Alerts: What’s Available Accessible Emergency Notification and Communication: State of the Science Conference Gallaudet University November 2, 2005

The Caption Center (est. 1972) –Primary audience: people who are deaf or hard of hearing Descriptive Video Service (est. 1990) –Primary audience: people who are blind or visually impaired National Center for Accessible Media (est. 1993) –Research and development facility The WGBH Media Access Group

Research and development facility Supports national policy decisions Develops technical solutions Conducts research Promotes advocacy via outreach The WGBH National Center for Accessible Media

Access to Emergency Alerts for People with Disabilities Funded by U.S. Department of Commerce Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) Just concluded first year of three year grant: –Formed Advisory Board and Working Group –Developed consumer use case scenarios –Developed preliminary information model –Developed conceptual model to facilitate gap analysis –Built information repository

Access to Emergency Alerts for People with Disabilities Currently: Planning consumer focus groups Developing partner relationships to conduct testing and develop demonstration models Establishing contacts at Massachusetts agencies, to develop state model for notification Conducting outreach

Access to Emergency Alerts for People with Disabilities What’s Ahead –Refine use cases, information model –Conduct usability testing –Develop demonstration model –Conduct test implementations and evaluations of use cases in products and services –Continue development of information repository –Convene Advisory Board annually

Text Alert Messaging Technologies Two basic technologies to deliver services: –Short Message System (SMS) –Conventional –Most emergency alert systems can accommodate both -User profile can store both cell phone and contacts

Text Alert Messaging: SMS Commonly available on wide range of personal mobile devices Designed for display on small screens of cell phones and pagers Approx. 140 character limit per message Segmented (multiple part) messages are possible Uses ‘store-and-forward’ distribution (auto redial) –Automatically resends message if recipient device is turned off or out of range

Text Alert Messaging: Conventional “Traditional” -- SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Can accommodate longer text messages with enclosures –Still, messages should conform to practical limits Used by popular RIM, Blackberry and Sidekick devices

and Text Messaging Service Offerings Many various services developed over past few years (TV stations gain Internet presence) –Sports, stocks, school closings –Weather, traffic, emergencies Most available on free subscription basis, requiring registration of or cell phone number –Often multiple addresses/numbers can be entered in a user profile –Ability to select type of messages received, often by region

Notification Services Wide choice available around the country, offered by: –Local tv stations & newspapers –Local, regional & state governments –Private ad-sponsored and fee-based services –Most are free, and provide some menu of choices for types of alerts and desired geographical areas –Additional services are designed for specific audiences, i.e. company employees, parent organizations, etc.

Text Alert Messaging - Features and Needs Text-based services can be difficult to use for individuals: –Without strong reading/writing skills –For whom English is a second language Multiple messages can create clutter, “cry-wolf” syndrome Need to provide confidence in message authority Verbose messages in a terse environment –Often message structure is complicated and dense

Text Alert Messaging - Features & Needs “Free” can have a cost: Most sites require minimal personal info, but read the privacy notices to know how your information will be used We have no evidence that spam results If subscription site provides marketing services for a sponsor, they should provide an “opt-out” Cost per message often free, but service provider may charge for each message

Examples of Services The Emergency & Wireless Network Local weather (KIRO) RPIN (Washington State) Local Emergency (Arlington County, VA) Paid subscription: sendwordnow.com

Sample Services: Emergency .org Free, ad supported Provides notification of local, regional, national and international emergencies Distributes via Internet, , cell phones, pagers and fax Site includes links for most states, counties and local areas

Sample Services: Emergency .org Provides info from a wide assortment of sources: –Emergency management –Disaster relief –Health and public safety organizations –Weather Services –Schools –Non-profit and government agencies Provides messaging system products and services to corporate, government and agency clients

Sample Services: Regional Public Information Network (RPIN) Free service to Central Puget Sound area in Washington State Collects info on street and highway closures, major transit disruptions, weather Provides updates on agencies’ responses Public can sign up to receive alerts and pager headlines from RPIN partners, including emergency preparedness tips Users can select types of alerts by geographic area Users can subscribe to multiple receipt devices

Sample Services: KIRO (Seattle) Good example of local TV station free alert subscription service Site is built and managed for KIRO by Internet Broadcasting –Provides Web site templates and hosted services for 70 TV news and information sites across U.S. Consumers can choose geographic location Consumers can select delivery to pager or cellphone

Sample Message: KIRO From: KIROTV.com Newsroom Sent: Friday, October 01, :20 PM To: Firstname Lastname Subject: BREAKING NEWS: Steam Eruption Seen At Mount St. Helens Steam Eruption Begins At Mount St. Helens BREAKING NEWS: Mount St. Helens is erupting. Steam is shooting from the crater. MORE DETAILS:

Sample Services: Arlington County, VA alert notification service for residents and businesses in Arlington County Alerts now available via XM Radio © Users subscribe through a free account with ROAM Secure Alert Network ROAM Secure operates service for Arlington County and other communities in Washington DC metro area Users can choose wide variety of messages

Sample Services: sendwordnow.com Paid service for alerting by SMS, and voice for corporate and government clients Allows secure two-way communication in time-critical situations Using such a service, a company can set up message distribution to potentially thousands of users Automated management and tracking features: –Verify message delivery, log responses, schedule repeat messages

End-User Observations Thanks to Donna Platt Manager Washington State 9-1-1/TTY Education Program Department of Education Hearing, Speech and Deafness Center (HSDC) Seattle, WA

End-User Observations: Emergency .org Messages usually cut in half when sent to pager (but were full on ) Too many messages on weather in Cascades mountains, even though signed up for King County Alerts Caused some people to unsubscribe Recently received messages via computer, not pager -- but didn’t change preferences

End-User Observations: Severe Weather Alert KOMO-TV (Seattle) Severe Weather Alert KOMO-TV –Short, concise, one-sentence messages –Messages stopped coming last Spring without explanation –Yet, Web site notes no discontinuation of service

End-User Observations: Severe Weather Alert KIRO-TV (Seattle) Severe Weather Alert KIRO-TV –Most messages similar to emergency .org, but shown in full Breaking News KIRO TV –From Web site, click on “Sign up for E- News” –Amber Alerts and National Threat Levels announced through this service –Clicking link from pager, it takes time to find the right article and click on it again

End-User Observations: RPIN For several years, no messages were shown on Sidekick pager (but were received via Blackberry pager) Messages do show via More recently, messages now received on Sidekick Clicking on link shows message within screen

End-User Observations: Seattle/King County Public Health Messages received to pager and Clicking on link works with computer, –But with pager full page is not shown within screen –One side of Web site was shown

Subscription Sites Accessibility Sign up should be: –Universally accessible –Properly formatted –Easy to use Display preferences could be part of sign-up –for future subscription management and delivery of alerts Sign-up could adjust itself when user finishes accessibility prefs, so rest of process is easier

Subscription Sites -- Sample Accessibility Overview All need improvement -- far from compliant with Section 508: –Weather.com desktop weather application download page – –

Text Alert Messaging - What’s the Future Accessibility Basic 508 and 255 compliance issues Compatability, interoperability with assistive technologies Text-to-speech alternatives needed Peer-to-peer signing Push (subscription), pull (surfing) and two-way (interactive) services

Text Alert Messaging - What’s the Future Digital Broadcasting –Potential for ad-hoc channels and services –HDRadio has text display capabilities –Potential text-to-speech and speech-to-text applications –Podcasting

ncam.wgbh.org/alerts incident.com/access Marcia Brooks