Friday, August 5, 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

LETTERS: Mirror Mirror On The Wall

by Contributor
June 17, 2013
in Latest, Letters, Op-Ed
2
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Letters to Asbarez

This year, the Armenian people turned the corner on an outdated tradition in which their voices are not heard, their will is not registered, and their sacrifices are not recognized. For the first time in modern history, citizens of the Republic of Armenia gave shape, form, and dimension to their civic and individual rights, responsibilities, and entitlements.

While unprecedented progress was realized in villages, towns and cities across Armenia in breaking the cycles of cynicism and indifference, some have taken the opportunity to characterize the lack of absolute success as absolute failure.  More often than not, the sticks and stones have come off the keyboard fingers of those who weren’t there, those who don’t care, and those who won’t dare to make a difference themselves.

The entire illustrious spectrum of named and unnamed political leaders and political parties voted with their two left feet long before and well after Armenia’s February 18, 2013 presidential election.

They decided, for their own defensible and indefensible reasons, to do little to build national consensus and the bridges across which a broad oppositional current could gain momentum.  Alas, the popular movement was realized despite the idleness and inactivity of so many naturals who could have been constructively engaged.

One leader was left standing after the dust of everyone’s disengagement had settled, and that leader was Raffi Hovannisian.  He stood with hundreds of thousands of his fellow citizens on presidential election day February 18th, on inauguration day April 9th, and on mayoral election day May 5th.  He stood, stumbled, and got right back up with them again. He became worthy of the powerful words of President Theodore Roosevelt:

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Together, Raffi and the Armenian people ushered in this momentous year which, on their watch, saw hope, dignity, and self-worth being returned to the Armenian people. He provided the guiding light, and many chose the right path to freedom.  He, along with legions of other devotees of democracy, justice and independence, helped give those defining national treasures back to the ordinary Armenian man, woman, and child, a deliverance which, unlike the near-million votes cast for him, can never be ignored or uncounted.

To be perfectly clear, the authors of this letter are interested individuals, interested in the future of Armenia, interested in Raffi Hovannisian, and interested in truth beyond the puff and punditry which routinely populate cyberspace. We are members of Raffi’s family and among his friends and colleagues.

It’s funny how those who are the quickest to try to project fault on Hovannisian are the ones who did the least to make the current reality any different than what it ultimately became. In fact, by doing so very little, they did so very much to make sure that nothing at all would change.

The naysayers and critics did nothing because most of them were afraid of their own failure and because some were hoping for Raffi’s.  He, on the other hand, was not afraid of his own failure and was praying against theirs.

It’s sad how out-of-touch some appear to be with the real-life miracles and positive changes that played out this year through the inspiration and leadership of Raffi Hovannisian.  Never before in the history of the republic in its previous election cycles did so many people really, truly believe in themselves as agents of change, worthy of the God-given promises of life and liberty.

For Armenia’s first twenty-two years, these sacred promises have not been well-kept either by those in power or by those who are liberal with their criticism of others and conservative with their circumspection about themselves. We are reminded of and feel compelled to refer to the appropriate lesson from the Scriptures:

And why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? Matthew 7:3.

It’s wonderful how those who did something good continue to do something good.  Raffi did so then, and does so now.

It’s a shame how those who did nothing continue to do nothing unless, of course, dithering on the internet is considered something.

United we did not stand, divided we did fall.

Let’s get it right next time.

Edvin E. Minassian, Esq.
Garo B. Ghazarian, Esq.
Armen K. Hovannisian, Esq.

Contributor

Contributor

Next Post

Crimean Tatars Oppose Ukraine’s Genocide Recognition Bill

Comments 2

  1. amb says:
    9 years ago

    Instead of being so sanctimonious as to throw “lines from the Scriptures” at us, which has the tacit implication of elevating Raffi H. and his supports to untainted, pure divine ranks; instead of so much concentrating and being concerned about what the critics say or don’t say, do or don’t do, objectively analyze and critique the actions of your candidate, see how or if those actions were rational, logical, effective and useful for the well-being of Armenia.

    Reply
    • Saro Kerkonian says:
      9 years ago

      To AMB:
      Your comment gives no credit to the hundreds of thousands of Armenian citizens who cast a ballot for Raffi on February 18, 2013, who recognized that his ideas, his plans for Armenia would be the righteous and best path for their nation in the years to come. Your comment gives no credit to the thousands upon thousands of Armenian brothers and sister, who on April 9, 2013, at Raffi’s initiative, participated in an extraordinary act of civil engagement by holding the Armenian Constitution in their hand and took an oath to uphold the Constitution and abide by the rule of law, without fear. Those Armenian citizens recognized that Raffi’s initiative is an Olympian leap forward for their nation because it implants in the minds of the Armenian people the positive belief system that for a civil society to work, it must be governed by a set of laws and not men. The Armenian citizens who support Raffi understand that before true change can come to Armenia there must first be change in the way the Armenian people think about themselves and their relationship with and role in their own governance. It appears that you feel that encouraging a society to adhere to law, rather than avoid it, to encourage Armenian citizens that they have the collective power to bring about positive change in their lives over the rule of a select few, is somehow irrational, illogical, ineffective and useless. I think the courageous Armenian citizens who support Raffi, the 750,000 Armenian citizens in the diaspora who were disenfranchised in the last election, would vehemently disagree with your comment. I commend Messrs. Ghazarian, Minassian and Hovannisian for calling out those who did not heed the wise words of Gandhi that “The future depends on what you do today.”

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

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

Recommended

Pashinyan Accuses Azerbaijan of Wanting to End Karabakh Ceasefire

Pashinyan Accuses Azerbaijan of Wanting to End Karabakh Ceasefire

12 hours ago
U.S. Discusses Karabakh with Turkey as Calls for De-Escalation Mount

U.S. Discusses Karabakh with Turkey as Calls for De-Escalation Mount

12 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

    • asbarez.com
    • August 5, 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