Each core section of the website must have a designated web editor. The owner (or owning unit or department) is responsible for assigning and maintaining this role. Web editors help ensure that content remains accurate, current, accessible, and aligned with Columbia Law School's standards.
Responsibilities
Web editors are responsible for maintaining their department's, center's, or program's microsite.
This includes:
- Updating and editing existing content
- Creating new pages and content
- Managing menus and navigational elements
- Formatting and uploading images
- Uploading files and documents
- Posting and maintaining calendar events
- Keeping faculty biographies current
- Ensuring content adheres to editorial, accessibility, and visual style guidelines
- Reviewing content regularly to ensure information remains accurate and up to date
All web content should be:
- Clear, concise, and audience-focused
- Accessible and compliant with university accessibility standards
- Consistent with Columbia Law School editorial and branding guidelines
- Reviewed periodically to ensure continued relevance and accuracy
Best Practices and Policies
In addition to following all best practices, web editors are responsible for the following checklist:
- Checking submitted content for missing, moved, or broken links and references.
- Using proper heading hierarchy when formatting content (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to meet accessibility standards.
- Avoiding bold text to imply structure or meaning; use headings instead.
- Removing emojis or unnecessary line breaks that interrupt reading flow.
- Removing outdated content and broken links (we recommend reviewing content older than three years) when editing existing pages.
- Ensuring content accuracy and fact checking new content, regardless of who or how the content was generated.
- Following university guidelines when using generative AI or other third-party tools.
Our process includes reviewing submitted content, and text may be edited to meet our style standards. If we have questions about content or how it was generated, we may reach out.
If you are unsure about the content you are submitting, or if you have questions or would like recommendations for web writing and editing support, please contact us at [email protected]
Consider requiring a UNI to limit public access to certain pages. Any page on the Law School’s website can be protected to limit access only to users with a Columbia UNI. Please reach out to the web team if you’d like to discuss whether using this function is appropriate for specific pages.
Assess what tool, website, or platform is best for the information you’re publishing. For example, PDFs and other files uploaded to our website are publicly accessible and indexed on search engines like Google; they can be difficult to remove. If your file, webpage, or other content is intended for a limited audience and/or will be out-of-date in weeks or months, you may wish to distribute it via another method (CampusGroups, the events calendar, email, etc.).
When listing contact information, refer people to a departmental or group email address when possible. Using email aliases or shared inboxes in lieu of personal email addresses can help safeguard the digital identity of your team while ensuring the availability of your team’s contact information.
Be mindful that content on the Law School website may be archived or saved by other users or websites before the content is changed or deleted. Assess whether the information you’re publishing is sensitive or temporary, and consider whether it should be publicly available, even for a limited time.
As has always been the case, personally identifiable information (PII) should not be published on the Law School’s website. PII is any information that can be used to distinguish or trace a person’s identity. Examples of PII include, but are not limited to, Social Security numbers, home addresses, and/or information about physical or mental health conditions.
Please reach out to the Web Team if you’d like to discuss any of these guidelines or if you have questions about using UNI protecting CampusGroups or any other tools mentioned above.