Automated Forms Processing and New Website

Introduction

The Louisiana Commission on Human Rights (LCHR) was processing discrimination complaints through inaccessible public forms and a manual internal workflow that required staff to re-enter submitted data by hand. The Office of Technology Services (OTS) redesigned LCHR’s public-facing forms and website for accessibility and usability, built a dedicated staff portal for complaint management, and deployed in-house form automation software to eliminate manual data entry entirely—improving both the public’s experience and LCHR’s operational throughput.

Background

LCHR’s existing website offered limited usability and no meaningful accessibility accommodations. The three public discrimination complaint forms—covering Employment, Public Accommodation, and Banking & Credit, each contained more than 100 questions presented without clear structure, progress indicators, or mobile support. For many Louisiana residents, a mobile device is their primary means of internet access; the existing forms effectively excluded them.

Internally, LCHR staff were required to manually copy and paste information from submitted forms into the agency’s discrimination claims processing software. This manual step introduced error risk, consumed staff time, and slowed the claims intake process. A content audit of the existing site also revealed that LCHR’s own authority—established by the governor’s office was not clearly explained in plain language, reducing public understanding of the commission’s role and legitimacy.

Choices

Removing questions from the forms was evaluated and rejected. All questions are legislatively required and cannot be modified without statutory change. The solution instead focused on how questions were presented, grouping them logically, reducing per-page cognitive load, and using plain language—rather than reducing their number.

A third-party form automation vendor was not pursued. OTS had developed in-house form automation software capable of directly connecting public form submissions to LCHR’s existing claims processing workflow. Using this tool avoided vendor dependency and allowed the solution to be tailored precisely to LCHR’s intake process. Official language was preserved in all locations where legislative requirements mandate specific wording; plain language was applied everywhere else.

Solution

OTS redesigned the Employment, Public Accommodation, and Banking & Credit complaint forms with a focus on accessibility and mobile usability. Questions were reorganized into logical, plain-language sections distributed across additional pages, reducing the number of questions presented at any one time. A structured, section-based navigation system with progress indicators was added to reduce cognitive load. Real-time validation feedback was integrated to guide users through completion and prevent submission errors. The redesign adhered to WCAG accessibility standards and was built on the Pelican Design System, the standard framework for Louisiana state government digital services. The official governor’s office seal and state government colors were incorporated to communicate LCHR’s legitimacy and authority.

A dedicated portal was also built for LCHR staff, providing interactive dashboards and tabular data displays for monitoring submission statistics. Status-based notifications to complainants were built into the portal to improve transparency. Staff user management and the ability to issue maintenance alerts were also included as administrative controls.

OTS’s in-house form automation software was integrated to establish a direct connection between public form submissions and LCHR’s claims processing software, eliminating the manual copy-and-paste step entirely. A landing page was designed as an entry point to the new site, incorporating custom illustrations to improve approachability and user engagement.

A full content audit informed a restructured information architecture and an expansion of LCHR’s content, including plain-language explanations of the commission’s authority and establishment by the governor’s office.

Results and Impact

The implementation of these solutions has significantly enhanced the operational efficiency of LCHR and improved the experience for public users. The redesigned forms offer more accessible and intuitive interface, leading to increased user completion rates. Internally, the employee portal empowers LCHR staff with advanced tools for data analysis and streamlined submission management. Critically, the form automation solution has eliminated a substantial manual workload, allowing LCHR personnel to reallocate resources to more critical tasks and improving the overall speed and accuracy of the claims processing workflow. This project represents a comprehensive modernization effort, leveraging technology to better serve both the public and internal stakeholders.