Wireless RERC - Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Wireless RERC on the Record: Advancing Access to Emergency Alerting

mz22 — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 18:52:35 +0000

Wireless RERC Comments_June 8, 2016

Publication Type:

Georgia Tech’s Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP), in collaboration with the Wireless RERC, submitted comments to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) In the Matter of Amendment of Part 11 of the Commission’s Rules Regarding the Emergency Alert System [15-94]; Wireless Emergency Alerts [PS Docket No. 15-91]. The proposed changes in the NPRM are intended to strengthen the emergency alerting systems and to increase their effectiveness at prompting the public to take the appropriate protective actions. The major areas of change included improving alerting organization at the state level, bringing alerting tools up to date with advancements in technology, and developing community-based accessible public safety exercises. Wireless RERC comments contended that all communications received on digital devices should be accessible and concur that the proposed advancements for both WEA and EAS are a promising avenue for ensuring timely response and recognition of messages to safeguard all citizens. The recommendations made are intended to facilitate the maturation and modernization of both systems, empowering all to make informed choices that result in maximizing message diffusion and ensuring the same timely and effective access to alerts and warnings for people with disabilities.

Following are a sample of recommendations included in the comments:

To ensure that all members of the population understand the messages, emergency managers and those writing the plans should also be very specific in their instructions concerning emergency actions to be taken, eliminating jargon and abbreviations. Further, protective action instructions should be part of any State EAS Plan template, and that said template contains information ensuring that the needs of people with disabilities are included.
Crowdsourcing is proving to be a valuable tool for emergency managers in gathering and dispersing information. Nonetheless, the challenge of authenticating and verifying submitted information is a growing one, and currently only solved by the manual moderation of incoming reports. Continued review of agencies that utilize crowdsourcing technologies and social media during disaster response is recommended.
To ensure the accessibility of actual and test messages, EAS accessibility rules should apply across the board. The live code test presents an opportunity to gather data and feedback from the populace on the extent to which the accessibility requirements improve readability and comprehension of the message.
User data regarding the most frequent methods by which people receive emergency alerts supports the addition of State/Local WEA Testing in state-level preparedness procedures.
Comments supported the use of EAS and WEA public service announcements (PSAs). It was recommended that the PSAs present the information about the systems in several formats including audio, text, American Sign Language (ASL), and other languages with high usage in a particular area, and the symbol set provided by the IPAWS Symbology Plan approved by DHS and the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS Foundation.
Comments supported extending WEA rules to include tablets and other mobile devices, including wearable and other nontraditional communications devices. Given that wearable technology is a growing market and both people with and without disabilities have adopted its use, wearable technology should be integrated into the WEA/IPAWS environment.

Wirelesss RERC @ The Disaster Response and Mitigation Forum

mz22 — Fri, 29 Apr 2016 13:39:12 +0000

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

American Sign Language (ASL)

Symbology

Disaster Response and Mitigation Forum

Publication Type:

Presentations

Salimah LaForce and Christina Touzet presented a poster titled, Emergency Alert System (EAS) vs. Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), at the Disaster Response and Mitigation Forum held at the Garage @ Tech Square on Fifth on Wednesday, April 27, 2016. The research, conducted by the Wireless RERC and funded by a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), presented the background and results of research activities that examined the effectiveness of EAS and WEA to provide alerts to people with disabilities. Specifically, the poster included comparative analyses of the awareness of EAS and WEA messages, the accessibility of the two systems, as well as the types of protective actions taken as a result of the emergency messages.

Ed Price demonstrated the Wireless RERC's prototype of a WEA Video Platform that includes IPAWS approved symbology and presents the WEA message content as an American Sign Language (ASL) video.

The goal for the forum was to understand ways in which to advance science and technology to improve disaster response. The Forum featured two panels with federal, state and local agency representatives, as well as speakers from NGOs, industry, and academic researchers. The forum included a reception along with a poster session that focused on technologies and applications that impact disaster response, address cutting-edge research that is being done to meet the challenges of disaster response, cover the latest disaster response policy issues, and address technology gaps that need to be filled to help identify solutions.

Wireless RERC Comments on Accessible Emergency Communications

mz22 — Thu, 19 Nov 2015 20:37:55 +0000

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

Publication Type:

Policy Filings

November 19, 2015 - The Wireless RERC submitted ex parte comments to the Federal Communications Commission in open proceedings concerning the Emergency Alert System [Docket Nos. 15-94 and 04-296] and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) [Docket Nos. 15-91 and 07-287]. The document presents the background and results of research activities which were conducted to examine the effectiveness of EAS and WEA to provide alerts to people with disabilities. Specifically, the Wireless RERC conducted comparative analyses of the awareness of EAS and WEA messages, the accessibility of the two systems, as well as the types of protective actions taken as a result of the emergency messages. The survey research occurred between 2011 and 2014 and the results, analyses and recommendations were completed in 2015 and were submitted for consideration in the above-referenced rulemakings. This research is provided to government entities to supply unbiased data and evaluation to help ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal access to critical lifesaving information through digitally-based warning systems.

