Maggie

September 28, 2023

Licenses and Images

What license did I choose?

If you scroll to the bottom of this webpage, you’ll find a footer that says “This work © 2023 by Maggie Cavanaugh is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.” This is my chosen Creative Commons (CC) license. The CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 lets everyone know that they can distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon my webpage, but it cannot be used for commercial purposes, credit must be given to me, and if it’s shared, the sharer must use the same CC license. The reason why I wanted to choose this kind of license is because I have no reason to reserve all rights to what I create here. I wouldn’t want the work that I put time and effort into to be copied and used for a stranger’s profit, but if someone could find this webpage and be inspired or learn something from what I’ve made here, I’d be happy for them.

Why did I choose images of cats for my site icon and Header image?

Something that everyone learns about me soon after meeting me for the first time is I love cats. As a part of this week’s assignment for Digital Studies 101, I was required to add royalty-free pictures for my site icon and Header image, so who would’ve guessed I would choose cats as my pictures. My favorite part about this assignment was I got to choose two different pictures, so I picked two different cats that looked similar to my own. Found at the bottom of this post are my chosen pictures on the left next to pictures of my matching cats on the right.

Black and white cat with yellow eyes looking up while sitting on a tan cat tree. — Photo by Arina Krasnikova from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-a-black-and-white-cat-looking-up-7725952/

Black and white cat sleeping on a yellow mat on top of a wooden table. — Spartacus laying on a table.

Photo by Pixabay from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/brown-cat-460797/

Bert staring out my bedroom window.

September 15, 2023

The Trustworthiness of the Fredericksburg Neighborhood Coalition’s Website

What is the Fredericksburg Neighborhood Coalition?

The Fredericksburg Neighborhood Coalition is, as defined on The Coalition website, “a group of community members who are dedicated to addressing issues related to housing, transportation and economic development in Fredericksburg.”

My understanding of the organization based on the lateral reading research I’ve done is that it is a group of citizens in Fredericksburg who are advocating to preserve the city’s infrastructure.

Is The Coalition website trustworthy?

It was difficult to find any information about the coalition that didn’t just link back to their website. I searched “Fredericksburg Neighborhood Coalition” on Facebook to see if there was a group or account made for the organization. When I couldn’t find one, I tried “The Coalition” with the city set to Fredericksburg, Virginia, but I still couldn’t find anything.

However, I was able to find an article from The Free Lance-Star about a proposed ADU ordinance failing in a vote at the Fredericksburg City Council meeting, and the article recognized the Fredericksburg Neighborhood Coalition’s position on the issue while also hyperlinking The Coalition website. The Free Lance-Star has also mentioned the coalition’s concerns with the ordinance in an earlier article about the Council’s “first read of [the] ordinance that would permit [ADUs].”

I think the fact that our established, principal local newspaper included The Coalition website in their article means it’s somewhat trustworthy, but based on the group’s online presence altogether, it’s difficult to determine the true credibility and trustworthiness of The Coalition website. With no other sources to link The Coalition website to the group itself, there’s no way someone with no knowledge of the group could trust that website to be the actual website for the Fredericksburg Neighborhood Coalition group.

September 10, 2023

Who is the internet for?

Decorative image of a person looking at their laptop with Google open on the screen. — The internet should be for everyone, but the truth of the matter is, it isn’t.

Openness

Openness can be defined as a lack of restriction.

Why might we want to make “open” content?

One reason we should make content “open” is to allow the sharing of knowledge. By doing so, everyone can benefit by learning more, come up with their own ideas, and share that knowledge. What’s great about this is it creates a chain of invention that betters everyone in ways we don’t even know yet.

How can we do it?

Content can be made open in many ways, but the simplest way is just to publish it on the internet through other websites like WordPress. Make sure to include accessibility features so that anyone can access it, and if you really want content to be open, there are ways you can make your content available to be edited or added onto. This allows for more collaboration on a creative level.

Accessibility

Accessibility can be defined as the quality of being able to be reached.

Why might we want to make accessible content?

Content should be accessible for a couple reasons. Two reasons would be to stay out of legal trouble and to gain business through users that wouldn’t be able to access your products otherwise. However, one of the most important reasons would be because it’s morally the right thing to do. Accessibility is equality, in a way, so making content accessible is making it able to be reached by anyone, regardless of ability or disability.

An additional reason for why we should make accessible content is the “curb-cut effect,” where by fixing one problem can actually lead to the prevention or fixing of other problems.

How can we do it?

Content can be made accessible by making use of features like alternative text for images where you can describe what the image is for people with low vision. There’s also features like headings that, when used properly, can help someone find what they’re looking for on a webpage without having to read the whole thing.

There’s a YouTuber, Molly Burke, that I really enjoy watching. She posts a lot of videos about her life and what she’s passionate about like makeup and fashion, and while I have no interest in either of those things, I still watch them because there’s almost always an educational portion of each one. Molly has been blind for most of her life, and she has been an advocate for the disabled community for years, so in a lot of her videos, she will talk about how we can create a more accessible world for everyone. One of my favorite videos to share with people is “5 Ways YOU Can Make the World More Accessible!” I highly suggest watching and sharing it with friends and family and anyone else that’s willing to learn more.

August 31, 2023August 31, 2023

Adorable baby dressed in puffy red and green clothes sitting on multicolored chair.

I was born in China, but I was adopted as a baby, so the picture above is the one the orphanage sent my parents. Something else about me is I’m an accounting major here at UMW.