Policies

Web Standards for Universal Accessibility

It is the policy of the State of to ensure that people with hearing, visual and other disabilities have equal access to public information that is available on the Internet and the World Wide Web. It is the direct responsibility of the agency and its web page developers to become familiar with the guidelines for achieving universal accessibility and to apply these principles in designing and creating any official State of Rhode Island Portal.

It has been estimated that 54 million people or 20.6% of all Americans have some level of disability. This is a large segment of society waiting for opportunities to interact with all levels of government.

Estimates indicate that 95-99 percent of all Web sites are inaccessible at some level. These statistics are staggering considering the number of sites that come online daily. As of January 2000, there were an estimated 10 million Web sites online, by the end of the year - 25 million and by the year 2002, one hundred million. To date there have been no formal complaints filed against a governmental agency under the ADA of 1990. The use of the guidelines below will ensure that Web sites created by the State of Rhode Island are developed to serve the largest possible audience. Following these guidelines will also provide an added benefit to those users with text-based browsers, slow(er) modem connections and/or no multi-media capabilities on their computer.

The Access Board (the federal board assigned to create Section 508 standards) used the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative guidelines as the benchmark for developing their standards.

RI.gov has adopted the Design of HTML Pages to increase accessibility to users with disabilities as the primary guideline to meet the objectives of the Universal Access for State Design policy. These published guidelines are maintained by professionals trained in the area of assistive and information technology.

RI.gov embraces these standards and will be evaluating our site on a regular basis, increasing the opportunity for all individuals to access information over the Internet. The Universal Access Design Standards are being integrated into RI.gov and will continue to evolve as new technologies and opportunities emerge.

See Also:

• View the accessibility checklist

Cookies

Cookies are small text files which a web server may ask your web browser to store, and to send back to the web server when needed. Cookies may be used to store a transaction identifier or other information a user may provide. We use cookies in the following ways:

• Complex transactions: Cookies are used to store and retrieve unique transaction identifiers or other server-generated or user-provided information in complex, multi-page web applications. This allows us to distinguish between different users, and to use information provided at one stage of an application at a later time (for instance, items placed in a 'shopping cart' might need to be displayed on a later 'check-out' screen). When we use cookies in this way, the cookie is stored on your web browser only temporarily; the cookie is destroyed at the end of the transaction or at the end of the browser session.
• Customized Services: Cookies may also be used to automatically identify a particular user to the system, in order to provide a customized service, such as a personalized web page. In this case, a cookie containing a unique user identifier will be permanently stored on your web browser. We do not store sensitive information in such cookies; only a unique user identifier or generic preference values are stored. Personal information you give us for processing a transaction or using one of our personalization features, may be stored on our secure web server. Personal information that you give us for processing a transaction or using one of our personalization features, may be stored on our secure web server, retained only as long as necessary and properly disposed of by destruction under the State of Rhode Island Title 38 Access to Public Records law.

We do not use cookies in order to track your visit to our website. The "help" portion of the toolbar on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies or how to disable cookies altogether. However, cookies allow you to take full advantage of many State of Rhode Island e-government services, and we recommend that you leave them turned on. The State of Rhode Island does use cookies to note new and repeat visitors for statistical purposes. We do not use cookies to keep a database of personally-identifying information about visitors when you visit our site, unless you choose to provide such information to us. Indeed, we do not maintain any information at all that can personally identify a user of our Web sites. No other attempts are made to identify individual users or their usage habits. Raw data logs are used for no other purpose than those stated above and are scheduled for frequent and regular destruction. The State of Rhode Island makes no guarantee or warranty that servers not managed or controlled by the State of Rhode Island that are linked to this WWW site are not using cookies or collecting personally-identifying data.

Copyright

The State of Rhode Island makes the content of this WWW site available to the public. Anyone may view information found here without obligation to the State of Rhode Island, unless otherwise stated on particular articles of information to which a restriction on fair use may apply. However, the State of Rhode Island makes no warranty that materials contained herein are free of copyright claims or other restrictions or limitations on fair use or display. The compiled information presented on this WWW site is considered public information and may be distributed or copied. However, use of appropriate byline/photo/image credits is requested.

Disclaimer

This World Wide Web (WWW) site is provided as a public service by the State of Rhode Island. This site is intended to be used by the public for viewing and retrieving information only. In providing information on this site, we have attempted to be as accurate as possible. However, the State of Rhode Island makes no claims, guarantees or promises about the accuracy, currency, or completeness of the information provided and is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or  for results obtained from the use of the information. Every possible effort is made to keep the content of this site accurate and current, but that may not always be the case. Distribution of the information does not constitute any warranty. The user assumes the risk of verifying any materials used or relied on.

