Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Summer contacts for A2J Author

Hello A2J Author Community,

Please be advised that Rachel Medina will be out of the office until July 30th. In the event of a question or other issue during this time, please contact Professor Ron Staudt at (312) 906-5326 / rstaudt@kentlaw.edu OR Lauren Conway at (312) 906-5328 / lconway@kentlaw.edu.

Thanks and have a great summer!!


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A quick reminder about multiple choice questions....

Radio button fields are meant to be used with multiple choice variables. And, in A2J Author, multiple choice means that you can provide the end user with multiple options, but that they can only select one of the options.

If you want to provide the end user with multiple options and the ability to select multiple choices, then you must use checkboxes which are defaulted to a true false variable setting. Thus, each checkbox is a true/false variable, where when selected the variable's value will be true and when unselected the variable's value will be false.

Please see the A2J Authoring Guide chapter on Variables (subheadings regarding multiple choice and true false variables) and the Creating Questions chapter (subheadings regarding checkbox and radio button fields).


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Tuesday, July 08, 2008

Materials for Developers

As a follow-up to our recent Developer Call for 3.0, we have posted the following documents on the Community Website: Adjustable field space issues.doc, Requirements Doc-ShowMe-VideoDisplay.pdf; and, Requirements Doc-Single-MultiQuestionImport.pdf.

Please visit http://www.a2jauthor.org/drupal/?q=node/311 to access the materials.


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Thursday, June 19, 2008

A2J Author Video Demonstrations

As highlighted in today's New User training, the following video demonstrations (listed throughout the online Authoring guide) are currently available to registered users of the A2J Author Community Website:


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Monday, June 09, 2008

SIGN UP FOR A2J AUTHOR TRAININGS & DEVELOPER CALLS!

A2J Author New User Training - June 19th, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm (CDT)

The Agenda for the session will be as follows:
*Navigating A2J Author
*Adding, Inserting & Cloning Questions
*Designing Questions in A2J Author
*Adding an Alternative Graphic
*Adding Conditions and Branching questions

Register for the New User Training here:https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/259441504

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A2J Author Advanced User Training - June 20th, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm (CDT)

The Agenda for the session will be as follows:
*Repeat Dialogs
*Working with Multiple Choice and True/False Variables
*Writing Conditions in 2.0
*Working with the "A2J Step” Program Variable

Register for the Advanced User Training here:https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/458855704

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A2J Author Developer Call - June 24th, 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm (CDT)

We will discuss recent bug fixes and enhancement requests to be incorporated into A2J Author 3.0. We will also review the new graphic and video features as well as the "save & exit" capability.

If there is something you would like to see on the agenda for this call, please contact us at a2j-author@kentlaw.edu!

Register for the Developer Call here:https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/911890880


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Thursday, May 01, 2008

A2J Author Project Manager Schedule for May

Hi all,

I will be attending the Equal Justice Conference in Minneapolis next week. As you may have noticed from Kate Bladow’s recent e-mail, I will be joining a couple of panels at the conference to discuss unique ways in which A2J Author can be implemented in your program. On Wednesday, May 7th at 1:30pm, I will join Debra Jennings, Judy Meadows, and Liz Keith to present “Lawyers Without Borders: Evolving Intake Systems and Models”; and, on Thursday, May 8th at 2:00pm I will join Kate Bladow, Kathleen Brockel, and Alison Paul to present “Using Technology to Advance Your Mission: Challenges and Opportunities for the Up-to-Date Legal Aid Law Firm.” We hope you can join us! (A complete schedule for the conference is located at https://www.abanet.org/legalservices/ejc/agenda_2008.html.) I look forward to seeing many of you next week!

Following the conference, I will be out of the office for two weeks (May 12 through May 27) for finals and again for 2-3 weeks in July for the bar exam. Many of your questions on A2J Author can now be answered by consulting our new and improved online guide, and the downloadable training materials. You can find these tools at the A2J Author Community Website at www.a2jauthor.org. If you have trouble or issues regarding how to use the software also consider using either the hotdocs listserv (hotdocs@lists.lstech.org) or the forums on the A2J Author Community Website (often times others in the community have had the same question and can provide the help you need.)

If you have feedback on the software, bug reports or enhancement requests, please continue to forward your responses using the “Send Feedback” button in the A2J Author software, which guarantees that both the project manager and the developers of the software at CALI receive a copy of your comments. Alternatively, you may continue sending e-mails to rmedina@kentlaw.edu. I will respond as soon as practicable on my return.

