Top 10 Law School Home Pages of 2011

Journal of Law, Vol. 2, (Journal of Legal Metrics, Vol. 1), No. 1, pp. 25-52, 2012

Georgetown Public Law Research Paper No. 12-012

29 Pages Posted: 10 Feb 2012

See all articles by Roger V. Skalbeck

Roger V. Skalbeck

Georgetown University Law Center; University of Richmond - School of Law

Date Written: February 9, 2012

Abstract

For the third consecutive year, the website home pages for all ABA-accredited law schools are evaluated and ranked based on objective criteria. For 2011, law school home pages advanced in some areas. For instance, there are now thirteen sites using the HTML5 doc type, up from a single site in 2010. In addition, seventeen schools achieved a perfect score for three tests focused on website accessibility, up from eight in 2010. Nonetheless, there’s enough diversity in coding practices and content to help separate the great from the good.

For this year’s survey, twenty-four elements of each home page are assessed across three broad categories: Design Patterns & Metadata; Accessibility & Validation; and Marketing & Communications. Most elements require no special design skills, sophisticated technology or significant expenses. For interpreting these results, the author does not try to decide if any whole is greater or less than the sum of its parts.

Keywords: website design, law school rankings, home page analysis, online communications, marketing, usability, accessibility

JEL Classification: M3, I29

Suggested Citation

Skalbeck, Roger V. and Skalbeck, Roger V., Top 10 Law School Home Pages of 2011 (February 9, 2012). Journal of Law, Vol. 2, (Journal of Legal Metrics, Vol. 1), No. 1, pp. 25-52, 2012 , Georgetown Public Law Research Paper No. 12-012, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2001967

Roger V. Skalbeck (Contact Author)

University of Richmond - School of Law ( email )

28 Westhampton Way
Richmond, VA 23173
United States
(804) 289-8218 (Phone)

Georgetown University Law Center ( email )

600 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
United States
202-662-9158 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.ll.georgetown.edu/staff/bio.cfm?id_no=105

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