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ERM-BC-COOP ADA web requirement Really is nothing new

YEARS AGO, WHEN I had my own web site, I discovered the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) had some very specific requirements for ADA-compliant sites.

A quick visit to https://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/chap5toolkit.htm provides 99% of the things any web developer needs to know about compliance. The information is free, so there is no excuse for not knowing what’s required.

Image of blind man using computer    http://tinyurl.com/nz5av8a

ADA-COMPLIANT PAGES are designed so that a screen reader can “read” and “speak” what is written.

When it comes to graphics, the ADA requires that site developers “Add(ing) a line of simple HTML code to provide text for each image and graphic will enable a user with a vision disability to understand what it is. Add a type of HTML tag, such as an “alt” tag for brief amounts of text or a “longdesc” tag for large amounts, to each image and graphic on your agency’s website.”

I'm not certain HOW that can be accomplished on blog sites ssuch as "Blogger" but most commrcial web sites don't use such applications.

While “alt” has been around since (at least) HTML 2 (it is described in my Netscape 2 Unleashed book as “a text string that will be displayed in browsers that cannot support images”), “longdesc” is new to me. It is described, and examples provided, at https://www.w3.org/TR/html-longdesc/

It appears that not everyone must be ADA-compliant. If the site is a government site, it must be compliant. If the site received public money, it must be compliant.

PDF. Portable Document Format (PDF) documents are, as far as browsers are concerned, images. Screen readers can’t “read” images, so a PDF page needs a link to an HTML or RTF document containing the same information. Easily accomplished with a link — or link to the PDF file at another URL.

Who needs to be compliant?

The Department has consistently interpreted the ADA to cover Web sites that are operated by public accommodations and stated that such sites must provide their services in an accessible manner or provide an accessible alternative to the Web site that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (http://tinyurl.com/ya2e6z4p) The specific case in point was a ticket agency.

From the same site: Although the language of the ADA does not explicitly mention the Internet, the Department has taken the position that title III covers access to Web sites of public accommodations. The Department has issued guidance on the ADA as applied to the Web sites of public entities, which includes the availability of standards for Web site accessibility. See Accessibility of State and Local Government Websites to People with Disabilities (June 2003), available at www.ada.gov/websites2.htm. As the Department stated in that publication, an agency (and similarly a public accommodation) with an inaccessible Web site also may meet its legal obligations by providing an accessible alternative for individuals to enjoy its goods or services, such as a staffed telephone information line. However, such an alternative must provide an equal degree of access in terms of hours of operation and range of options and programs available. For example, if retail goods or bank services are posted on an inaccessible Web site that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to individuals without disabilities, then the alternative accessible method must also be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Additional guidance is available in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WAIWEBCONTENT (last visited June 24, 2010), which are developed and maintained by the Web Accessibility Initiative, a subgroup of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C®).

The Department did not issue proposed regulations as part of its NPRM, and thus is unable to issue specific regulatory language on Web site accessibility at this time. However, the Department expects to engage in rulemaking relating to Web site accessibility under the ADA in the near future.

Bottom line If a site is ADA-compliant, it is more accessible to customers. If the site lacks ADA-compliance, the ADA may soon mandate that the site be upgraded to comply with ADA regulations.

The ADA regulations are not onerous and they do make the web site available to more people. Assuring ADA compliance when initially building a site is just good business; it’s also less expensive — time and money — than re-engineering a site.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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Opuscula Your opinion Has no value

FREEDOM OF SPEECH; every one in America has it.

But for the leftists, only they can express an opinion.

Take a knee? That’s OK; Leftists support that.

Suggest the kneelers be fired … THAT’S wrong, wrong, wrong.

As someone suggested, “Leftists want everyone to think as they think.”

Shades of Orwell's 1984.

WHILE I HAVE NOT checked each individual’s record, I am confident that few, if any, of the kneelers served a day in service to their country.

No enlistees. No AmeriCorps VISTAs.

A FEW give back to their communities, and they are to be commended.

Few complain that these Big Buck jocks lack basic flag courtesy; rarely does any player (of any sport) place his hand over his heart as the National Anthem is played or the nation’s flag is raised.

OK, I’m old, and in my school days, students and teachers stood and placed hand over heart during the pledge and whenever the anthem was played. Yes, I know that where the hand rested was not over the heart’s true site. Tradition is strong.

I’ll also concede there are times when I’d like to place my hands over my ears when some screecher wails the hard-to-sing anthem — there are more easily sung and equally suitable songs for the anthem: America the Beautiful and God Bless America come to mind, but the latter can’t be sung since it is not “politically correct.”

