About This Website
Website Enhancements | Using
the Site | Finding
Information
Site Maintenance | Privacy
& Policies | Providing Feedback
Information and Assistance With RSS
Welcome to the George Mason University School of Law website.
This site was redesigned in April 2006, which was mostly
an aesthetic change to improve menus and add color to the
site. We last made major changes in May
2005 in order to improve options to view, print and browse
our site. Below is a summary of some enhancements, together
with general information about this website.
Website
Enhancements
Text-Based Menus and "Scalable" Text
The website uses text-based menus for all navigation
instead of graphic images. Because of the increased color
contrast, menus should be easier to read. It is
now possible to increase or decrease menu text size.
In fact, all text on the site is now "scalable" in
all modern Internet browsers. Previously
it was not possible to increase or decrease text sizes
using Internet Explorer. This makes the site more accessible
for people who use screen readers, and makes it easier
for those who like to read everything in large
print.
Improved Printing
Because certain items such as background colors don't
appear when webpages are printed, we decided to alter
the way pages on our site are printed. When printing
from the revised website, the left navigation menu does
not appear, and an alternate version of our logo is inserted
at the top of each page. Beyond looking more professional,
this also means that pages are shorter when printed,
because there is no empty white space in the left margin.
Mobile / PDA Browsing
In designing the site, we have tried to better accommodate
handheld computing devices, such as wireless PDAs or
mobile phones. We use a handheld
computer stylesheet (a way to render content so it looks
better in a handheld device). This technology is supported
on certain devices (e.g. the
Dell Axim), while other devices ignore it altogether
(e.g. Palm's
Treo phone). Note: we could not test the site with all
possible handheld devices, so there is always room for
improvement. Also, the PDA and mobile phone companies
have not standardized the browser technology, so our
site looks better on some devices than on others.
Using the Site
Internet Browsers
We highly recommend that you use the most current version
of your preferred web browser to view this site such
as Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mozilla,
or Opera. If you use an older version of any one of
these browsers, such as Netscape 4.x, the menuing system
will not work as designed.
Note on Javascript
The rollover menus that appear on the majority of the
site's pages use Javascript. If
you have Javascript turned off in your browser, you will
not see the menus. Nonetheless, you should be able to
navigate to the primary pages within any given section
by using the text-based submenu. If you use Netscape
4.x, the rollover menus will not display and navigation
appears at the bottom of the screen.
Web Servers
Most of the pages on the Law School's site are hosted
on the University's main web server in Fairfax, Virginia.
There are two services that are hosted on a commercial
server: Mason Classifieds and Law Discussion Boards.
The Calendar of Events is hosted on a local server in
the law school. Some of the student organization web
sites are also hosted on commercial servers.
Plug-In Applications
Some of the pages on the law school website require
the use of a "plug-in application" in order
to use the content. These are software programs that
you install on your computer
in addition to the standard Internet web browser. On
the law school site, you may need Adobe
Acrobat Reader to view assignments, application forms
or other documents. You may also need either the Real
Networks RealPlayer or
Microsoft Corporation's Windows
Media Player to listen to audio files or view any
videos on our site.
Finding Information on our Website
Users who wish to find information on the law school
website are encouraged to use one of the following tools:
- Site Index --
The Site Index has an alphabetical listing of nearly
every page on the law school site.
- Site Map -- The
Site Map lists the pages on our site, displayed as a
hierarchical list.
- People Finder
-- Our People Finder page lists phone numbers and email
addresses for faculty, staff, student organizations
and the centers affiliated with the law school.
- Search Form --
Almost every page has a search box in the left-hand
column, which searches the entire law school site.
Classified listings, the housing board and discussion
boards are not included in this index.
- Mason
Classifieds -- Here you can search classified
listings for housing opportunities and used law
books.
- Law
Discussion Boards -- Here prospective students
can post questions about the law school and review questions
and answers from other students. Visitors can search
postings on this site.
- Favorite Sites -- The Favorite
Sites dropbox on the law school's home page contains
a list of many of the most frequently visited pages
on the law school and university web sites, as well
as links to a few of the most popular commercial databases
such as Lexis and Westlaw.
.
Answers to Frequently-Asked-Questions (FAQs)
On our site, you can find answers to the most commonly-asked
questions relating to admissions and law school records:
Site Maintenance and Updating
The law library has primary responsibility for maintaining
and updating the Law School website, except for
pages for the centers, student organizations, and faculty
home pages.
For the GMU Community:
If a law student organization
or faculty member is
interested in creating a website, please contact Deborah Keene (dkeene@gmu.edu).
For additional information on creating a website,
see Web
Development at George Mason University.
Policies and Disclosures
The Law School's website follows the policies established
by George Mason University and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
For more information, see Web
Development at George Mason University.
Providing Feedback
If you have a question about anything relating
to admission to the law school, please use the Admission
Information Request Form.
If you have any comments or suggestions on the law school
website, please fill out a Comments
Form.