Related Files:

Attachment	Size
Ex Parte _WEA_EAS_ResearchBrief_FINAL.pdf	383.24 KB

FCC To Host an Emergency Alert System Workshop

mz22 — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 20:01:25 +0000

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

A workshop, held by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau and the Consumer and the Consumer and Government Affairs Bureau of the Federal Communications Commission, is promoting the wider use and increased accessibility of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). On Thursday, August 27, 2015 from 1:00pm to 4:30pm learn how to improve the usefulness of the EAS for emergency managers at the state and local levels and how to improve the accessibility of alerts to people with disabilities. The workshop will also cover methods to empower and encourage state and local emergency managers to utilize the EAS and the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system more widely for localized alerts and exercises.

For a detailed agenda, including names of panelists and speakers, visit the below links:

https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-936A1.doc
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-936A1.pdf
https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-15-936A1.txt

Webcast: The Commission will provide audio and/or video coverage of the workshop over the Internet from the FCC’s Web page at http://www.fcc.gov/live.

Wireless RERC Makes EAS Accessibility Standards Recommendations

mz22 — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 16:19:31 +0000

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Comments of Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center for Wireless Technologies (Wireless RERC)

Publication Type:

Policy Filings

August 2014 – The Wireless RERC and Georgia Tech’s Center for Advanced Communications Policy (CACP) submitted comments to the FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking In the Matter of Review of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) [EB Docket No. 04-296]. As a result of the nationwide EAS test revealing issues with text crawls, the FCC requested public comments about the accessibility of EAS' visual and audio presentation of text.

CACP and Wireless RERC comments highlighted the need for EAS nationwide testing to account for human ability factors, as well as technical considerations when setting a national standard for text crawls. Their comments advised that any standards should consider the needs of people with vision disabilities, as well as those that simultaneously experience vision and hearing loss; noting a correlation between visual acuity and caption reading ability.

Further comments and recommendations concerning non-English alerts, text crawl placement, audio accessibility, and text-to-speech were made as well. For more information, please click the link below.

FCC Sets Comment Deadlines for EAS Refresh

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

Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Nationwide EAS Test

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 Recommends ASL Translation of Emergency Messages

mz22 — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 20:21:38 +0000

American Sign Language

(ASL)

deaf

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Wireless RERC Comments Regarding Multilingual EAS Messages

Publication Type:

Policy Filings

May 2014 – The Wireless RERC filed comments regarding EAS Rules to Support Multilingual EAS and Emergency Information [EB Docket No. 04-296] corroborating the work of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC) in their efforts to increase access to emergency information for people whose native language is not English, specifically noting the need for the inclusion of American Sign Language (ASL). ASL is a distinct language used by individuals of the deaf community and is fundamentally unlike English. Many deaf people are conversant only in ASL and have difficulty understanding written English. Currently, emergency alert messages are not accessible for deaf people that rely on ASL. This signifies that potentially millions of Americans are not adequately receiving, understanding, and reacting to emergency messages. There currently is a great need to provide these accessible messages for this population in the language they understand best.

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.

GAO Report on Emergency Alerting Released

mz22 — Fri, 31 May 2013 12:41:03 +0000

Emergency Alert System (EAS)

Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)

Government Accountability Office (GAO)

GAO - Emergency Alerting: Capabilities Have Improved, but Additional Guidance and Testing are Needed

May 23, 2013 — The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released the report “Emergency Alerting: Capabilities Have Improved, but Additional Guidance and Testing are Needed.” The report reviews the changing capabilities of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) in addition to the results of the nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). Primarily, the report highlights that while IPAWS has the capability to better disseminate alerts and warnings through the creation of the alert aggregator, barriers to implementation remain, including insufficient guidance, inability to test the IPAWS system, and insufficient public outreach. The report also notes that during the 2011 nationwide test of EAS, approximately 82% of reporting broadcasters and cable operators received the alert and only 61% of those reporting were able to redistribute the alert due to technical failures at public entry point (PEP) stations, shortened test length, and outdated monitoring assignments. As noted by the report, the implementation of IPAWS may help overcome some of the limitations traditionally seen in the “effectiveness of the national-level EAS.” Specifically, IPAWS will help to disseminate alerts and warnings to a larger portion of the population through dissemination in many modalities including radio, television, mobile alerts and “messages to specialized alerting devices for individuals with disabilities.”