A Senior Curation Specialist specializing in Safety and Compliance, Amanda Sessions assists publishers and customers in complying with regulations and mandates and taking new courses to the next level for learners. Amanda relies on OpenSesame’s exhaustive data and her deep knowledge of the 25,000 courses available. Her curated course lists are custom-created for the exact moment in an organization’s Safety and Compliance initiatives. She’s a futurist in many ways — always staying one step ahead of her customers’ needs and regulatory changes. 

Describe your role.

As a Senior Curation Specialist, I work with publishers to help them succeed and ensure we have the latest and greatest safety and compliance content. When I’m not working with publishers, I’m helping recommend the course lists for customers to meet their very specific requirements and preferences.

What makes your role unique at OpenSesame?

Custom curation feels like power when there are 25,000 opportunities to help improve and inspire learning in a workforce

How did the move to a work-from-home economy affect your work? 

As workforces have been transitioning from live training to online training, the first thing they needed was Safety and Compliance training. In the peak of 2020, customers were turning to us as the experts of what they should be ready for next. The essential topics needed to be deployed right away, and that included COVID safety and workplace guidelines. It felt good to be a trusted guide and have a solid roadmap for our customers and our publishers in such a historic time. The publishers wanted to know what they ought to create, and the customers wanted to know what they needed to be trained on. It was all easily prescribed by OpenSesame. And, while being compliant with COVID safety became a priority, something that has not gone away has been sexual harassment training. The #MeToo movement began right before I started, and the demand for this important content has not slowed down. 

How do you curate the best possible course lists for your customers? 

By leveraging all our data—and we have so much. I use our CAP and our comprehensive data to compare it to the personal data and the customer’s requirements. Then I add in language and accessibility requirements and make sure we’re hitting all those. I put all of it together and make the perfect cake. I’m very comfortable as a Safety and Compliance expert. I came from a background of Safety and Compliance in healthcare, and my time at OpenSesame has only helped me establish myself as a specialist in that role. 

What does a typical day look like for you?  

Our team receives such a wide range of questions, and each one is a challenge and an opportunity to learn. I’ll have a call or two a day with publishers. The other half of the day is spent building customized curated course lists for customers. Much of my work involves supporting customers internally. I love supporting my team in helping our customers. Turning in a curated list to a customer success manager and hearing how I could help the customer is great. Getting to review new publisher content is a delight, and I use my attention to detail to spot opportunities for improvement. I give very specific feedback on details, including terminology and audio/video quality.  Previewing a wide range of topics enriches my understanding of professional development. 

What is your favorite TED course?

10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation by Celeste Headlee.

How has your role grown since starting at OpenSesame?

I have experienced relationship building and account management on a whole new level in daily work with our publishers and customers. The autonomy we have in our roles allows us to customize our customers’ experience.  Not only have I become exposed to a broader range of training content, I feel I have a greater understanding of how a highly successful customer and employee-focused company operates.

Want to know more about how Amanda can curate for you? Check out Amanda’s pre-curated list of courses on Promoting a Culture of Ethics.

To get a better idea of how OpenSesame’s curation team can work with you to help you get the most out of your budget and accelerate engagement, connect with one of our experts for a personalized, guided demo.

Get a Personalized Demo →

Access The Pre-Curated List →

Avoid Overpaying on Employee Training – webinar →

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Portland, OR – 21 September 2021 – OpenSesame, a market-leading SaaS global elearning innovator, today announced the addition of Eleventure to its popular OpenSesame Plus subscription. With this announcement, OpenSesame is adding significant expertise to its robust catalog that will boost on-the-job skills in a variety of subject areas. 

Eleventure provides high-quality, microlearning courses designed to help learners enhance the skills they use on a daily basis from communicating with others, setting goals, or managing their time effectively. 

The learner-centered microlearning approach that Eleventure takes enables the learner to retain knowledge, while addressing critical topics like Resocialization after Covid-19 and Creating Racial Equity in the Workplace (CREW). These courses dive beyond the surface to provide true value for learners and their organizations. Some of Eleventure’s most popular courses center around reducing workplace anxiety and conflict management, critical topics that can shape an organization’s environment and culture.

