Analysis of UK Parliament Web Sites for Disability Accessibility

The growth of the Internet has led to an increase in the number of public services offered by U.K. government entities on their Web sites. A variety of consumers use e-government sites, and those individuals with disabilities are guaranteed the same access government sites under the U.K.’s Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995. This law provides equality in access, and implements penalties for non-adherence to the law. Industry standards also exist which helps site developers to create better site accessibility. However, despite both standards and legal regulations, total openness of sites for people with disabilities is still not widespread. The purpose of this study is to examine the level of accessibility of a randomly selected sample of 130 members of the U.K. House of Commons. Each site was analyzed using an online software tool –Truwex - to determine if they met industry Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) levels 1.0 and 2.0 standards and DDA law. The results showed that the majority of the sites did not meet either guidelines or legal mandates. Many of the sites displayed similar precedents when it came to the types of non-compliance, and could easily improve compliance with minor changes

Adherence to facility management and safety standards in Shiraz hospitals, Iran

Abstract   Background: Evaluate the adherence to facility management and safety standards among governmental and non-governmental hospitals in Shiraz, Iran.  Methods: In this cross sectional study, 22 hospitals of the 33 hospitals in Shiraz, Iran including 13 governmental and 9 non-governmental facilities were surveyed. A 74-item self-administered questionnaire was used. Collected data were entered to SPSS Version 15.0 software. The level for statistical significance was set at 0.05.  Results: Adherence to facility management and safety standards was 65.17% in governmental and 72.79% in non-governmental hospitals. Compliance by governmental hospital in the areas of leadership and planning, safety and security, emergency management, medical equipment, utility system and staff education ranged from 60% to 86%. However, hazardous materials and fire safety adherence was below 50%. For non-governmental hospitals standard compliance for all areas ranged from 60% to 86%. Compliance rates between governmental and non-governmental hospitals in the areas of hazardous materials and staff education standards were statistically significantly different (p=0.02 and p=0.05 respectively).  Conclusions: To achieve more effective functional health care services, additional studies must be undertaken to assess the nature and extent of problem areas that exist in planning, implementing and monitoring of facility management and safety programs

Methodological standards in non-inferiority AIDS trials: moving from adherence to compliance: Response

A response to Parienti JJ, Verdon R and Massari V: Methodological standards in non-inferiority AIDS trials: moving from adherence to compliance. BMC Med Res Meth 2006, 6:4

Towards Semantic Interoperability for IT Governance: An Ontological Approach

In today's IT-centric environment, businesses rely more heavily on IT technologies. Organizations are often obliged to satisfy different requirements demanded and imposed by customers, business partners and legal entities. With increasing regulatory requirements, various best practices and standards are phenomenally employed to benchmark organizational adherence to different regulations. In a heterogeneous, multi-regulated, multi-disciplined and global environment, corporations are often required to consult with multiple standards. Interoperability between the standards for heterogeneous compliance management in the forms of semantic data translation and data integration is subsequently required. Semantic translation between standards allows compliance efforts established on a standard to be based on another standard. On the other hand, semantic data integration enables an integrated view of multiple standards. We present in this paper an ontology-based approach to the semantic interoperability problem in the domain of IT governance

Internationalising the professional standards of the chartered British architect for socially responsible global development

non-peer-reviewedThe purpose of this opinion piece is to propose a method to translate the professional standards implemented in the delivery of construction projects in Dubai by certified British architects. It will achieve this by outlining an approach to analysing existing adherence to the prescribed standards in Dubai. This will identify the efficacy of applied British standards in their legislative and cultural context. Finally, it outlines how compliance might be improved by foregrounding human rights in building procurement through clean supply-chain structures

USP\u3c800\u3e Compliance: A Hazardous Drug Safe-Handling Quality Improvement Project for Ambulatory Care Infusion Nurses