Legal Notices

Infringement Claims/Copyright Agent

If you believe that any material contained on the www.ri.gov site (the "Site") infringes your copyright or other intellectual property rights, you should notify Rhode Island Interactive, LLC of your copyright infringement claim in accordance with the following procedure. Rhode Island Interactive will process notices of alleged infringement which it receives and will take appropriate action as required by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and other applicable intellectual property laws. The DMCA requires that notifications of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to this Site's Designated Agent:

By mail:

Rhode Island Interactive DMCA Agent

c/o Stinson Morrison Hecker

Stinson IP Administrator, 1201 Walnut, Suite 2900, Kansas City, MO 64106

By phone:

816-842-8600

By fax:

816-691-3495

By email:

DMCA@stinsonleonard.com

To be effective, the notification must be in writing and contain the following information (DMCA, 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)):

• Physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;
• Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;
• Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material;
• Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted;
• A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and
• A statement, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
• E-mails sent to DMCA@stinsonleonard.com for purposes other than communication about copyright claims may not be acknowledged or responded to.

Links

The State of Rhode Island’s computer resources and materials may contain hypertext or other links to external sites not owned or controlled by the State.

• Links to external servers do not imply any official State of Rhode Island endorsement of the opinions or ideas expressed therein, or guarantee the validity of the information provided.
• Links to commercial sites are in no way an endorsement of any vendors' products or services. 
• Links to other computer systems are not supervised nor regularly reviewed by the State of Rhode Island.
• Any information, endorsements of products or services, materials or personal opinions appearing on such external sites are not controlled, sponsored nor approved by the State of Rhode Island.
• Links may be provided to external servers that are managed in a professional manner, that are fully operational, available most of the time and do not serve inaccurate information or obscene information, including graphics.  The State of Rhode Island will not link to external servers if such link would appear to provide an official endorsement of fundraising efforts or lobbying for a political agenda.

Privacy Policy

All State of Rhode Island computer systems are subject to monitoring at all times to assure proper functioning of the systems, to provide security for the computer systems' operations and the information contained therein, to prevent unauthorized use, and to deter and investigate violations of the law. There is no reasonable expectation of privacy in the use of this public computer system, save in areas designated and labeled as being presented by our secure server.

We may collect some or all of the following information about visitors who view or download information from our Web sites:

The information we collect is used to improve the content of our Web services and help us understand how people are using our services. We analyze our web site logs to continually improve the value of the materials available on our site. The information in our web site logs is not personally identifiable, and we make no attempt to link it with the individuals that browse our web site. Some of this statistical information, such as a running count of the number of visitors, may be displayed on the website or shared with other state governments to aid in the provision of better service to the public.

Security Policy

The State of Rhode Island and RI.gov take Internet security very seriously. Our technology and policies are designed to make your online transactions safe, private and secure. Rigorous policies and procedures are utilized to safeguard your personal information, such as social security numbers, financial information and personal data.

• Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Encryption - This enables the encryption of sensitive information during an online transaction. SSL encryption protects the information you submit from being viewed by unauthorized parties while the information travels through the Internet.
• Yearly Security Assessment - Annually, RI.gov policies and procedures are examined, measured and validated by a third-party company specializing in cyber security utilizing standards and best practices as set forth by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
• RI.gov Security - Hardware and software that controls the data entering and leaving the RI.gov network are configured and regularly updated to provide the highest level of protection.
• Secure Internal Networks - Internal networks are securely connected, segmented and protected using the principle of least privilege to be sure that only authorized users can access specific network resources and data.
• Data Storage Policies - Unless necessary, RI.gov does not store sensitive personal or financial information. If storage is required, the information is stored in an encrypted form and then promptly destroyed once its business need is served.
• Physical Location Security - All physical locations where hardware and software are located are physically secured and only accessible by individuals with proper credentials.
• Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS) Compliant - Adherence to performance measurements outlined in the PCI DSS annual self-evaluation, as well as submission to regular scans from an external third-party auditing service to search for network vulnerabilities.
• Application Security - All Web applications are regularly scanned to locate potential vulnerabilities.
• Sarbanes-Oxley Compliant - Adhere to secure change control procedures.
• The State of Rhode Island and RI.gov work hard to protect your personal information while you do business with government online.

For site security purposes and to ensure that WWW service remains available to all users, the State of Rhode Island computer system employs software programs which can monitor network traffic to identify unauthorized attempts to upload or change information, or otherwise cause damage. Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information on this service are strictly prohibited and may be punishable under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 and the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act. The State of Rhode Island website content materials are provided for public use on computer systems located within the State of Rhode Island and for the use and benefit of citizens of Rhode Island and others. Any person choosing to use this system or seeking access to information or materials on this system is subject to Rhode Island jurisdiction. Any dispute arising therefrom shall be decided under the laws and in the courts of Rhode Island.

Translation Policy

Some pages of the RI.gov website have been translated for your convenience using Google Translate, a free third-party service, which RI.gov has no control over. The service provides automated computer translations that are only an approximation of the original content. For these translations, reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace human translators.

Any discrepancies or differences created in translating this content from English into another language are not binding and have no legal effect for compliance, enforcement, or any other purpose. In the event of a discrepancy between the translation and the original version of RI.gov, the original version will prevail.

RI.gov does not warrant the accuracy, reliability or timeliness of any information translated by this system and will not accept liability for loss incurred as a result. Some applications, files or items cannot be translated including graphs, photos, or portable document formats. In addition, some applications and/or services may not work as expected when translated. Please click the following link if you have any questions about Google Translate: http://translate.google.com/support/

Google disclaims all warranties related to the translations, expressed or implied, including any warranties of accuracy, reliability, and any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement.