Letter from Susan Brown of Homeland Security

Hello Everyone,
As you hopefully all are aware, on November 9th FEMA will be conducting a national test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS). FEMA has been doing some outreach to Deaf citizen prior to the test because when the alert appears on the screen it may not look like a test due to the technology of the system. The audio will say it is a test, but that may not be shown on the screen.
A grassroots research project aims to complement the government's assessment of this important national test by collecting information from the Deaf community and - especially - from actors within the broadcast system itself whenever you are aware of the effort (or failure) to accommodate Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing needs for visual information: specifically text or sign language interpretation.
All Communication Coordinators, First Responders, and everyone with duties in the Incident Command Structure as well as reporters, journalists, meteorologists, and news media editors, non-Deaf observers, and digital volunteers are invited to use the November 9th test of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) to participate in a social media communication experiment with Deaf citizens of the United States.
Using use the Twitter hashtag #demx, data will be gathered to investigate whether emergency warnings reach the Deaf community in a timely and understandable manner. The idea is to get as many staff, volunteers and all first responders to tweet whenever you do something related to Deaf before, during or because of the EAS Test.  More info at the following two blogposts:
Deaf Tweet-to-Teach Emergency Responders
and
Deaf Eye: Do Emergency  Warnings Catch Yours?

This project has been coordinated by Steph Jo Kent, a professional interpreter, researcher and teacher at UMass Amherst.
Please share this information with your colleagues.
 Sincerely,
Sue
Susan L. Brown
Homeland Security Program Manager
Franklin Regional Council of Governments
Western Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council
425 Main St, Suite 20
Greenfield, Ma. 01301
413-774-3167 x117
(f)413-774-3169
[email protected]