“We are excited to welcome Eleventure and their 50+ courses to the OpenSesame Plus catalog. Their fast, action-focused courses fill critical gaps in our ever evolving workplaces,” said Spencer Thornton, Senior Vice President of Curation at OpenSesame. “In addition the need for learner-centered microlearning courses has grown even more critical.” 

“Eleventure helps people learn and apply new skills quickly, offering high quality content in a casual, refreshing micro format that learners love,” said Megan Torrance, CEO of TorranceLearning. “We’re thrilled to make these courses available to OpenSesame’s customers.” 

About OpenSesame

OpenSesame helps develop the world’s most productive and admired workforces through powerful online learning in every industry. With the most comprehensive catalog of elearning courses from the world’s top publishers, OpenSesame helps global companies every step of the way. In a moment of an increasingly virtual workforce, OpenSesame has added even more Global 2000 companies to its customer base. With over 20,000+ courses, the platform touches all industries in all markets. For more information, visit opensesame.com

About Eleventure

Eleventure® takes a learner-centered microlearning approach, addressing critical topics that learners need now. From courses on Covid-19, Resocialization after Covid-19, and Virtual Selling to Creating Racial Equity in the Workplace (CREW), Eleventure courses dive beyond the surface level to provide true value for learners and their organizations. In addition, the courses on reducing workplace anxiety, workplace communication and conflict management, and coaching are time-tested popular offerings. Eleventure teaches critical, on-the-job skills people need. It’s fast. It’s fresh. It’s action based. And it’s designed and developed by the award-winning team at TorranceLearning.

To learn more about Eleventure’s training, visit www.opensesame.com/s/eleventure

Media contact:

Hallie Janssen

hallie.janssen@opensesame.com

(917) 253-7355

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Voices of OpenSesame Juntos Employee Resource Group (ERG): 

I spent most of my childhood summers visiting my abuela who lived in the foothills of a mountain in the southwestern part of the United States. I loved to run through the arroyos, eat from her apricot trees, and catch lizards who became my summer companions. Whenever I went inside her house, I was met with love from her big, warm hugs, her large plates of food with her homemade tortillas, and her affectionate “mijita.” Outside of her affectionate address, I was rarely met with one thing: Spanish. 

Even though my abuela was bilingual in Spanish and English, she never spoke Spanish with me. This was the same at home; my mom never spoke Spanish with me either. There are many contributing factors, with one being that I lived in a multicultural home, and my dad didn’t speak the language, nor was he Hispanic. Thus, our language at home was only English with a sprinkle of Spanish words and phrases. However, the main reason I never grew up speaking Spanish was because of the generation I was born into. 

My mom’s family is part of the Hispanic community in the U.S. who predates the United States itself. They lived on the land in the southwest that eventually became a state. My family never immigrated to the U.S., but were instead living in areas where “the border crossed us.” For my mom, she faced discrimination for speaking Spanish, especially in school, and was faced with all aspects of assimilation. My mom’s perspectives on Spanish grew from this experience and impacted how my sister and I would grow up without it. 

I went through my childhood never questioning my lack of Spanish and thought of it as something fun to listen to when overhearing my mom on the phone, for example. I even took high school Spanish because I thought, “Mom speaks it. It should be an easy class.” It wasn’t until I was older and when my abuela passed away that I began to truly contemplate the important relationship between language and cultural identity. Whenever I asked my mom why my sister and I never learned Spanish, she would always respond by saying, “I felt English was more important because I wanted you to have opportunities.”

Into my adulthood, I began to feel like something was missing, like I wasn’t a “real” Hispanic because I couldn’t speak the language. And from interactions with some Spanish-speaking Hispanics, that became more obvious as they would usually shame my mom for not teaching me our cultural language. But they didn’t understand what contributed to my mom’s decision. My generation didn’t grow up speaking Spanish. My sister didn’t. My first cousins didn’t. We were the result of the effects of discrimination and assimilation that our parents grew up with, where English trumped Spanish at every turn. 

Now, as an adult, I’ve been trying to learn my cultural language with the disheartening fact that I’ll never be a fluent Spanish speaker like my abuela’s generation or even my mom’s — as she jokingly calls it — “Spanglish” generation. I still question if I’m Hispanic enough. But with that comes an additional question: How do I self-identify now?

Latinx is one option.

