Thursday, August 4, 2022
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
NEWSLETTER
ՀԱՅ
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports
No Result
View All Result
Asbarez.com
ՀԱՅ
No Result
View All Result

Colorado Governor Signs Genocide Education Bill Into Law

by Contributor
July 9, 2020
in Community, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Colorado Governor Jared Polis signs the Genocide Education Bill at a ceremony on July 8.
Colorado Governor Jared Polis signs the Genocide Education Bill at a ceremony on July 8.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed a law that mandates the teaching of the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust, among other cases of genocide, as a requirement for High School graduation in the Centennial State.

“Armenian Genocide education has been a long-standing goal of the ANCA-WR and was included in the language of the recent congressional resolutions recognizing the Genocide. After years of hard work and persistence, we are thrilled that Armenian Genocide education has become a reality in yet another state,” remarked Nora Hovsepian, Esq., chair of the Armenian National Committee of America Western Region.

“We are grateful to Governor Polis, the legislative sponsors, and our community partners who championed this important bill and brought it to the finish line despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. This is yet another accomplishment for the Armenian Cause by our grassroots and Colorado’s vibrant Armenian community in a state that boasts America’s only Capitol Khachkar memorial that was recently referenced by the White House and a highway honoring the Battle of Sardarapat. We will continue this movement State by State and at all levels of government until public schools throughout the country are taught the valuable lessons of the Armenian Genocide and the pride as Americans of the Near East Relief rescue effort,” concluded Hovsepian.

At a socially-distant signing ceremony hosted outside the Jewish Community Center and across from the Assumption of the Theotokos Greek Orthodox Cathedral on Wednesday, July 8, Gov. Polis was joined by the primary cosponsors of House Bill 20-1336, as well as representatives of the organizations that championed the law and community leaders.

In remarks broadcast live on his official Facebook page, Gov. Polis announced that “This bill… will make sure that every Colorado child including my son Caspian who is here will learn about Holocaust and Genocide, including the Armenian Genocide….” He then acknowledged Colorado’s oldest Holocaust survivor and education advocate Fanny Starr before stating, “I also want to thank the Armenian National Committee Western Region and Armenians of Colorado, and I want to thank you, Simon Maghakyan, for you work on this issue, and I want to thank the sponsors Rep. [Dafna] Michaelson Jenet, Rep. [Emily] Sirota, Sen. [Stephen] Fenberg, and Sen. [Dennis] Hisey… This bill will make sure that we will honor the words ‘never again’ in our time and in our children’s time.”

Following the Governor’s opening statement, remarks were made by the legislative sponsors and community leaders, including Coalition Against Global Genocide’s Roz Duman and Armenians of Colorado’s Sona Hedeshian.

“Today is a dream come true,” remarked ANCA’s Colorado representative Simon Maghakyan following the bill signing ceremony. “It was exactly a year ago tomorrow when we held the very first capitol meeting on what became Colorado House Bill 20-1336. I am very proud of my state for requiring genocide education in public schools, because teaching about the worst choices that humans are capable of making is a critical lesson for our children. Today’s victory is a testament to decades of activism and a celebration of the strong bond between Colorado’s Armenian and Jewish communities. As Governor Jared Polis said today upon signing the law, Hitler and Turkey have failed,” continued Maghakyan, whose full statement acknowledging all stakeholders of the bill can be read here.

Introduced in early March, HB20-1336 was initially among majority of bills that were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, even though it received unanimous support in the March 12 House Committee on Education, where Armenian community members Anahid Katchian, Kim Christianian, and Simon Maghakyan joined many others in testifying in support of the bill. However, in part because ANC-WR, Armenians of Colorado, Jewish Colorado, and the Anti-Defamation League, among others, committed to privately funding the administrative implementation of the law by making donations to the Department of Education, the bill was passed unanimously in the House of Representatives on June 5 and the Senate on June 10.

The law requires Colorado’s state board of education to adopt standards related to Holocaust and genocide studies by July 2021, after which each school district board of education and charter school must incorporate those standards into an existing course that is already a condition of high school graduation for school years beginning in July 2023. The standards will be supported with a resource bank of materials pertaining to Holocaust and genocide courses and programs created and maintained by the Colorado Department of Education.

In addition to Colorado, a dozen other states across the U.S. require genocide education, with specific mandates to teach the Armenian Genocide in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Rhode Island. Other states, like Texas, have established commissions that encourage genocide education.

The Armenian National Committee of America – Western Region is the largest and most influential nonpartisan Armenian-American grassroots advocacy organization in the Western United States. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout the Western United States and affiliated organizations around the country, the ANCA-WR advances the concerns of the Armenian-American community on a broad range of issues in pursuit of the Armenian Cause.

