When the Pathway Is the Barrier: A Position Paper from LightKey

LightKey is the public accessibility layer of GlassCase, designed to make complex legal and administrative pathways visible and navigable.

This position paper argues that formal legal rights are insufficient if the pathways to use them are not legible. Using Freedom of Information and administrative review processes as case studies, it demonstrates how fragmented guidance, hidden timelines, and dispersed rules create extraneous cognitive load.

Drawing on cognitive load theory, universal design, and access to justice research, the paper proposes pathway legibility as infrastructure. LightKey applies evidence-based design principles to preserve legal complexity while reducing informational overwhelm.