The term Latinx is something I see and hear all the time. It’s in the news, in textbooks, on social media, and even in our company’s courses. However, I don’t use the term. Honestly, I don’t even like it. If there is one way I would not self-identify, it’s as Latinx. 

According to Pew Research, most Latinos don’t use the term. And for someone like my mom, along with 76% of the adult Latino population, they haven’t even heard of it. The term is more commonly known among young adults and college graduates. 

I can understand how adding an “x” is trying to make the term gender-inclusive. However, the “x” represents another form of erasure to me. My cultural language was taken from me because of the assimilation that tried to erase the language from my mom and her generation, and that assimilation met its goal with many in my generation. The addition of the “x” is just another reminder of that. 

The “x” doesn’t follow the grammatical conventions of the Spanish language, and that is the very reason for its use. The “x” attempts to erase the gendered conventions of a language spoken by over 550 million people — in the name of inclusion. However, there are other inclusive equivalents that I believe are more respectful to the Spanish language. There is a term that already exists in English: Latin, as in Latin music and Latin America. There’s even a Spanish version that fits its grammatical conventions, Latine. It uses –e instead of –o or –a. These are more favorable options that don’t try to erase the Spanish language. The “x” seems like a way to fix something that isn’t even broken. 

What’s truly broken is the continued prejudice and discrimination against Spanish speakers and the idea that if they don’t speak English in the U.S., they should go back “home.” But that ignores the reality of the U.S. having “the second largest population of Spanish speakers in the world,” and for people like my family, we are home. We’ve been home for generations. We’ve never left.

For various reasons — with some being very personal ones — not all of us may agree with or even like the term Latinx, while some do. This is because the Hispanic and Latino population is not monolithic. We all don’t identify in the same way, and that includes the terms we choose for ourselves and for being more inclusive.

So, how do I choose to self-identify? For me, it’s complicated, but I’ll always be my abuela’s mijita.

By a Member of Juntos ERG

To learn more about how you can propel your DEI initiatives, use the resources below:

Essential DEI Resources →

DEI Progress Survey →

ERG Curated Course List →

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OpenSesame offers a wide variety of online sexual harassment prevention courses applicable in any business context. For states without specific requirements, many OpenSesame sexual harassment prevention courses will help you meet your training needs. Learn more about the requirements in the states you operate to ensure your organization is in compliance, and your employees stay safe, happy, and productive. 

To learn more about how OpenSesame can help your organization meet your sexual harassment prevention training needs, contact us at (503) 808-1268 or visit www.opensesame.com.

The post 2021 State-specific sexual harassment training requirements (United States) appeared first on OpenSesame.

• • Develop an infection-control plan to govern when workers must use personal protective equipment and describe specific hazard controls. Employers must also conduct a risk assessment, with feedback from employees, to gauge potential hazards.
  • Inform and train workers about infection risk in the languages understood by their workers.

OpenSesame is here to support you every step of the way. Check out these specially curated courses on creating an infection control plan, keeping your workplace safe, and infection safety courses offered in multiple languages to keep your employees safe and comply with the new mandates.

With courses offered in multiple languages, and available on multiple devices, OpenSesame helps companies like yours develop the world’s most developed and admired global workforces. For more information on how OpenSesame can save you time and money by curating the right courses for your organization, contact us at info@opensesame.com today.

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Business has slowed for many organizations but you still want your employees to be productive and get ready to return to normal without skipping a beat. So what can you do? Ensure employees can produce at full capacity when they return to the workplace by shifting your compliance training schedule. Typically, companies go through their annual compliance training cycles in the third and fourth quarter of the year, however, most companies anticipate transitioning back to the workplace in the latter half of 2020. Use the WFH time now for mandatory training of your employees so when you need them ramping back up at the workplace they won’t have to worry about taking time out of their busy schedules to complete their training.

In addition,  you can ask employees for more in-depth feedback on the training. In some cases and under normal circumstances, employees will speed through their mandatory training, however, with more time on their hands, employees can look at the courses with a more critical eye and provide feedback so you can improve and adjust your compliance training in the future. 

At OpenSesame, we help companies develop the world’s most productive and admired workforces. As the world grapples with the impact of coronavirus, we believe elearning can assist your organization in improving employee productivity later in 2020 by completing mandatory training now. 