Problem: The U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP, 2016) Convention Chapter 800: Hazardous Drugs: Handling in Healthcare Settings took effect on December 1, 2019. According to Polovich and Olsen (2017), The implementation of the USP \u3c800\u3e Standards. will represent an important step forward to protect nurses and other potentially exposed healthcare workers (HCWs): (p.1). Context: The Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project implemented a hazardous drug (HD) safe-handling personal protective equipment (PPE) toolkit in accordance to USP \u3c800\u3estandards and hospital policies at an ambulatory cancer infusion center to improve nurses\u27 adherence with PPE use. Interventions: The project consisted of (a) a safe-handling PPE toolkit, (b) a PPE observation tool, (c) an expert panel discussion, (d) a nurses\u27 skills session, (e) an online safe-handling survey, (f) an HD safe-handling checklist, and (g) a performance dashboard. Measures: Outcome measures included a (a) 90% or higher compliance rate with PPE use during hazardous drug administration and (b) sustained adherence to USP \u3c800\u3e standards and hospital policies by February 1, 2020. Results: A 90% compliance rate for PPE use during hazardous drug administration was achieved by February 1, 2020. Sustainability is at risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic and global PPE shortages, however, nurses were able to adapt to new processes to conserve vital resources and will be reassessed in six months. Conclusions: A systems-thinking approach to the implementation of USP\u3c800\u3e was successful in improving compliance and adherence to PPE use among ambulatory care infusion nurses

Compliance with minimum information guidelines in public metabolomics repositories.

The Metabolomics Standards Initiative (MSI) guidelines were first published in 2007. These guidelines provided reporting standards for all stages of metabolomics analysis: experimental design, biological context, chemical analysis and data processing. Since 2012, a series of public metabolomics databases and repositories, which accept the deposition of metabolomic datasets, have arisen. In this study, the compliance of 399 public data sets, from four major metabolomics data repositories, to the biological context MSI reporting standards was evaluated. None of the reporting standards were complied with in every publicly available study, although adherence rates varied greatly, from 0 to 97%. The plant minimum reporting standards were the most complied with and the microbial and in vitro were the least. Our results indicate the need for reassessment and revision of the existing MSI reporting standards

Conflicts of Interest: Safeguarding Your Foundation

This statement of principles and practices outlines measures that foundations may take to improve transparency and accountability in finance, governance and grantmaking. Aimed at the members of the Council on Foundations, it is designed to encourage greater compliance and adherence to legal and expected standards of accountability. Resources include articles by the Council on Foundations and sample conflict of interest policies for community foundations, private foundations and corporate giving programs

Appendicitis Clinical Pathway Implementations Compliance Evaluation in Hospital

Background: Clinical pathway (CP) is a collaborative guidance for patients treatments that focused on diagnosis, clinical problems, and stages of care. CP implementation becomes a guideline on hospital quality and safety improvement for the patient services. Method: The research used a descriptive-qualitative mixed methods. Primary data collected through medical record and secondary data is done by interview and observation by using CP format. Results: From medical records total, 23 cases were found that met the inclusion criteria. The acute appendicitis case in adults is more than children in number (3,6:1). Acute appendicitis CP compliance is 86%. There are three problems in CP compliance of acute appendicitis i.e doctor's visit adherence (physician in charge of patient 87%, 0% anesthesia), 65% adherence therapy compliance, and 52% inpatient admission. The root of the problem is the lack of socialization, monitoring, and evaluation of established standards. Some activity variations may occur during each process from time to time that will produce a variety of the outcomes as well. How to reduce process variation is to standardize. The process of standardization includes the preparation, socialization, monitoring, control, evaluation and revision of thew standards. CP profit is that it could reduce variation, is a professional requirement, and the basis for quality measurement. Implementation of good standards will ensure the safety of patients and the healthcare providers. Conclusion: Almost all employees have conducted medical record (MR) in accordance with clinical pathway criteria as well, but the CP sheet is not included in the M

Password compliance for PACS work stations: Implications for emergency-driven medical environments

Background. The effectiveness of password usage in data security remains an area of high scrutiny. Literature findings do not inspire confidence in the use of passwords. Human factors such as the acceptance of and compliance with minimum standards of data security are considered significant determinants of effective data-security practices. However, human and technical factors alone do not provide solutions if they exclude the context in which the technology is applied.Objectives. To reflect on the outcome of a dissertation which argues that the minimum standards of effective password use prescribed by the information security sector are not suitable to the emergency-driven medical environment, and that their application as required by law raises new and unforeseen ethical dilemmas.Method. A close-ended questionnaire, the Picture Archiving and Communication System Confidentiality Scale (PAC-CS) was used to collect quantitative data from 115 health professionals employed in both a private radiology and a hospital setting. The PACS-CS sought to explore the extent of compliance with accepted minimum standards of effective password usage.Results. The percentage compliance with minimum standards was calculated. A significant statistical difference (p<0.05) between the expected and observed data-security practices was recorded.Conclusion. The study interrogates the suitability of adherence to minimum standards of effective password usage in an emergency-driven medical environment and calls for much-needed debate in this area