Inclusive Emergency Alerts: Exploring Whether Agencies Are Ready, Willing, and Able

Emergency alerting—the process of sending information to communities rapidly during a crisis or disaster event—received heightened attention in the United States in the past decade. As disasters increase in frequency and intensity, news media, the public, and government officials exposed issues with the ability of authorities to warn people with limited English proficiency (LEP) and people with auditory or visual disabilities. However, little research examines the extent to which current emergency alerting policies align with best practices for reaching these populations. In this case study, we explore the feasibility of operationalizing the Ready, Willing, and Able (RWA) framework to examine emergency alerting systems in Colorado. We tested the feasibility of the RWA framework by developing benchmark statements for each construct from the research literature on inclusive emergency alerting. We then conducted a statewide survey of alerting authorities and held a series of partner meetings to assess the benchmarks and overall capability of emergency alerting systems to send inclusive alerts. We find that the RWA framework was a valuable tool for organizing insights of a complex system, but that more refinement is needed to operationalize it to assess alert and warning systems. We argue that although many alerting authorities are willing to expand their alerts into other languages and formats to reach diverse audiences, the extent to which they are ready and able is limited and mixed. We identify barriers to providing accessible alerts that include the patchwork nature of alert systems, a lack of standard processes, resource constraints, technological limitations, a lack of training, and a lack of public awareness. These barriers are especially significant for rural and resource constrained communities. Policy change is needed to ensure emergency alerting practices are more inclusive and reach populations who are most at-risk.