If you have an emergency, you may contact Ron Staudt at rstaudt@kentlaw.edu.

Best regards,

Rachel

Rachel R. Medina
A2J Author Project Manager
Center for Access to Justice & Technology
Chicago-Kent College of Law
565 W. Adams Street, Suite 775
Chicago, IL 60661

www.kentlaw.edu/cajt
www.a2jauthor.org
rmedina@kentlaw.edu

Ph: (312) 906-5328
Fx: (312) 906-5165


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Thursday, April 17, 2008

Danger of opening 2.0 interviews in 1.5...

Do Not Open 2.0-edited Interviews in 1.5!

While Version 2.0 does not change the way condition statements function in an A2J Guided InterviewTM, it does change how they appear in the authoring interface (under the Advanced Tab).

Thus, if you open an interview in 2.0, which was originally created in 1.5, you will change the saved format of the conditions. This, of course, poses no problems, so long as you continue to open that interview in 2.0. IF, HOWEVER, YOU OPEN AN INTERVIEW IN 1.5 THAT HAS ALREADY BEEN EDITED OR OPENED AT LEAST ONCE IN 2.0, YOU WILL RISK LOSING ALL OF THE ACTIONS IN YOUR CONDITION STATEMENTS.

To avoid risking such an unfortunate disaster, make sure you do the following:

  1. Install 2.0 on all PCs in which you plan on editing your 2.0 interviews;
  2. Save back-up copies of your interviews before passing off your interviews to be viewed by peers. (Also, as a general practice, it is a good idea to keep backup copies of interviews in between sets of changes.)
  3. Click on the A2J icon in the upper left hand corner of the program when you open the software to make sure you are running the current version.

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Monday, April 07, 2008

URGENT - A2J AUTHOR DEVELOPER CALL MOVED TO TUESDAY (TOMORROW)!

A2J AUTHOR 2.0 DEVELOPER CALL HAS BEEN MOVED UP TO TOMORROW!

The developer call was inadvertently scheduled for a time that conflicted with another conference call typically attended by members of the developer community. So we have moved the developer call up to tomorrow. The A2J Author Developer Call will discuss in more detail the new features and functions of A2J Author 2.0 and components of the A2J Author 2.0 Starter-Kit. We hope you can still attend. (If you are unable to attend the Developer Call tomorrow, you may want to sign up for one of the upcoming trainings to learn more about A2J Author 2.0.)

Developer Call:

Tuesday, April 8, 2008, 10:00 a.m. (CDT)

Register for the Developer Call here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/549827495


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Sunday, April 06, 2008

Sign Up for A2J Author Developer Call and Trainings

A2J AUTHOR 2.0 IS HERE!

What’s special about 2.0?
Several enhancements, many of which were suggested by A2J Author™ users, have been included in Version 2.0. While some of the improvements in 2.0 face the pro se users of the A2J Guided Interviews™, most of the improvements make the tool more efficient and easier for the authoring community to use.

New Features for the authors of A2J Guided Interviews™ include the ability to:

· set multiple variables in a single condition;

· round and truncate numbers;

· script macros for sign text and field labels;

· script functions in either lowercase or uppercase letters;

· add unlinked questions to an interview;

· add or insert automatically numbered questions without disturbing the existing numbering scheme; and,

· for replicated interviews, clear all audio file references if they do not apply to the current interview.

Developers will also find that it is much easier to move between screens in the program. Many other fixes and formatting changes will make authoring of A2J Guided Interviews more efficient for developers. Developers will be able to sort text and number lists making selection from a multiple choice list easier for the pro se user.

The most prominent new 2.0 feature aimed at the user is an alternative end graphic. This feature provides the developer the ability to exchange the traditional courthouse graphic for an alternative graphic designated by the author. With the increasing popularity of the program as a means to conduct online web intake, programs will now be able to designate a graphic more in tune with the purpose of the interview.

While we are very proud to get you version 2.0, we are already hard at work on version 3.0, which promises to eclipse any of the previous versions of the software. Version 3.0 will bring video and graphics into the A2J Author interface and will deliver the import question(s) function.

Want to learn more?
Attend the next A2J Author Developer Call! We will discuss in more detail the new features and functions of A2J Author 2.0 and components of the A2J Author 2.0 Starter-Kit.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008, 10:00 a.m. (CDT)
Register for the Developer Call here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/549827495

Ready to upgrade to 2.0?
A2J Author™ 2.0 can be downloaded at the following location: www.a2jauthor.org

Is the “national server” (NPADO) upgraded with 2.0?
YES. The National Public Automated Documents Online server has been upgraded with A2J Viewer 2.0, the viewer through which all of your A2J Guided Interviews will be launched on the web. Version 2.0 of the “Viewer” should not have any adverse effect on A2J Guided Interviews created in either A2J Author 2.0 or any previous version of A2J Author.