Contributor

Contributor

Next Post

Funeral Notice: Dr. Armen Souren Sahakian

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

Congressional Armenian Caucus Leaders Condemn Azerbaijan’s Latest Attempt to Ethnically Cleanse Artsakh’s Armenians

Congressional Armenian Caucus Leaders Condemn Azerbaijan’s Latest Attempt to Ethnically Cleanse Artsakh’s Armenians

7 hours ago
Through Use of Force, Azerbaijan is Forcing Concessions from Artsakh, Says Human Rights Defender

Through Use of Force, Azerbaijan is Forcing Concessions from Artsakh, Says Human Rights Defender

19 hours ago

Connect with us

  • About
  • Advertising
  • Subscribe
  • Contact

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Top Stories
  • Community
  • Arts & Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Music
    • Theatre
    • Critics’ Forum
  • Op-Ed
    • Editorial
    • Opinon
    • Letters
  • Columns
    • By Any Means
    • My Turn
    • Three Apples
    • Community Links
    • Critics’ Forum
    • My Name is Armen
    • Living in Armenia
  • Videos
  • Sports

© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.

Accessibility

Accessibility modes

Epilepsy Safe Mode
Dampens color and removes blinks
This mode enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
Visually Impaired Mode
Improves website's visuals
This mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
Cognitive Disability Mode
Helps to focus on specific content
This mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
ADHD Friendly Mode
Reduces distractions and improve focus
This mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
Blindness Mode
Allows using the site with your screen-reader
This mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.

Online Dictionary

    Readable Experience

    Content Scaling
    Default
    Text Magnifier
    Readable Font
    Dyslexia Friendly
    Highlight Titles
    Highlight Links
    Font Sizing
    Default
    Line Height
    Default
    Letter Spacing
    Default
    Left Aligned
    Center Aligned
    Right Aligned

    Visually Pleasing Experience

    Dark Contrast
    Light Contrast
    Monochrome
    High Contrast
    High Saturation
    Low Saturation
    Adjust Text Colors
    Adjust Title Colors
    Adjust Background Colors

    Easy Orientation

    Mute Sounds
    Hide Images
    Virtual Keyboard
    Reading Guide
    Stop Animations
    Reading Mask
    Highlight Hover
    Highlight Focus
    Big Dark Cursor
    Big Light Cursor
    Navigation Keys

    Asbarez.com Accessibility Statement

    Accessibility Statement

    • www.asbarez.com
    • August 4, 2022

    Compliance status

    We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability.

    To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more.

    This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs.

    Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments.

    If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following email

    Screen-reader and keyboard navigation

    Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:

    1. Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.

      These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.

    2. Keyboard navigation optimization: The background process also adjusts the website’s HTML, and adds various behaviors using JavaScript code to make the website operable by the keyboard. This includes the ability to navigate the website using the Tab and Shift+Tab keys, operate dropdowns with the arrow keys, close them with Esc, trigger buttons and links using the Enter key, navigate between radio and checkbox elements using the arrow keys, and fill them in with the Spacebar or Enter key.Additionally, keyboard users will find quick-navigation and content-skip menus, available at any time by clicking Alt+1, or as the first elements of the site while navigating with the keyboard. The background process also handles triggered popups by moving the keyboard focus towards them as soon as they appear, and not allow the focus drift outside of it.

      Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Disability profiles supported in our website

    • Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
    • Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
    • Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
    • ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
    • Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
    • Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.

    Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments

    1. Font adjustments – users, can increase and decrease its size, change its family (type), adjust the spacing, alignment, line height, and more.
    2. Color adjustments – users can select various color contrast profiles such as light, dark, inverted, and monochrome. Additionally, users can swap color schemes of titles, texts, and backgrounds, with over 7 different coloring options.
    3. Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
    4. Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
    5. Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
    6. Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
    7. Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.

    Browser and assistive technology compatibility

    We aim to support the widest array of browsers and assistive technologies as possible, so our users can choose the best fitting tools for them, with as few limitations as possible. Therefore, we have worked very hard to be able to support all major systems that comprise over 95% of the user market share including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera and Microsoft Edge, JAWS and NVDA (screen readers), both for Windows and for MAC users.

    Notes, comments, and feedback

    Despite our very best efforts to allow anybody to adjust the website to their needs, there may still be pages or sections that are not fully accessible, are in the process of becoming accessible, or are lacking an adequate technological solution to make them accessible. Still, we are continually improving our accessibility, adding, updating and improving its options and features, and developing and adopting new technologies. All this is meant to reach the optimal level of accessibility, following technological advancements. For any assistance, please reach out to