The report to the President finds that the legitimate concerns of people with disabilities and other special needs populations in emergency situations are frequently overlooked or minimized. It identifies barriers, facilitators, and successful practices to providing effective emergency-related communications, especially accessibility issues, and reviews the enforcement of pertinent disability laws and regulations. The report includes recommendations for policy makers, federal partners, and emergency managers.

 “The communication needs of people with disabilities are not being fully integrated by emergency managers in planning efforts,” stated James D. White, Director of Communications Studies in the CACP and PI and principal author on the research project.  “There is a lack of guidance available to emergency managers on the communication needs of people with disabilities, resulting in poor outreach to the disability community. Technology plays an increasingly vital role in emergency communications yet remains largely inaccessible for many people with disabilities, and despite all the legal mandates to provide effective communication to people with disabilities before, during, and after emergencies.”

Read a full copy of the report, including key findings, recommendations and objectives.

The CACP is a research and policy development unit housed within the Ivan Allen College with a focus on advanced communications. Areas of expertise include wireless communications and platforms; the needs of people with disabilities; disaster communications; innovation in local government; international comparative policy analysis; and new communication modes, including social networking, virtual worlds, open source process and publishing, and electronic games.