Helena Mitchell, Ph.D. Executive Director

Planning for Accessible Emergency Communications: Mobile Technology and Social Media

AEGIS conference Brussels, Belgium 2011

Statistics in Perspective

American Red Cross responded to more than 60,000 disasters in 2010

54 million people have some type of disability; by 2030 it will equal 20% of the population

96% of the U.S. population use wireless services or products

Wireless RERC Mission

Research and develop accessible wireless

technologies and products to improve the lives of

people with disabilities.

Emergency Lifelines on Wireless Platforms

Provide alternative and accessible emergency communication

"lifelines" over wireless platforms to assist people with disabilities

in managing the transition from legacy alerting systems (e.g.

broadcasts over TV and radio) to next-generation versions

of alerting systems (e.g. mobile broadband alerting).

Wireless Use Among People with Disabilities

85% use wireless products and services

77% state access to wireless important

65% wireless device important in emergencies

RERC Consumer Advisory Network

Survey of User Needs 1600 plus people with disabilities

Challenges for People with Disabilities

Access to emergency information Receiving the message

Ability to take action

Technological transitions and incompatibility

Access to emergency alerts Broadcasting, computers, laptops, car radios,

wireless devices, captioned tele-

phony (TTY), relay and interpreting

services (ASL, S-S)

Methodology

Research and develop prototypes to deliver alerts in accessible formats over wireless devices

Administered 12 field trials and 2 focus groups = 100

Levels of experience with wireless devices Technology savvy

Mixed ability

Infrequent users

Administered a pre-test and post-test questionnaire

Tabulated quantitative and qualitative data

Reported findings and recommendations on feasible

approaches to accessible wireless alerts

Some Pre-Field Trial Questions

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

How often do you carry a mobile phone?

Sometimes

Always

n/a

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

How often do you use

your mobile phone?

Everyday

3-6 times/week

1-2 tims/wek

Never0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

How do you currently

receive emergency alerts?

TV

Radio

Weather Radio

E-mail

Telephone

Mobile Phone

Frnds/Fam

Sirens

Alerting Device

Other

Findings from EAS Trials

Nine groups at three sites:

Site 1: 94% of blind, low vision participants stated wireless emergency alerting system they evaluated was an improvement over other methods they currently use for receiving emergency alerts.

Site 2: 81% of deaf and hard-of-hearing and deaf-blind found the alerts to be an improvement.

Site 3: 92% of deaf and hard-of-hearing and visually impaired found devices an improvement.

Commercial Mobile Alerting System

Included CMAS parameters plus improvements from previous trials.

Reduction in number of characters, no URL’s, varied vibrating cadences.

Of those who participated in previous tests 77% stated it was an improvement.

70% of persons with hearing limitations found the CMAS alerts to be an improvement.

83% of persons with visual limitations found the accessible CMAS system to be an improvement.

Focus Groups

“American Sign Language (ASL) is the fourth most common language

used in America; it has all the essential features a language requires to

operate: rules for grammar, punctuation, and sentence order.

Earlier feedback from Deaf participants suggested need to discuss ASL alerts

All participants felt that ASL was an improvement over text

Some participants felt combination of text and ASL gave them fuller understanding; versus text or ASL alone

Anecdotal evidence suggests some common terminology such as “take cover” or “low-lying area”; do not translate well into Deaf English and should be avoided.

IN THE MEANTIME…

Nationwide survey of people with disabilities

November-January 2010-2011

1. Contacting 911 emergency services

2. Using social media during public emergencies

Respondent Profile

Total number of respondents 1343

Number of respondents with disability 1115

Age range 18-91

Age average 51.6

Consumer Advisory Network

USING SOCIAL MEDIA DURING PUBLIC EMERGENCIES

“Rather than trying to convince the public to adjust to the way we at FEMA

communicate, we must adapt to the way the public communicates ... We

must use social media tools to more fully engage the public as a critical

partner in our efforts.” ~ Craig Fugate, FEMA

Image courtesy of Patrice Cloutier, Blogger

Official Use of Social Media

74% of states use SM to disseminate emergency information

Twitter 36%

Facebook 29%

YouTube 13%

45% of cities use SM to disseminate emergency information

Twitter: 35%

Facebook: 34%

YouTube: 11%

Sets Precedent. Sets Expectations.

Do you access social media on the

following devices?

Percent

Desktop only 23%

Laptop only 12%

Cell phone only 3%

Desktop and laptop 6%

Desktop and cell phone 7%

Laptop and cell phone 7%

Desktop, laptop, cell 5%

TOTAL 63%

Social media outlets used by respondents

Number of social

media outlets

used

Received

alert Verified alert

0 (by other means) 77.4 84.3

1 15.7 11.8

2 4.6 2.6

3 1.4 0.7

Social media are used by people with disabilities.

22% have received public alerts via social media

15% have verified public alerts using social media

Social media outlets used

Received alert Verified alert

Facebook 11.6% 8.6%

Twitter 4.6% 2.5%

Listservs 4.2% 2.1%

Yahoo 3.8% 2.3%

YouTube 1.3% 1.0%

MySpace 1.3% 0.7%

Google Buzz 1.2% 0.8%

LinkedIn 0.0% 0.6%

Foursquare 0.3% 0.3%

Conclusions

Use of wireless devices increasing among people with

disabilities.

Receipt and verification of alerts most often through TV.

TV has accessibility barriers.

Accessible formats need to be available to a variety of media

devices.

Social Media increasing among people with disabilities.

Facebook currently most popular.

Twitter predominately used by state and local emergency

response agencies.

Recommendations

Disconnect between where citizens seek information

and where agencies disseminate information, this

needs to be fixed.

Redundancies and alternative sources needed to

create accessible alerts and links to additional

information.

Agency links to social media need to be in prominent

location on the homepage.

Incorporating SM outlets into the planning of

emergency services sites makes strategic sense.

How to Meet the Challenges

Government, researchers, and industry working

together can create change we can all live with.

Contact Us: www.wirelessrerc.org

Helena Mitchell, Ph.D., Principal Investigator, Wireless RERC

helena@cacp.gatech.edu

Emergency Lifelines on Wireless Networks Project:

Helena Mitchell, Co-project Director

Frank Lucia, Co-project Director

Salimah LaForce, Research Analyst

Ed Price, Technical Director

Jeremy Johnson, Research Engineer

Ben Lippincott, Industry Liaison

The Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies is funded by the

National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the U.S. Department of Education

under grant number H133E110002. The opinions contained in this presentation are those of the

grantee and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of Education.