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Entry bubble Why We Put the Flag at Half-Staff

By: Jess | November 12, 2009 | Category: General

American FlagDriving around town this week you may have noticed that flags were flown at half-staff, a message from President Obama to honor the soldiers who were killed in the shootings at Fort Hood.

When I was growing up, I learned that flags were flown at half-staff in the wake of a tragedy or a period of mourning in the country. So whenever, I see the flags at half-staff, I always try to figure out what happened. I never realized there were certain protocols that governed flying the flag.

When a flag is flown at half-staff it is usually a directive given by the President for how the executive branch will fly the flag. However, it's not a mandate and no one is forced to fly the flag a certain way just because the President is. Local communities, schools and agencies can decide for themselves if they will fly their flags at half-staff to recognize the death of an employee or student.

These are three of the more interesting facts I found about flying a flag at half-staff:
  • On Memorial Day, the flag is at half-staff until noon and then raised to the top of the pole until sunset.
  • Flags are flown at half-staff for 30 days after the death of the president or former president.
  • When flying a flag at half-staff, it should be raised to the top of the staff and then lowered to half-staff.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: american   flag   half_staff   jess  

 

Entry bubble Plain Language is a Win-Win-Win

By: Editor | November 09, 2009 | Category: General

confused man

In honor of World Usability Day, which will be celebrated Thursday, our guest blogger today is Whitney Quesenbery, a user researcher, user experience practitioner, and usability expert with a passion for clear communication.

Between websites, blogs, twitter, and all the other new online communities, there are more ways for the government and citizens to communicate than ever. Just communicating more won’t mean much unless everyone understands what is actually being said. 

That’s where plain language comes in.  This is not a new concept. The idea of speaking directly to people, in terms they understand, seems obvious. It can be hard to break a long tradition of arcane terminology and long-winded sentences, but the results can be a win for everyone.

Which would you rather read:

“The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a half hour or more of moderate physical activity on most days, preferably every day. The activity can include brisk walking, calisthenics, home care, gardening, moderate sports exercise, and dancing.”

Or

“Do at least 30 minutes of exercise, like brisk walking, most days of the week.”

That example is from a Department of Health and Human Services project that replaced a 6-page article with 1-page fold-out brochure. The shorter version is not only fewer words to read, but gets right to the point. It speaks directly to the reader, uses an active voice and keeps the message as simple as possible.

Who wins when you write information in plain language?

  • Citizens win - they can understand something on their own.
    After one government agency rephrased the language in a letter that it sends to citizens many times each year, phone calls to ask for explanations dropped by more than 80%. 
  • Agencies win - they don’t have to spend as much time and money answering questions.
    When a cable company rewrote and redesigned its bill, call volume dropped by 15%. The calls were shorter, too.
  • You win - when you don’t have to spend as much time explaining what you meant. In the first example, the new letter meant almost 1,000 phone calls that a small staff didn’t have to answer.

Want to learn more?

World Usability Day is on November 12. This international day is about “making life easy” and user friendly.  It is celebrated in over 36 countries.

In Washington, DC, Webcontent.gov and the Center for Plain Language have teamed up celebrate the sustaining power of Usability + Plain Language on World Usability Day. World Usability Day events and resources to help you build your skills and improve your documents and web sites include:

  • Free “mini-consultations” with a usability or plain language expert to improve your government web page or document by phone on Nov. 12 from 1:00 – 4:00 pm ET
  • A free in-person plain language course on Nov. 12 from 9:00 – 11:30 am in Washington DC near Union Station
  • The Plain Language + Usability Resource List to help you conduct a World Usability Day activity at your agency or company and improve your website year-round

| Post a Comment | View Comments [0] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: blog   editor   guest   language   plain   usability   webcontent.gov  

 

Entry bubble Election Day 2009

By: Joanne | November 03, 2009 | Category: General

voteHey – Election Day is here again. Did you vote yet? Since you’re a GovGab reader I know that you are highly intelligent, and I bet you’re planning to get out to the polls today. I’m going to vote during my lunch break today. I always look forward to voting; I don’t want to leave these important decisions up to everyone else.

Even though we’re not electing a president this year, there are still many important elected offices up for grabs this year. Depending on where you live, there may be judges, representatives, and all sorts of local officials on the ballot. These people will make a difference in your everyday life and community, so don’t miss the opportunity to cast your vote. If you’re not sure what offices are on the ballot in your community, your state election office will have that information.

So get out to your polling place today and vote!

| Post a Comment | View Comments [1] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: elected   election   official   polling   vote  

 

Entry bubble Comment on Polar Bear Habitat Proposal

By: Jake | November 02, 2009 | Category: General

A Mother Polar Bear and her cubsHave you ever seen the Planet Earth series? It was a recent BBC documentary that explored various ecosystems and animals around the world. One of the scenes that sticks out in my mind is one where a starving polar bear tries unsuccessfully to eat a walrus.

I'd been thinking about that scene last week when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced a proposal to designate a critical habitat for the polar bear. The total area proposed for designation would cover approximately 200,541 square miles entirely within the lands and waters of the United States. 

This is the largest critical habitat area ever proposed by the FWS under the Endangered Species Act, though approximately 93 percent of the area is sea ice. It's mostly ice because the polar bear, which has been protected under the Endangered Species Act since May 2008, lives year-round on sea ice. 

There is concern about the critical habitat's impact on oil and gas development. This is why the FWS has set up a 60-day public comment period to get feedback from the public. You can read all the legislation and comment on the proposal.

What do you think of the FWS's  proposal for a polar bear critical habitat?

| Post a Comment | View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: habitat   polar_bear   proposed  

 

Entry bubble Daylight Saving Time ends this weekend

By: Jess | October 29, 2009 | Category: General

ClockHere's a big reminder if you don't have it on your calendar yet.

Don't forget to change your clocks this weekend!

Starting on Sunday at 2 a.m. Daylight Saving Time will end (for the places that observe it) and we'll all need to set our clocks back one hour.

Personally I love the extra hour of sleep, but hate the shorter days that come with switching back to standard time. I'm also not always the best at remembering to change the clocks. I usually remember at the last minute Saturday night. Forgetting to change your clocks can cause mild chaos for some people, like a friend of mine who went the whole day without remembering to switch her clocks and almost ended up being late for work the following Monday. (This was in the spring, when we were supposed to spring our clocks ahead an hour.)

Curious as to why this whole Daylight Saving Time and changing clocks thing even exists? National Geographic did a nice job explaining the history of DST.

Have you ever forgotten to change your clocks? Feel free to share your stories in the comments.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [5] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: changing_clocks   daylight_saving_time   jess   sleep   time  

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