Not everyone who dodged the draft, e.g., Trump, Obama, Bush¹, and Clinton, is as disrespectful of flag and country as the jocks — and some so-called “comedians” and network talking heads — the president and ex-presidents at least show respect for flag and country.

The jocks ARE entitled to their opinions, but so is President Trump.

If the jocks — and “comedians” and talking heads — have an issue with life in America they can pick another time to make their point. Stand for the anthem, put you hand on your heart, then go onto the field and SIT ON YOUR BACKSIDE . . . and take the team owner — your master (why do you think he’s called the team “owner”?) — with you.

I’m confident the leftists will support you by buying season tickets; they’ll have to fund your antics since thinking American’s will boycott the games. Sorry, thinking Americans’ opinions don’t count — except at the gate.

America is NOT perfect and problems need to be addressed. If any Big Buck jock — or “comedian” or talking head — thinks another country can offer them a better life, then go; America does not prevent anyone from leaving. There are 193 countries in the UN; America is only one so the kneelers and other disrespecters of flag and country have 192 options. How about North Korea; it’s leader hates America, but it’s really cold in winter — ask the Americans who fought in the Korean “police action” — or perhaps Iran, another country with leadership that hates America, the Big Satan; I’m sure both countries will welcome you with open arms. ‘Course if you behave in North Korea or Iran as you do in the U.S. your quarters could be prison until your execution. Misogynists should head to a Muslim-dominated country.

If the leftists’ cause is that blacks make up a larger part of the prison population than non-blacks, perhaps blacks should consider WHY. Even if every cop is a racist (how can that be when almost every department has black cops?), surely not every black will be falsely arrested or shot. (No question that too many blacks ARE falsely arrested or shot; but there also is no question that most black killings are by blacks.²)

“Taking a knee” is dramatic, but hardly effective.

If the jocks, et al, want to be effective they need to effect political change, either through the ballot box or through the courts. Antagonizing a large part of the population will NOT help them politically.

America is a free country where everyone — even the president — is entitled to express an opinion. The leftists need to learn that what is “good for the goose” also is “good for the gander.” Either we have free speech for all or free speech for none.

That’s a lesson the leftists have yet to learn.

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1.   Geo. W. Bush (Bush 2) enlisted in the Air National Guard and managed to stay safely in the States until he received an EARLY discharge. See http://tinyurl.com/qjumhq5

2.   93 per cent of black victims were killed by blacks http://tinyurl.com/y8hgzc2m

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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Opuscula Did anyone see Any anarchists Helping Houston?

They weren’t headed for south FL

WITH HOURS AND HOURS OF tv coverage of the Texas — and now Louisiana — flooding, did anyone see any of “antifa” black pajama uniforms rescuing anyone? In fact, did anyone see any “antifa” representation at all?

A week later, when Hurricane Irma hit Florida — all of it, the looters were out in force, but no one claiming, or even pretending to be, antifa was to be seen.

Admittedly, the tv showed no klansmen or nazis (“neo” or otherwise) or anyone with either white euphemists logos or Stars and Bars flags on shirts or jackets, just as no one saw any extreme left pennants among the rescuers — or rescued.

Gary Varvel

”Antifa” — another word for anarchists — is an American intifada with one goal: destroying democracy while falsely claiming to be democratic.

The anarchists intimidate anyone who dares think differently by shouting down opposing speakers and, when that fails to work, attacking opponents with whatever weapons are at hand.

Where were the police?

In Charlottesville VA, the police failed to keep the “Save the Statues” protestors separate from the anarchists.

In Berkeley, the police — based on numerous videos available on the internet — were never seen.

Were the cops— local as well as federal — cowering and hiding?

Locally, the antifas apparently either bailed long before the storm hit, or hunkered down waiting for the storm to pass so they could stand in line for taxpayer-paid rations — rations delivered by the “fascist” government. Same with the handouts donated by other Floridians who were able to share what they had.

I didn’t see any antifas in the street offering assistance to ANYONE.

I didn’t see any black pajamas handing MREs or water down the line to those in need.

I didn’t see any antifa pennants waving over trucks or cars carrying supplies to anyone any place.

To my Edward Bear mind, the antifas are cowards — much akin to the KKK, which also had no presence supporting recovery in Florida. The antifas, the KKK, the nazis, and the rest of the left and right wing extremists missed a great PR opportunity. Local and national television captured HOURS of heroics on video; newspapers and magazines took thousands of photos.

