Advocating for Accessible Emergency Alerts

Disclaimer

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Introduction

In this episode, we will be continuing our look at emergency preparedness. Specifically, we are going to look at how we can advocate for emergency alerts that are accessible to those of us with disabilities.

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The Next Episode

The next live episode of the Demand Our Access podcast will be on Saturday, April fourth at two Eastern. As of now, I don’t have a topic for that episode. If you have suggestions, let me know.

Advocating for Accessible Emergency Alerts

Introduction to Advocating for Accessible Emergency Alerts

In continuing our look at the life-saving work of ensuring our state and local governments include those of us with disabilities in their emergency preparedness plans and operations, I thought I would demonstrate how we can advocate for accessible and inclusive emergency preparedness by working through a specific, narrow example. Since emergency alerts are the most important part of emergency preparedness because they warn us of pending emergencies, tell us what to expect, and tell us what we should do, it makes sense to focus this discussion on emergency alerts. If people find this episode helpful, I would be happy to continue this kind of work in future episodes. We could consider discussing advocating for accessible transportation during emergencies, sheltering, or something else.

In order to help us better advocate for accessible emergency alerts, I will first briefly describe the basics of accessible emergency alerts. I will then set forth a series of four questions for us to consider. If there is time, we will work through a scenario.