Website Evaulation

Dear Sir or Madam:

My name is Stacey Oatis. I am a Sophmore Criminal Justice major at the University of Southern Mississippi. The purpose of this letter is to offer comments/suggestions to improve your website. As stated earlier, I am a Criminal Justice major. The aforementioned major was chosen based on my interest in the justice system. I feel that we have one of the best justice systems in the world. However, that does not mean that is free of errors and mistakes. With that being said, not everyone has equal access to an attorney. This lack of access is due to many factors, which can all be traced to socioeconomic status/conditions. In other words, financial hardships prevent many individuals the right to an attorney.

Upon my research, I came across your site http://www. Mslegalservices.org. Prior to my comments of your site; I applaud your effort to help those considered less fortunate. For example, your office is funded through the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). According to its website, LSC is considered the largest provider of civil legal aid for the poor in the nation. It promotes equal access to justice and provides grants for high quality civil legal assistance to low-income Americans (95% of its funding goes towards independent programs). Also, the typical clients are women, people with disabilities, veterans and victims of domestic abuse. These type of clients are all of which have been identified as the most studied groups in Criminal Justice research. In 2008, LSC provided $4,992,765 in funding to the State of Mississippi. This total was split between the North Mississippi Rural Legal Services, Inc., Mississippi Center for Legal Services and the Choctaw Legal Defense. However, on their website (http://www.lsc.gov), no direct link was provided for the local Hattiesburg field office. This makes it difficult for those seeking your services and lead to lack of equal representation. The later is your sole purpose for being in existence.

I found your site through the use of a search engine. This was based upon my general knowledge of the criminal justice profession and Hattiesburg. However, one without an intimate knowledge or the city or the profession itself, would become frustrated and confused. Upon analyzing your site, I’ve made the following observations related to its strengths and weaknesses:

Strengths
The URL can be considered easy to remember for prospective clients
A toll-free number is listed and easily found on the page
Topics related to the client and their needs are provided
Simple design (reader will not become lost in text or useless facts)
Help section is given that lists types of helps available (i.e. full representation, brief advice, legal clinic, pro se clinics, self-help and other information)
Lists income guidelines (important for those seeking to qualify for services)
Advanced section (section that can be completed to accelerate selection process)
Physical/mailing address of facility is not clearly identifiable (many clients have to utilize mail or show up in person for information)



Weaknesses
Poor layout (no heading or menu bars that would make website more navigable and user-friendly)
Lack of pictures (building with address, attorneys working at their desk or with a client)
No clear mission statement listed
The history of the program (success rate, beginnings and presence within the community)
No Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) Section (this would make answer a prospective client’s question prior to calling or writing)
Information is lacking upon clicking on section topics (effort should be made to include at least one link to document)
Lack of related links section (other social service programs should be linked)
Checklist is not offered (checklist should be when to seek an attorney or characteristics of good a attorney)

The above referenced comments are simply suggestions. You offer a good service to the community and they were made only to further your good work. However, I feel that since you provide a website; it should both offer more information and be user-friendly. I recommend you also consider talking with the local libraries. This suggestion is made based upon your client composition. A majority of them lack the financial resources to purchase a personal computer. Therefore, a public computer should be dedicated to legal research that can be utilized upon library visits. Again, these are just suggestions and not meant to be overly critical of your site. If you have any questions, contact me by email at sdoatis@yahoo.com.

Sincerely,

Stacey Oatis