Courtyard: A Design System for the Judicial Branch
Our design system brings consistency, efficiency, and cohesiveness to the Judicial Branch digital court community. It provides tools, components, and guidelines to unify the look and feel of our websites while allowing flexibility to meet the unique needs of different user groups.
What is Courtyard 3.0?
The Judicial Council of California (JCC) Design System, Courtyard 3.0, is the latest blueprint for building cohesive, consistent, and engaging digital experiences across California court web properties and applications.
Courtyard 3.0 offers a collection of reusable components that follow set design guidelines that foster brand identity and streamlines development. Our components are also designed to meet WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards and are modularly responsive to a wide range of devices. By unifying digital interfaces, the JCC Design System helps the branch build public trust, improve transparency, and deliver efficient, user-focused, accessible, secure, digital solutions that meet the needs of all court system users — including judges, lawyers, legal aid assisters, advocates, other justice partners, and everyday Californians.
For Trial Court Administrators and Developers: Courtyard 2.x
The latest version of our design system, Courtyard 3.0 is currently on the Storybook platform. Trial court templates are currently on Courtyard 2.x, which is on the PatternLab platform. For more information, visit our page For Developers.
Principles and Values
We adhere to the following design principles that aim to provide usable sites for our users:
Focus on user needs: define the need and the user task before focusing on design. Define the business requirements before imagining the design requirements.
Design with data: the JCC Web Services team has a robust web analytics program to monitor site traffic and identify trends. We employ real world data into our design solutions. When possible, we user test, survey, and welcome feedback from our constituents, including the public.
Iterate. Then iterate again: a website is an evolving e-service delivery channel. User testing, measurement, following industry best practices, and trial and error are all standard practices in building digital solutions.
Build digital services, not websites: a service fills a need and delivers value for users. Information is a service. A form is a service. We think about all aspects of service in our quest to meet user needs.
Make things better: We support continuous improvement through user feedback, testing, and a dedication to serving the public, our courts, and our justice partners.
The Visual Design provides standards for visual and written elements—such as typography, colors, imagery, tone, and branding—to ensure consistency, clarity, and accessibility across all digital court platforms, serving as a reference for staff, vendors, and developers to create cohesive, user-friendly web properties that feel part of the same ecosystem.
