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Plugged In, Tuning Up (March 2001)
FEDERAL TERRITORIES
To the extent possible, the online legislative resources of the American Samoa, District
of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) were
reviewed according to the criteria used for the states. Only the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and
the U.S. Virgin Islands have websites that can be reviewed. Both the District and USVI
have unicameral bodies, while only the Puerto Rico Senate has a website. American Samoa has
a site under construction, and Guam does not have one listed for the legislative branch, as of
this writing.
- Legislator Information: DC and USVI were the only sites to provide contact information
and profile pages for members. None of the sites featured a directory, or member
contact service.
- Explanations of Legislative
Process: DC and Puerto Rico both provided extensive
primers on the legislative process and links to code of laws. Only Puerto Rico, however, has
a glossary of legislative terms. None of the sites have links to rules of the body or
individual chambers, or a listing of frequently asked questions.
- Legislation Search: USVI is the only site that allows legislation to be accessed by
sponsor/co-sponsor, subject, or keyword. None of the sites allow legislation access by bill
number, introduction date, bill type, or title, and there is no date range for archived sessions.
- Legislative Tracking: USVI does list the floor schedule on its site, and both USVI and
Puerto Rico provide links to individual committees. None of the sites provide session or
legislative calendars, committee activity, or reports/journals for the session, and none allow
for personalized updates.
- Legislative Administration: No links to any of the administrative offices were featured on
any of the sites
- State Resources: DC and Puerto Rico were the only sites that provided links to
their respective code of laws. Only DC provided links to local government resources. None of
the sites provided links to the judicial or executive branch, or budget information.
- Usage Statements: None of the sites had disclaimers, notices on external links, or
privacy policies, despite Puerto Rico's use of one cookie. Additionally, none of the sites featured
the means to receive site updates.
- Site Design: None of the sites were BOBBY certified. The District and Puerto Rico
did provide alternative text for their graphics. DC and USVI, however, both used frames
without providing a non-frames alternative. While none of the sites stated a
browser-preference, none featured a text-only version either.
- Site Navigation: None of the sites had help sections. DC was the only site to open pages
in new windows, and the only to feature a navigation bar and menu (graphics-based
Java applet). Puerto Rico was the only territory with a basic site index. None of the sites
featured update mechanisms, although DC, Puerto Rico, and USVI provided a basic link to
the webmaster e-mail.
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