People — at least in south Florida — were from all over the world; people who could have gone “home” and told their neighbor s how helpful the extremists were.

The antifas, the KKIK, the nazis, and similar creatures are brave when they outnumber their victims 100-to-1 (or more), but when it comes to actually working to help their fellow citizens, the extremists are not to be found.

Just as expected.

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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Opuscula Mollycoddle criminals But make soldiers suffer

I’m a great fan of cartoons. One of the first things I do in the morning (I’m retired) is view a selected view on Gocomics.com. I occasionally add a comic as a “one shot” addition to the regulars.

Today (September 13 2017) I opened La Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz.

Interesting cartoon, and interesting comments as well.

Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz http://www.gocomics.com/lacucaracha

It was the comments that got me thinking.

Americans, especially Americans who are leftists, liberals, seem to think it is wrong to house criminals in less than 5-star hotel accommodations, yet they are silent about soldiers living in worse conditions while protecting the leftists.

This “pity everyone but the soldier” mentality is nothing new.

At one point the U.S. government sent draftees (youngsters can look up military draft on the Internet) from Florida, southern California, and Hawaii to Alaska, Greenland, and other “icebox” areas. Complain? Surely, but complaints fell on deaf ears (located in warmer climes).

AT THE SAME TIME, the same government tried to relocate Cuban refugees to the upper midwestern states where there was lots of space to accommodate them. They were clustering in south Florida and New York City. In south Florida, signs went from Si Habla Espanol to We Speak English … and eventually even those signs disappeared.

The Cubans found liberal lawyers who took the issue to the courts; courts that ruled it would be inhumane to make the poor warm-weather refugees relocate to a cold climate. (New York City is OK, but Minnesota — now home to Muslims who want to institute shira law — is too cold?)

Why is it OK to send warm-weather Americans (and some non-American volunteers as well) to icebox areas, to live in what the courts determined were "inhumane” conditions, sometimes in tents, often eating MREs, but criminals in Arizona need 5-star quarters.

Anyone old enough to remember the Korean “policing action” knows it gets pretty cold in Korea and living in tents was no walk in the park. Most of the Americans who served in Korea did so under duress — few WANTED to go to Korea.

Yes, I know it’s hot in parts of Arizona — I spent time in Phoenix in the summer — and I know living in a tent can be less than comfortable, especially in the rainy season and the tent leaks (been there, done that — and I didn’t commit a crime, not even a misdemeanor).

I went from south Florida (average LOW temperature 60^oF to San Antonio TX (average HIGH temperature 62^oF) in January as a guest of our favorite uncle (Sam) and I got up at 5 a.m.. every morning for calisthenics outside on the hard earth. Before breakfast. (Had I joined the Navy instead of the Air Force I could have enjoyed the balmy weather of Great Lakes Naval Training Stationwhere the January high is 30^oF. )

The Navy eventually took over Orlando AFB and made it a training center for a few years, but closed it because it was “too hot” for the sailors-to-be. I was stationed at Orlando AFB and know it can get warm in Orlando — so why do tourists flock to the area’s theme parks in the heat of summer? — and I also know about hurricanes crossing the state via Orlando.

Prisons used to be places of punishment. Criminals “paid” for their crime by working while incarcerated. On the county level, there were road gangs — short sentence prisoners who used hand tools to maintain the roadways. Because chain gangs — prisoners chained together at the ankles — were determined to be either inhumane or unconstitutional or whatever, the only prisoners working outside the prison fence are “trustees,” short-timers.

If the weather is too hot or too cold or rainy or just about anything less than optimal, no outside work.

At the state level, prisoners worked inside the walls making things the state could sell — the prisoners got a small percentage — to help defray the cost of feeding, housing, clothing, educating, and providing health care to the inmates. (One of the few remaining jobs with “benefits.”)

However, prisoners cannot be required to work. They still get their meals, clothing, etc., but usually are confined to quarters — not “solitary confinement” — while other prisoners do their assigned jobs.

Of course a soldier, sailor, or airman also cannot be forced to work; he (or she) can spend time in jail or be released from the service with a BCD – Bad Conduct Discharge — a label that once stigmatized the bearer, now a badge of honor in leftists circles.

I am not suggesting that prisoners — in gaol for any reason — be mistreated, but I AM suggesting, most strongly, that the leftists/liberals want to mollycoddle prisoners while law abiding citizens serving the country are suffering what is considered to be inhumane treatment of criminals.

Undocumented aliens and illegal aliens. They are criminals.

The people who employ illegal aliens also are criminals and they should be severely punished. They are violating federal employment laws. They probably also are violating local and state laws. If there are no jobs, there is no advantage of illegal entry and risk of deportation.