Please be ALERT to the following:
While the A2J Viewer has been tested on the development server, we do not know exactly which of the thousands of interviews uploaded to the national server are in production. It is impossible for us to test all “live” interviews on the production server. Therefore, as introduction of new software always presents some risks, we recommend that you take some time this week, or as soon as possible, to test run those interviews which are in production. It would be worth everyone’s peace of mind, and very helpful to us, to at least check those interviews that receive a lot of traffic. Please notify our office immediately if you notice any inconsistencies, by phone (312-906-5328) or email (a2j-author@kentlaw.edu). Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Interested in attending A2J Author 2.0 Training?
A number of training sessions have been scheduled for the next couple of weeks. Each training session will include a new user component and an advanced component. You are welcome to attend the entire session or the first or second half. Each session will be held at 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. (CST). The agenda for each session is as follows:

12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. (CST)
The first hour: New User Introduction to A2J Author 2.0

*Navigating A2J Author
*Adding, Inserting & Cloning Questions
*Designing Questions in A2J Author
*Adding an Alternative Graphic

1:00 p.m. – 1:05 p.m. (CST) 5-minute break

1:05 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (CST)
The second hour: “Stay after class” to learn advanced features

*Writing Conditions in 2.0
*Working with the "A2J Step” Program Variable
*Using Macros to Set Multiple Choice Labels
*Other New Features Q&A

SESSION #1 - April 9, 2008, 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (CST) Go here to register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/371854498

SESSION #2 - April 11, 2008, 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (CST) Go here to register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/798417812

SESSION #3 - April 15, 2008, 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (CST) Go here to register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/986096089

SESSION #4 - April 16, 2008, 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. (CST) Go here to register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/764143830


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CAJT Launches A2J Author 2.0

A2J Author™ 2.0 can be downloaded free at http://www.a2jauthor.org/

CHICAGO — April 5, 2008 — On April 5, 2008 the years of hard work by the Center for Access to Justice & Technology (CAJT), in partnership with the Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI), culminated in the release of A2J Author 2.0. The much awaited second release of the software is available for free on the A2J Author community website (www.a2jauthor.org) to anyone using the software for non-commercial purposes.

A2J Author 2.0 features several exciting enhancements, many of which were suggested by A2J Author™ users. While some of the improvements in 2.0 improve the end-user experience, most of the improvements are aimed at making the A2J Guided Interview™ authoring process more intuitive and efficient. For example, new menu enhancements allow developers to move much easier between development screens in the program. In addition, the new software makes it easier for authors to replicate A2J Guided Interview™ by allowing the author to clear all the audio files with one button click instead of deleting the individual files from within each question in the interview.

The new version also delivers the capability to exchange the traditional courthouse graphic for an alternative graphic designated by the author. With the increasing popularity of the program as a means to conduct online web intake, authors are able to designate a graphic more in tune with the purpose of the A2J Guided Interview™.

In addition, A2J Author 2.0 allows A2J Guided Interview™ authors to integrate their interviews with “live help” vis-à-vis a Live Help™ selection mechanism which will exist on the National Server. Live Help™ allows A2J Guided Interview™ users to receive personalized help from their local legal aid organization while completing the A2J Guided Interview™.

The Center for Access to Justice & Technology kicked off the release of the software via a web-based advertising campaign encouraging people to download the new version and attend a video conference which highlights improvements to the software. The campaign will reflect the exciting and new ways that A2J Author™ can help to improve the delivery of legal services to self-represented litigants.

A2J Author™ is a software tool that enables non-technical authors from the courts, clerk’s offices, legal services programs, and website editors rapidly to build and implement customer friendly web-based interfaces for document assembly. The A2J Guided Interviews™ created with A2J Author™ remove many of the barriers faced by self-represented litigants, allowing them to easily complete court documents that are ready to be filed with the court.

Currently, A2J is used in 22 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Ontario, Canada.

Rachel R. Medina
A2J Author Project Manager
Center for Access to Justice & Technology
Chicago-Kent College of Law
565 W. Adams Street, Suite 775
Chicago, IL 60651
www.kentlaw.edu/cajt
rmedina@kentlaw.edu
Ph: (312) 906-5328
Fx: (312) 906-5165


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