Class Action Notice and Access to Justice: An accessibility and Design Analysis of Class Action Notice Campaigns

This is a small-scale empirical study of the accessibility and design of class action notice campaigns in Canada. Class actions are unique among procedural tools because the majority of class members are not parties to the litigation, but their legal rights are nevertheless affected. In this context, the only way that class members are informed of their legal rights and options is through the unidirectional communication tool of notice. This paper considers whether class action notice campaigns in Canada adequately inform class members of their rights and legal options, and whether the goal of access to justice is advanced — or impeded — by the design, accessibility, and quality of notice. After situating my study in a discussion of literacy rates and barriers in Canada, I proceed to an original analysis of class action notice campaigns. Using a sample of twenty short form notices of settlement and twenty claims administration websites from actions with claims periods open in 2022, I quantitatively analyze each notice campaign for content and design. I then use an online readability checker tool to empirically review the accessibility of the written language used in notice campaigns. The analysis in this paper finds that many class action notice campaigns are not accessible to the average Canadian reader, suggesting that inadequate notice may impede class members’ ability to access procedural and substantive justice. Throughout the results and discussion, I provide recommendations and samples of best practices to support the class actions bar and bench in achieving more accessible notice.