As far as the children of illegal aliens brought to the states by parents, the U.S. must find a way to absorb the ones who have shown good citizenship and deport the ones — with their parents; we can’t break apart a family — to any place that will accept them. (Afraid to go back to their homeland? Allow them to relocate to a country of their choice assuming that country will accept them.)

The U.S. should put an end to “anchor baby” immigration. Unless the parents are here by invitation, e.g., Vietnamese who came here to escape the Viet Cong; set both the parents and the baby “anchor” adrift; again, let them relocate to any country that will accept them.

Bottom lines:

Criminals do NOT deserve 5-star accommodations. If U.S. service men and women can survive in tents in extreme temperatures, so can criminals.

Refugees need to be relocated as the needs of the country require. If U.S. service men and women can be sent to areas environmentally opposite of their place of residence, refugees also should be relocated as the needs of the government demand. (Spreading out ethnic groups helps integration into, and acceptance by, communities.)

Illegal immigrants are criminals and should be incarcerated until deported to a county of their choice.

People who employ illegals need to be penalized severely; jail time is appropriate for recidivists. State and federal employment laws should be strictly enforced.

Anchor babies need to be set adrift, with both parents and children deported to a county of their choice.

I know, based on past experience with the left, that the foregoing will be classified as inhumane, racist, and other such foolishness. I would counter how can it be inhumane when we do the same thing to the men and women who serve the country; how can it be racist when race plays no part in the issue? An illegal is an illegal regardless of race, nationality, religion, or any other attribute.

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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Opuscula I Hate Rumors

Tropical cyclone (Hurricane) Irma is bearing down on south Florida.

That’s bad enough.

But the RUMORS …

They are more dangerous than the storm.

”All tourists must evacuate Florida. True or false?

False.

Tourists were ordered to leave the Florida KEYS, and most did. A day later, residents of the keys were ordered to head for the mainland. Many did.

Everyone is ordered to evacuate St. Augustine

True or false.

Everyone was ordered out of St. Augustine in October 2016 as Hurricane Matthew approached. With Irma — as of September 7, no one has been told to evacuate St. Augustine. People living in coastal areas, low lying areas, and in mobile homes may be ordered to find shelter in a safer location, but if Irma goes up the center of the state, the folks in St. Augustine, and elsewhere on the mid-Florida Atlantic coast — other than those people on the barrier islands or close to the mainland shore — probably will be allowed to ride out the storm in situ. “Course that the type home construction will play a role in the go or stay decision.

People who live in stilt houses on the beach should not. Not a rumor; a fact.

I suspect these and similar rumors start when someone hears (or understands) only part of a weather person’s report and extrapolates as their imagine runs wild. I suspect that most tv weather reporters have (a) little or no experience with weather reporting and (b) have even less experience with local weather. There are exceptions, but as with the news readers (“anchors”), most are prone to believe what a “reporter” --
or computer model -- tells them; they lack “journalistic” experience to challenge a “reporter’s” facts.

Interestingly, having just watched interviews with tourists who are planning to ride out Irma in south Florida, people STILL tell me “All tourists have been ordered to evacuate Florida.” Not just the keys. Not just Dade County. “All” of Florida.

Are people so anxious about Irma that they refuse to deal in reality, even when it is before their eyes; even when they hear it with their own ears?

The people who accept these rumors as fact refuse to accept anything that contradicts the rumor.

Ask them the source of their “facts” and the answer is “”So-n-So, but I don’t know where So-n-So heard it.”

Some people innocently believe and pass on rumors. These people keep Snopes and other fact checkers in business. Unfortunately, these same innocents never bother to check with the fact checkers, preferring to go happily on their way, spreading false information.

As a young reporter, I was told to believe half of what I see and nothing of what I hear … until I confirm the information with at least one other sourcs, and ideally with several other sources. Big cities, small towns; makes no difference; never trust a rumor and look askance on people who repeat rumors as facts.

Chicken Little.

If interested, there are several good, and interesting, rumor sites on the Internet, including:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/72892/9-false-rumors-real-life-consequences

http://hoaxes.org/archive/display/category/rumors_and_legends

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/7-historical-figures-famous-for-something-they-never-did

http://www.businessinsider.com/false-historical-facts-2013-11

http://www.chirovici.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Rumors-That-Changed-the-World-Preview.pdf

Copy-n-paste the URLs into a browser to read the related article.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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ERM-BC-COOP Risk Management Practitioners fail “What if” challenge

Or maybe clients failed to listen, act

WHILE WAITING FOR TROPICAL STORM IRMA to come calling — right now no one can predict its path with any degree of accuracy — I spent a few minutes with one of my favorite sites: Advisen’s Front Page News (FPN).

