]

Here are a few resources @cynphonic and @ana-lobos: FAQs (see links at the bottom to some legal) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O3y2oE_5VdEYDcwdjtdrlPq0d-Rcu_igmzPBcbjli-E/edit CFA clear my record: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/14pKBNmwnB9_S7EiL6baiLzlLF3vnvmpg7JDi0ntrpCE/edit#slide=id.gaecf300319_1_0 and: https://codeforamerica.org/programs/criminal-justice/automatic-record-clearance/

[SamHyler]

Came up in the UXR meeting: Some other terms that may or may not be related to personal statement/declaration letter/etc. is: rehabilitation letter, certificate of rehabilitation and pardon. Worth it to dig into - may not be the same thing at all but just putting this here to be sorted.

[SamHyler]

@ana-lobos @cynphonic thanks for all the work on this so far! Can you update the Github issue with the link to the proposed document when it's ready? Go ahead and leave the two docs linked as a paper trail but make it clear which one is for use.

[cynphonic]

@SamHyler Hi Sam, Ana and I discussed this in our meeting on Friday, and we wanted to stick with using the two documents that are already linked to this github issue. It's been edited to add a few terms that we want UXR to look into and/or discuss with a lawyer to double check all of the terminology we have listed. We have also included links to helpful resources we found.

[ana-lobos]

Hi @SamHyler! As Irene mentioned, we've kept both of them. I've added a bit more info as to which issue is which for clarity.

[SamHyler]

Thanks @cynphonic and @ana-lobos , sorry I misunderstood from the last UXR when Ana spoke about it. Thank you both for your work on this issue! We can discuss in Content at the next meeting.

[ValeriyaMetla]

@SamHyler @jbsteinhardt I just left some comments. I also had a look at the glossary and a lot of terms I can clarify. I was teaching corrections for several years, terms like "probation" and few others. I will give it a read sometime soon.

[SamHyler]

What still needs to be done to close this issue:

• Documents need to be cleaned up, titled properly, and put into appropriate folders on google drive. There are three documents, one, two, and three for the glossary.

• There are two github issues that need to be cleaned up: the icebox one and the working issue. Link all the documents in each github issue and label them appropriately (in the resources section at the bottom), i.e. which document is for what purpose or what’s in each document?

• Rename the glossary document in the content folder, instead of “copy of expungement terminology” label it something so that someone could know what it is if they go looking. Write for each document a header with information like title, overview or description, date completed. Consider what’s unchecked in the boxes on the github issue and add that to the overview, for example.

-Fix comments left in each document. I.e. explain what the highlights mean, make explicit. Clean up document by deleting or filling in definitions that are missing (one document has several hanging terms), add overview sections, etc.

• Put all docs in appropriate folders in Google Drive

This helps those in the future understand the purpose and content of each doc/issue.

[SamHyler]

a lot of this is being worked on through the content terminology research https://github.com/hackforla/expunge-assist/issues/999, and can be clarified after completion. this issue in connection to the glossary should be modified. likely better to create an internal glossary for the specific terms we will use in the content guidelines - i.e. use this - not that, with explanation

[SamHyler]

Further work can be looked at in this issue after: https://github.com/hackforla/expunge-assist/issues/598 (but is also independent from this work in some senses)

[sylvia-nam]

Here's the latest UXR Glossary

[SamHyler]

adding draft label based on need for revision, roadmapping, and new priorities

[SamHyler]

Added some revisions to create more clarity on this issue. There was a 3rd potential need identified, I will finish updating the issue with this soon, as well as finalize the issue before it's ready to be worked on and finished.

[emmathrash]

For extra context and project tracking - see related issue, now closed #598