From Words to Images Through Legal Visualization

Abstract

One of the common characteristics of legal documents is the absolute preponderance of text and their specific domain language, whose complexity can result in impenetrability for those that have no legal expertise. In some experiments, visual communication has been introduced in legal documents to make their meaning clearer and more intelligible, whilst visualizations have also been automatically generated from semantically-enriched legal data. As part of an ongoing research that aims to create user-friendly privacy terms by integrating graphical elements and Semantic Web technologies, the process of creation and interpretation of visual legal concepts will be discussed. The analysis of current approaches to this subject represents the point of departure to propose an empirical methodology that is inspired by interaction and human-centered design practices.