Two articles caught my eye as examples of either

(a) A practitioner who failed to play the “what if” game or
(b) A client who failed to appreciate, and act on, the practitioner’s recommendations.

Based on my experience, I would put my money on (b).

Crisis Is Over at Texas Plant, but Chemical Safety Flaws Remain

CROSBY, Tex. — Residents have returned to their homes here in the shadow of the Arkema chemical plant now that the fires at the plant are out and the immediate safety hazard has passed.

Because of a gap in federal environmental laws long criticized by chemical safety experts, Arkema was not even required to address, in the emergency plans it submits to federal regulators, the risk posed by the volatile chemicals that overheated and set off fires several times last week, sending dense black smoke billowing over this town near Houston. Read entire article at http://tinyurl.com/ydc3omu7 (If Google snafus the URL, copy and paste it into a browser and delete everything up to “http://tiny…”)

The second paragraph of the story above is just one of a lengthy article, but it suggests that if the company HAD a risk manager the risk manager failed to see the hazard (and therefore failed to offer mitigation or avoidance measures) OR company management, understanding there apparently was no federal mandate with which it must comply, ignored the practitioner’s advice.

I wonder how the company’s insurer(s) will respond when they get a bill for all the damage caused by the failed coolers. A good insurance company might have been aware of the “gap in federal environmental laws long criticized by chemical safety experts” and if aware, were recommendations made to management? Often risk management practitioners are ignored, but insurance company suggestions can prove expensive if ignored.

I will concede that there was no history of inundating rains that could have prevented the air conditioners — necessary to keep chemicals from going “boom in the night” — from functioning. As with everything “risk management” there is a risk vs. mitigation/avoidance cost calculation.

THE SECOND article confirms that there are more risks in the HR department than “just” harassment claims and lost I-9s.

The following is excerpted from the Butler|Snow web site and is headed Handling workplace vigilantes

Recently, an Oregon Home Depot worker claimed that he was fired for helping a customer pursue a man she claimed kidnapped her child. Home Depot ended up changing its mind and allowed him to keep his position. However, this brings to mind a couple of Tennessee cases in which employees claimed they were unlawfully fired for acting as “Good Samaritans.”

In the case of Little v. Eastgate of Jackson, Jason Little was working as a store clerk when he saw a man assaulting a woman across the street. Little grabbed a baseball bat and confronted the assailant, causing the assailant to flee. He was a hero, right? That’s not what his employer thought. His employer fired him because he abandoned the store to become involved in an altercation that was “none of our business.”

Makes this scrivener think of Kitty Genovese

A few years later, a Tennessee federal district court considered the application of this reasoning in Miller v. Home Depot. In that case, Murfreesboro Home Depot manager Robert Miller ran out of the store’s front door after hearing a commotion. He saw a coworker telling a man with a crowbar and a wad of cash to give back the money. The man threw down the crowbar and ran. Miller chased after him and restrained him before the police arrived. He was a hero, right? That’s not what Home Depot thought. Home Depot wasn’t grateful that Miller had retrieved the stolen money and instead fired him for violating company policy against unauthorized apprehensions and detaining shoplifters.

So what can be learned from all of this? There are good business reasons for discouraging employees from taking the law into their own hands. When that happens, things often don’t go as smoothly. For instance, what if the perpetrator in the one instance had a weapon? Miller’s actions could have caused a bad situation to become a lot worse.

Nevertheless, employers should think twice before disciplining an employee who helps stop criminal activity. If the employee was helping rescue someone from the “imminent danger of death or serious bodily harm,” then Tennessee law prevents the employer from firing him.

As with most things, there are two sides to this coin.

As pointed out in the Butler|Snow article, on one hand, while many people would act to prevent an assault (such as kidnapping or assault), on the other the assailant might be armed and quite willing to injure or kill anyone who stood in the way, including the proverbial innocent bystander. (This is one reason why people with concealed carry permits do NOT start shooting in crowd situations.)

The point for management and HR is that policies that effect employees should be published and ALL personnel should read and understand both the policy and the consequences for violating the policy.

BUT, unless someone — HR, risk management practitioner — plays the “What If” game, the policy will be unwritten and subject to challenge in the courts. In Tennessee, the employee will win.

The complete Butler|Snow article may be read at http://tinyurl.com/ybsjhq73

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

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