Not only can OpenSesame help you with your compliance initiatives, but we’ve also curated a list of courses geared towards adapting to a new business environment, staying healthy at work, best practices for safe business travel and collaborative working with virtual teams to help your team prepare to return to the workplace.  These courses are made available free of charge through 15 June 2020. Please use them to help your employees return to the workplace more prepared and knowledgeable. 

Sign up for these free courses at go.opensesame.com/return-offer 

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Implementing online anti-bribery/anti-corruption training to employees, third parties, partners and suppliers, in the language of their choice, is an important step in promoting business ethics and compliance that helps protect your organization from bribery, corruption and other unethical behavior.  Among the questions training should address are: 

What is the FCPA?

The FCPA is the principal federal law that makes it a crime to pay a bribe to a foreign public official for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Jointly enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the FCPA applies to any company that does business internationally or whose securities are listed in the U.S. Besides covering anti-bribery, the FCPA also has an accounting provision, which includes books, records, and internal controls. 

What is bribery?

Bribery has evolved into a sophisticated crime — it’s much more than offering someone an envelope stuffed with cash. Generally, depending on the country or statute, bribery means offering, giving or promising anything of value to a government official with the intent to influence that official or gain an unfair advantage, usually to acquire or maintain business. Bribes can be cash and gifts, such as electronics, cars, watches or expensive wine, as well as travel and accommodations, donations to a charity or a political party, trade secrets, stock tips, hospitality and entertainment, and offers of employment.

Who is considered a foreign public official?

It’s not always easy to identify a public official— it’s a broad category. Some examples are heads of state, cabinet members, judges and magistrates, legislators, regulators, law enforcement, government workers and individuals working on behalf of public international organizations, such as the UN, Red Cross or the World Bank. A good rule is to treat all business contacts as  ‘public officials’ and assume that anti-bribery laws apply to your interactions with them.

What should I do?

Training is an effective way to communicate and explain your organization’s internal policies and procedures for reporting incidents of bribery, corruption and other misconduct. Training should also reinforce a ‘tone from the top’ that ethical behavior and practices are core to your culture and that everyone, at every level and location, is accountable for their words and actions.

Bribery and corruption in the workplace are serious crimes, whose costs go far beyond criminal penalties and large fines. Organizations can minimize the risk of FCPA violations by communicating clear policies and procedures, and providing regular training to employees and third parties on their responsibility to recognize and report bribery and corruption and act ethically. 

Andrew Rawson is the Chief Learning Officer and Co-founder at Traliant. He has more than 25 years of experience in strategy, operations, and marketing. Prior to founding Traliant, Andrew served as the Global Head of Compliance Learning (eLearning) at Thomson Reuters, an information, technology, and services company with more than 60,000 employees. He has held senior management positions in the manufacturing, commercial construction, and software industries.

In addition to being a seasoned professional with a background of diverse organizational experiences, Andrew is a classic lifelong learner. His love of learning inspires him to deliver the most engaging and effective courses possible to the learners that Traliant serves.

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Portland, OR – 26 February 2020 – OpenSesame, the elearning innovator, announced iAM Learning was added to its popular OpenSesame Plus subscription to expand its curated library of safety, well-being, and soft skills courses. 

Global 2000 companies leverage the OpenSesame Plus subscription with over 6,000 curated courses—now including iAM Learning’s animated short-format courses—to keep employees safe, motivated, and happy while keeping the organization compliant.

From the creative minds that originally developed the very popular Learning Heroes courses, iAM Learning blends the art of storytelling and stunning animation to bring content to life and engage learners. Using likable characters and captivating stories, iAM Learning courses help enterprise organizations ensure their employees are engaged in learning with bite-sized training content that’s fun, vibrant, and authentic.

“While ever-important, the topic of employee health and safety — particularly mental health — is often hard to broach; yet it remains at the top of every L&D professional’s mind,” said Spencer Thornton, Senior Vice President of Curation at OpenSesame. “iAM Learning’s thoughtful and effective approach to these sensitive topics helps organizations meet compliance requirements as well as also sets up employees for long-term growth and success.”

“Employees need compelling, memorable training to help them upskill quickly as well as keep them safe and engaged throughout their career,” said Tom Moore, Chief Operating Officer of iAM Learning. “ We’re excited that, through our new partnership with OpenSesame, our immersive, bite-sized animated elearning courses will reach more organizations around the world and help them solve their training challenges.”

