Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Optimizing Accessibility Of Wireless Emergency Alerts: 2015 Survey Findings, Salimah Laforce, Deedee M. Bennett, Maureen Linden, Christina Touzet, Helena Mitchell

Public Administration Faculty Publications

The Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system is a free, opt-out, national emergency alerting service that was deployed in 2012 as one component of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning Systems (IPAWS). Since 2012 over 10,000 WEA messages have been transmitted to mobile phones in the U.S. In 2015, a national online survey on WEAs (2015 WEA Survey) was conducted to understand the effectiveness of WEA messages for people with disabilities. The survey collected data on availability, awareness and accessibility of WEA messages, as well as actions taken by the recipient upon receipt. The survey also takes into consideration the type …