The State Courts in Washington established a set of guiding technology principles for the development and release of new technologies in the justice system. They are benchmarks that teams can use to evaluate their new idea, pilot, or even existing program with.
- Equitable access to the system, with technology enhancing (and not diminishing) opportunities to participate in the justice system. This tech-enabled participation should be usable, accountable, efficient, and transparent.
- Openness, Privacy and Safety. Tech should protect confidential information, and regulate access to it. It should ensure that information is controlled, and not introduced into the public domain without appropriate controls.
- Accountability and fairness: so that groups are monitoring how the technology is performing, and that it is not exacerbating harms or inequities.
- Maximizing public awareness and use: so that people know it exists, can discover and use it, and this is equitable among demographic groups.
- Usability: so that people can easily navigate it, go through its steps, and complete the user journey with support, low-cost and low-burden.
- Accessibility: so that people with different skills and physical facilities are able to use the tool equally
- Plain Language: so that it’s understandable to people who are not legal professionals, or who have limited reading skills.
- Cultural Responsiveness: so that it treats people, even with different value systems and cultural norms, with dignity and respect — and doesn’t inadvertently harm or exclude them.
- Enhancing Human Interaction: so that the system is still humane, responsive, and empathetic — and the ‘human touch’ is not lost even with more technology involvement
- Language Access: so that people with limited English Proficiency are still able to access and use it.