About OpenSesame

OpenSesame helps develop the world’s most productive and admired workforces. With the most comprehensive catalog of elearning courses from the world’s top publishers, we are here to help you every step of the way, from finding courses, mapping them to your core competencies, syncing them with your LMS to increasing utilization and improving your L&D programs. Not only will you have the flexibility of multiple purchasing options from OpenSesame, you’ll find it simple to use and administer your elearning courses. To learn more, visit www.opensesame.com.

About iAM Learning

iAM Learning is disrupting what you know about learning. Our course designers use high-end animation, lovable characters, and captivating stories to make even the most serious subjects appealing and unforgettable. Transform the way your workforce trains and retains with the bitesize animated elearning library your people will love. What are you waiting for? Visit www.iamlearningcontent.com to learn more.

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Many states are expected to follow California’s legislative lead. Did you know, however, that 1 in 7 Americans do not feel safe at work and according to the FBI 43.7% of active shooter events take place in areas of commerce, 20.6% take place in schools, and 9.4% take place in government properties?  While these areas may seem very different , what they have in common is that they are all places of work.

When training your workforce for violence prevention or an active shooter threat, it is key to focus on not just on the event itself, but the before and after as well. 

• • Before: Look, listen, tell. 

Be aware of your coworkers and any changes in their personality, obsessions with combat gaming or violent imagery, and statements or comments about hurting themselves or others. If you feel uncomfortable bringing your concerns to a manager or your HR department remember that the risk of being wrong and possibly offending someone is outweighed by the reward, preventing violence and saving lives. 

• • During: Run, hide, fight. 

This is a popular phrase in active threat training but it can be confused for a list of instructions rather than a list of possible actions so it is helpful to pair these actions with zones that reflect how close someone is to an active threat. If you are in the Out of Range Zone of an active threat then you should run or evacuate and call 911. If you are in an Indirect Threat Zone, meaning you are close to the threat but hidden from view you should call 911, and you should run if your escape route is clear or hide if it is not. If you are in the Direct Threat Zone, meaning the active threat is visible and you are in close proximity then you should run or fight. 

• • After: Breathe, think, act. 

After the threat it is crucial to help yourself and those around you. The Hartford Consensus recommends following the acronym THREAT. Threat suppression, Hemorrhage control, Rapid Extraction to safety, and Transport to definitive care. 

Training your organization for the before, during, and after of an active threat can not only help prevent an active threat but also allow workers to feel safer and more confident in their workplace. There are many different options for training your workforce, and it comes down to finding which is the right fit for you. Learn more and watch the full webinar “Workplace violence prevention: preparing practically and for potential compliance” here.

With courses offered in multiple languages, and available on multiple devices we help companies like yours develop the world’s most developed and admired global workforces. For more information on how OpenSesame can save you time and money by curating the right courses for your organization, contact us at info@opensesame.com today, and be sure to check out courses from WILL Interactive on active threat response.

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Supervisors are also the ones in an organization uniquely positioned to address warning signs before they escalate, and report warning signs of a potential threat.

Creating a workplace that actively addresses and works to prevent bullying not only creates a positive company culture, but also helps to reduce turnover. In fact 65% of workers who witnessed or experienced bullying in their workplace quit or lost their job because of bullying. 

Threats in the workplace include: 

• Domestic disputes
• Coworker disputes/harassment
• Criminal acts
• Bullying and harassment
• Active shooter situations

Four Steps to Cultivate a Safer Workplace

• Step 1: Know your employees By conducting background checks and references during hiring can prevent a potentially volatile person from joining your organization in the first place. Proper screening is crucial as your company could be found liable for negligence in the hiring process. In addition, if a violent incident should occur you may be obligated to notify future employers of that employee’s background as failing to disclose that information can be considered negligent referral.

• Step 2: Create clear policies Create an environment of respect by establishing a policy that covers everyone in your workplace, from employees to contractors, vendors, and even visitors. This policy should be supported by top level management and be clear about unacceptable behaviors as well as the possible consequences for them. It should also outline procedures for reporting offenses.

• Step 3: Enforce your policies Enforce your policy and enforce it consistently. All reports of bullying, harassment, violence and threats must be taken seriously.

