Wireless RERC - Nationwide EAS Test

FCC Sets Comment Deadlines for EAS Refresh

mz22 — Tue, 22 Jul 2014 20:28:24 +0000

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking [EB Docket No. 04-296]

July 2014 – The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the Matter of Review of the Emergency Alert System [EB Docket No. 04-296] was published in the Federal Register, officially setting the deadlines for public input as August 14, 2014 for initial comments and August 29, 2014 for reply comments. Stakeholders are invited to comment on issues identified following the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System on November 9, 2011. Although the test was regarded as successful, the Bureau noted that more recent technological advances could aid in ensuring more effective alerting through EAS. Accordingly, the FCC is seeking comment on the adoption of a national location code, which could indicated that the entire country as an affected area during emergencies or tests of the EAS system. The FCC is also seeking comment on the adoption of rules requiring EAS participants to submit results of EAS tests to the FCC within 45 days of a system test. Finally, the Nationwide Test revealed that the visual text crawls accompanying the alert were often reported as unreadable due to either the speed of the crawl or the font. Accordingly, the Bureau is seeking comment the introduction of standards for visual text crawls, specifically noting the need for standards regarding the crawl speed, completeness and placement of text information and the need to ensure that audio and visual information provide identical information.

Wireless RERC Comments on the Accessibility of the Nationwide EAS Test

mz22 — Thu, 31 Oct 2013 17:51:02 +0000

Nationwide EAS Test

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Wireless RERC Comments

Publication Type:

Policy Filings

October 2013 — The Wireless RERC filed comments in response to a Public Notice [EB Docket No. 04-296] issued by The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (the Bureau) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding issues identified during the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on November 9, 2011. The comments filed by the Wireless RERC specifically responded to the Bureau’s request for comment on how the FCC can address the accessibility of visual text crawls accompanying EAS alerts. Wireless RERC comments draw from findings from a series of focus groups and surveys performed before, during and after the nationwide EAS test. Overall findings from the focus groups and surveys indicate that during the nationwide EAS test, people with disabilities faced many accessibility issues, which included seeing the visual crawl. Based on these findings, the Wireless RERC recommended that EAS messages have a standardized appearance containing both audio and visual content to enhance accessibility, while also providing slower text crawls in a larger size and improving the quality of all audio contained in the alerts. The Wireless RERC also recommends that the FCC not only revise its rules to include text crawl specifications for all EAS messages, but also include people with disabilities in the research and development process to determine these specifications.

FCC Seeks Comment on 2011 Nationwide EAS Test

mz22 — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 13:32:45 +0000

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Nationwide EAS Test

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Public Notice [EB Docket No. 04-296]

September 2013 – The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (the Bureau) of Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Public Notice [EB Docket No. 04-296] seeking comment on issues identified following the first nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) on November 9, 2011. The EAS Test allowed the FCC and FEMA to initiate an Emergency Action Notification (EAN), simulating an “actual Presidential activation of the EAS.” Although the test was regarded as successful, the Bureau identified and is asking for comments concerning problems which prevented EAS participants from either receiving or redistributing the alert. Specifically, the Bureau is seeking comment on whether header codes in an EAN alert need to specify a “time of release” or a location code, as Presidential alerts are meant to be both nationwide and in real-time. In addition, the nationwide test revealed that the visual text crawls accompanying the alert were often reported as unreadable due to either the speed of the crawl or the font. Accordingly, the Bureau is seeking comment on how these issues should be addressed and how the FCC can work to ensure all crawls are accessible for people with disabilities. Finally, the Bureau is seeking comment on the timing of the EAS test, and whether any specific technical factors need to be considered when determining the length of future EAS tests. Comments are due October 23, 2014 and Reply Comments are due November 7, 2013.