The underlying issue here is how legal forms are evaluated. We can evaluate whether people understand the terms, but that is not the same as the evaluation that goes on in court. So, apart from all the opinion about reading comprehension, is there any empirical data on the efficacy of simplified legal forms over more complex legal forms.
I see an assumption in these discussion that "no one reads the T&Cs", so is it possible that we are making assumptions without digging in to the details. Perhaps there are many good T&C's but we rarely look at them so we are biased toward only the worst examples. Chauncey On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 1:10 PM, Eva Kaniasty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Perfect timing for this discussion. I get to copy & paste my thoughts > from > another list. :) > > I think this is an interesting area for us usability folks to talk about. > Does legalese really have to be written in a style that is inaccessible to > 99% of the population? > I would argue that there is a way to express even the most complex legal > ideas in language that can be understood by the rest of us. > > I also think that the tradition of the 6 page terms & conditions is often a > subterfuge used to slip in terms that users would never agree to if those > same terms were put forth in a briefer/clearer form. Legalese is a way to > pay lip service to transparency while hiding behind an implementation that > is anything but. To me, the very importance of legal considerations > argues > for making those considerations clear to those who are unwittingly entering > into legal agreements by using websites or software. Some recent examples > that come to mind are sites whose user agreements conveniently hand over > rights to any user-generated content to themselves. > > Has anybody seen examples of sites that manage to cover themselves legally > while using language that is clear and transparent? I have seen some > examples on newer websites, but now for the life of me I can't remember > where. > > -eva > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