• Step 4: Complete a threat assessment Determine where your company could better protect itself against workplace violence. Teach your employees how to identify warning signs, how to report concerning behavior, and how to deescalate a situation. Deescalation is an especially important skill for managers and supervisors.

You can watch the full webinar “Preventing Bullying and Workplace Violence Through Supervisor and Workplace Training” here. 

With courses offered in multiple languages, and available on multiple devices we help companies like yours develop the world’s most developed and admired global workforces. For more information on how OpenSesame can save you time and money by curating the right courses for your organization, contact us at info@opensesame.com today.

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It’s titled “Illinois Training Compliance Update: A guideline for implementation of Illinois’ new sexual harassment prevention training requirement.” It’s free, and you don’t have to sign up for anything or provide any contact information.

You can download it HERE

This quick read will provide you with information on timeline, content requirements, expert assumptions and suggestions, and selecting the best training solution solely based on what would be best for your organization.

I hope you find this information helpful as you navigate brand new HR, training and compliance requirements!

Established in 1994, WILL Interactive is the most highly awarded eLearning developer in the United States. WILL’s unique training methodology encourages active participation by putting learners in control of their own educational adventure. Users make decisions for the lead characters in an interactive movie and experience the consequences of their choices. Multiple independent studies have been completed on the effectiveness of WILL’s training methodology. The combination of learner engagement, artful storytelling, rigorously vetted content, and a user-driven training methodology grounded in the principles of advanced adult learning theory creates highly memorable educational experiences that are proven-effective
to positively influence attitudes, behaviors, and workplace culture.

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Portland, OR – 20 December 2019 – OpenSesame, the elearning innovator, today announced a partnership with Traliant, a provider of award-winning sexual harassment elearning courses, to expand its offering of interactive compliance training within the OpenSesame Plus subscription. 

Enterprise organizations leverage the OpenSesame Plus subscription—now including Traliant’s behavior-based training—to help create an ethical, compliance-based workplace culture. 

Traliant combines the best elements of video storytelling and elearning tools in its award-winning discrimination and harassment prevention training for office environments, hotels, restaurants, healthcare, retail, construction, and industrial/manufacturing organizations. Additionally, all Traliant courses are available in multiple languages to help global organizations meet their complex training requirements. 

“From small organizations to Global 2000 enterprises, meeting compliance requirements has grown increasingly more complex with ever-changing regulations,” said Spencer Thornton, Senior Vice President of Curation at OpenSesame. “Adding Traliant content to the OpenSesame Plus subscription helps organizations meet the compliance needs of their multi-lingual and diverse workforces.”

“We partnered with OpenSesame because they share our commitment to world-class customer service and engaging learning content,” said Mike Pallatta, Traliant CEO and Co-Founder. “We look forward to expanding the delivery of our compliance and HR courses to more organizations, whether their workforce is local or international.”

About OpenSesame
OpenSesame helps develop the world’s most productive and admired workforces. With the most comprehensive catalog of elearning courses from the world’s top publishers, we are here to help you every step of the way, from finding courses, mapping them to your core competencies, syncing them with your LMS to increasing utilization and improving your L&D programs. Not only will you have the flexibility of multiple purchasing options from OpenSesame, you’ll find it simple to use and administer your elearning courses. To learn more, visit www.opensesame.com

About Traliant
Traliant was founded by industry veterans from some of the world’s most successful compliance training companies to meet the challenge of transforming compliance training from boring to brilliant. Backed by Martinson Ventures, Traliant delivers award-winning, bite-sized compliance training on an eLearning platform that enables fast and easy customization. Courses are available on numerous workplace topics including Diversity Training and Sensitivity Training. For more information, visit www.traliant.com.

Media contacts:

OpenSesame
Diane Haines
Senior Vice President of Marketing
(503) 808-1268
diane.haines@opensesame.com

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However, a recent U.S. Department of Labor reported 59% of employers said that accommodations needed by disabled employees cost “absolutely nothing” while 36% experienced a one time cost. The report also states that, “the accommodation ultimately improved interactions with co-workers, the accommodation increased overall company morale, and the accommodation increased overall company productivity.”

The common accommodations considered for a workplace environment are physical and in an office environment, such as elevators and wheelchair ramps. But what about the barriers that make the online world difficult to access? What accommodations should be considered for your business?

