Online mediation
presents opportunities and risks for cross-border dispute resolution,
particularly for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which might not
have the financial resources or capacity to travel and engage in physical
dispute resolution fora. Online mediation platforms vary greatly from general
social communication platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams to dedicated
online dispute resolution platforms such as Modria, SmartSettle and eBRAM. In
this article, the authors explore the digital readiness of online mediation
providers through the framework of usability, reliability and accessibility,
concluding that for MSMEs, there may be value in choosing a dedicated online
dispute resolution platform.