Today the Federal Circuit announced the launch of its new website. Here is the court’s announcement regarding the new website and some highlights of the website’s new and improved features.
The text from today’s announcement reads as follows:
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is pleased to announce today’s release of its new website at https://www.cafc.uscourts.gov. Over the past several months, the court has been working diligently to develop the site while creating new content and enhancing the overall user experience through improved site layout and functionality.
Included in the new website are quick reference icons on the main page to frequently visited content; expanded searches for court opinions and orders, court statistics, and audio recordings of oral arguments; and a streamlined method for communicating with the court. Case participants and counsel can now access expanded resources and information about filing with the court and the different stages of the appellate process under new Case Information and Oral Argument menus. A new Information For… menu directs visitors to audience-specific content sections, including new public civic education content and resources as part of the federal judiciary’s ongoing initiative to expand public digital civic engagement opportunities.
As stated in the announcement, the most notable non-visual, functional change to the website is the change from thirteen dropdown menus to five consolidated dropdown menus and six quick reference icons to popular site pages. As for the five dropdown menus:
- All human resources information, biographical information, and court announcements are included in “The Court” dropdown menu.
- The “Case Information” dropdown menu now houses all information related to cases in general, including filing resources, electronic filing information, mediation, and other like materials.
- The “Oral Argument” menu includes largely the same information compared to the old site, but it now includes a separate page for information related to the court’s “Access Coordinators.”
- The “Rules & Forms” dropdown now houses all information relevant to rules and procedures before the court.
- The newest menu in the lineup is the court’s “Information for . . .” tab, which organizes relevant information for different parties that may be interested in the court, including attorneys, visitors, and unrepresented parties.
Notably, individual pages found on the court website have been updated with a number of improvements such as new dynamic tables that may be sorted according to their columns, organization of information into new tabs, and general changes to the website aesthetic.
The new website, however, also includes some additional substantive information. In particular, the website now includes more information about the Federal Circuit itself, including its history. This information is located under “About the Court” and under “Civic Education.”