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 requires that federal agencies provide software and website accessibility to people with disabilities. Although it is not required for the private sector to comply with 508, it should be in their best interest to do so since it means more people can access their content.

Online considerations

Ensuring adequate online accessibility requires careful consideration of several factors including:

• Is visual content presented in a structure that can be interpreted by screen reading software? Headings to correctly organize the structure of content, using proper alt text for images, using color with care and much more.

• Are your website and softwares accessible for people with impaired hearing? Do your elearning videos include transcripts and/or subtitles? – perhaps consider including sign language videos as well. In addition, make sure to include contact information beyond a phone a number such as a live webchat. Here’s an example of a company doing it right.

• Can your website and other technology be navigated with a keyboard? Even the fanciest of websites are useless to someone who cannot interact with it. Keyboard friendly websites make accessibility possible for those who are unable to use a mouse. Here are a few tips to help make a website keyboard friendly.

Since 508 is not mandatory, many websites and softwares are inaccessible for a large population of individuals with disabilities. Similar to websites, not all elearning courses are going to be accessible, either. Fortunately, OpenSesame has over 3,300 courses that are 508 compliant and include closed captioning, mindful color contrasting, screen reader compatibility, optional transcripts, and more. Top courses include Negotiation: Your Road to Success, Handle Stress and Sexual Harassment Training for Supervisors. OpenSesame also includes a search filter under ‘Course Features’ that allows you to search for courses that are only 508 compliant (see image below).

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The best way to prepare your IT security professionals for the new challenges faced in protecting network data is to train your them on security vulnerabilities and how to take action to decrease the likelihood of any data breach incidents at your company.

Many of these courses are available from IT University Online through OpenSesame, such as the Certified Information Systems Security Pro (CISSP) course or the popular Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) course. We highly recommend the CompTIA Security+ course series for your IT security team because these course offerings have always set the standard of foundational, non-vendor specific IT security knowledge and skills.

Furthermore, when looking for IT training, be sure to ask about how often content is updated to the constantly changing requirements and challenges.

Check out IT University Online, a leader in security elearning courses to best prepare today’s IT security professionals for the new challenges faced in protecting network data. Our courses are always updated to comply with changing certification requirements for different programs. No need to worry about training information being outdated.

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Updates to California Sexual Harassment Training

Currently, AB 1825 alone will not satisfy compliance requirements. As of 2015, California also requires that companies comply with AB 2053 which includes training on abusive conduct. In addition, in April 2016, the Fair Employment and Housing Act was updated to include policies, protections, and employer actions that focus on the prevention of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. This means that companies must take training that at least covers all three: AB 1825, AB 2053, and updates to FEHA.

• AB 2053* – This amendment requires sexual harassment training to include education on how to prevent harassment, remedies available victims, components of an anti-harassment policy, and practical examples for instructing supervisors. 

*For more information on AB 2053 visit the California Legislative Information

• FEHA* – In 2016 new regulations were added to FEHA that include the requirement of additional written policies. Notable changes include the action around the topics of:

  • Written policy requirements

  • Definitions regarding sex and gender

  • Sex discrimination

  • Reasonable accommodations

  • Human trafficking

  • Unpaid interns and volunteers

  • Pregnancy

  • Religious discrimination

  • Support animals

  • National origin discrimination

  • Anti-bullying training

*For more information on FEHA visit the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing

How to Stay Compliant

If you’re a business in California, you not only have to comply with AB 1825, but AB 2053 and FEHA’s new updates as well. Luckily many organizations are providing online sexual harassment training for businesses. See OpenSesame’s top five sexual harassment courses below that cover the new requirements:

Course Name	Author	Price	Length
Common Ground: 2017 Sexual Harassment and Abusive Conduct Prevention Simulation – Supervisor’s Course (AB1825/AB 2053)	Will Interactive	$32-$38	2 hours
Preventing Discrimination and Harassment for California/Connecticut Managers	Vado	$12-$24	2 hours
H.E.R.O. – AB-1825/2053 Compliant Harassment Education & Retaliation Overview for Supervisors	Prositions	$21-$30	2 hours
Drawing the Line: Creating a Harassment-Free Workplace (CA Version)	Sollah Interactive	$18-$30	2 hours
Employment Law – AB 1825/2053 California Sexual Harassment for Supervisor	Vivid Learning Systems	$7-$14	2 hours

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