Key Person Interviews Regarding Methods of Communicating
Information about Emergency Preparedness to Persons with
Disabilities
Margaret A Cargill Foundation Grant
Mid-America Regional Council
Spring 2016
Purpose of the Interviews:
The purpose of the key person interview pilot project was to develop questions that can be
used by any organization when they are developing ways to communicate information about
emergency preparedness and disaster assistance programs to a broader population which
includes people with a variety of disabilities. Specifically the questions developed are meant to:
 Assess the accessibility, relevance and usability of emergency preparedness information
by people with a variety of disabilities.
 Learn about the reasons why people with disabilities do or do not take steps to be
prepared for disasters so that perhaps future communications can address common
issues identified.
 Learn about the types of technologies used by people with different types of disabilities
to access information at work, home and in public.
Methodology
The methodology of this pilot project included the following steps:
1. The development of a set of questions that would be asked of each person or small
group interviewed.
2. Scheduling interview appointments with adult individuals with disabilities. Efforts were
made to schedule interviews with individuals who represent a variety of disability
categories: visual, auditory, speech, mobility, and other impairments affecting their
ability to carry out daily activities.
3. Interviewing each individual or small group at their workstation at their place of
employment. Each interview session was allotted an hour and a half to get through all
the questions.
For this pilot project, interviews were scheduled with staff members of an organization in
Kansas City, Missouri called The Whole Person. The Whole Person is a Center for Independent
Living founded in 1978. The organization provides a full range of community-based services for
people with disabilities. A majority of their staff and board members are people with
disabilities.
The interviews were scheduled on three different days during the spring of 2016: April 26th,
May 3rd, and May 5th. Eleven people participated in the interviews. In this report, the
participants are referred to as Participant #1, #2, #3, and so on. After each participant number
there is a general description of their disability. This description is intended only to give context
to the readers of this report. It is not meant to relay specific or comprehensive information
about the participants’ disabilities.
The participants were asked to assess specific emergency preparedness information found on
the www.preparemetrokc.org website. This website was chosen because it is a common
website referred to by many of the regions emergency managers managed by the Metropolitan
Emergency Managers Committee, Citizen Education Sub Committee administered by MidAmerica Regional Council (MARC) which serves a bi state 9 county area. The questions posed
were vetted with the MEMC Citizen Education Subcommittee and recommendations specific to
that website will be provided back to the Citizen Ed Subcommittee for their consideration.
Questions specifically about that website can be modified to other websites and sources of
information. The www.preparemetrokc.org website has many pages and links incorporated
into the website. We chose three specific pages for interview participants to review and
provide feedback on. The first page is entitled “Be Prepared” and can be accessed directly from
a menu list that is located on the left side of the main page of the website. The second page is
entitled “Make a Plan” and can be found on a telescoping menu which appears when the
mouse is over the “Be Prepared” menu item. A link to the “Make a Plan” page can also be
found on the “Be Prepared page. The third page the participants were asked to review is a page
entitled “Planning Needs for People with Disabilities or other Access and Functional Needs.”
This page can be accessed two different ways: 1. Through a second telescoping menu off of the
main menu on the left hand side of the website: Be Prepared > Make a Plan > People with
Disabilities; 2 Through a link on the “Make a Plan” page that can be found in a menu box on the
right hand side of the page (see picture below).
Information Source/Site Related Questions
The following three sets of directions and questions were asked each participant:
1. Direction: Please go to www.preparemetrokc.org and find information on being
prepared.
a. Question 1: How easy or hard was it to find information about being prepared on
the website?
b. Question 2: Is the information about general preparedness clear? If not, what in
particular is unclear? What would help to make the information more clear?
2. Direction: Please go to the page about Making a Plan.
a. Question 1: How easy or hard was it to find information about making a plan on
the website?
b. Question 2: Is the information about making a plan clear? If not, what in
particular is unclear? What would help to make the information more clear?
3. Direction: Please go to the page that is specific for People with Disabilities.
a. Question 1: How easy or hard was it to find information about steps that people
who have functional and access disabilities can take to become better prepared?
b. Question 2: Is the information that is specific to functional and access needs
clear? If not, what in particular is unclear? What would help to make the
information more clear?
PrepareMetroKC.org Site Specific Feedback
The following section will summarize the input that was gathered from the interview
participants specifically about the www.preparemetrokc.org website.
Feedback on “Being Prepared” information:
a. Question 1: How easy or hard was it to find information about being prepared on the
website?
Almost all of the participants found the page about being prepared relatively easily on the
www.preparemetrokc.org site. One participant with visual impairments had some difficulty
determining where to click to access the page. The participant who is blind used the JAWS
Screen Reader program to search the page to find the link. The JAWS Screen Reader
Program skips through all the various links on a page so pages with a lot of links make it
more difficult for people who rely on the JAWS reader to find information. Although the
blind participant did find the page after a while, she did not appear to ever really get to the
content on each of the pages because there were so many headings and links for the
Reader to get through.
b. Question 2: Is the information about general preparedness clear? If not, what in particular is
unclear? What would help to make the information more clear?
Participant 1 (Muskuloskeletal) - Lots of words, More icons needed to make the messages
quick and easy for low readers
Participant 2 (Muskuloskeletal) - Like bulleted points, would like to see Emergency
Resources called out more. She found them on the “Get Help” page. She would change that
menu label to “Emergency Resources – or have another menu item related to resources to
contact in an emergency. “Other resources” on the Be Prepared page seemed to cover the
main emergency resources not the resources that are nice to know.
Participant 3 (Muskuloskeletal) – clear, have no problem with information.
Participant 4 (Muskuloskeletal) – the information is fairly self-explanatory. However, there
is no mention of people with physical disabilities on this page – not even a link to the page
that specifically address people with disabilities. People who are in wheelchairs cannot
reach the smoke detectors. Information could be given here about alternative resources for
those particular situations. For low income individuals, many don’t know that they need to
check their smoke detectors if they are living in low income housing. Some education about
how to check your smoke detector would be nice to include. Carbon monoxide detectors
should also be included with a list of the common symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning.
Participant 5 (Muskuloskeletal) – clear, good questions. She did mention that perhaps
additional information could be added about dangers regarding gas especially in relation to
turning on and off lights or others switches. People with cognitive disabilities may not know
about those types of dangers.
Participant 6 (Muskuloskeletal) – Very informative, works for me. Comprehension of the
material may be difficult for some people he works with. Pictures or icons might help.
Participant 7 (Blind) – no comment on content because she was mostly just scrolling
through the topic headings with JAWS Reader.
Participant 8 (Muskuloskeletal and Vision Impairment) – the page would work better if it
were full screen. She originally thought that the red circles with the arrows in them were
indicating places where she could click to go find more information. She liked that use of
color. Then she tried to click on the text or the red circle and realized they were not links.
Participant 9 (Vision Impairment) – The type of the text is small. Some people that he works
with have a lower education level. The level of reading might be a concern. Pictures or icons
might help. The red dots with the arrows were misleading to him. He thought they indicated
a link to another page or even a video.
Participant 10 (Deaf)/Participant 11 (Sign Interpreter) – Clark: Would like to have a
presentation about this at The Whole Person for the deaf community specifically to give
them tips on how to be better prepared. He added that in actual emergencies (pre
disaster), information on the television is not captioned because it is live. Television stations
need to have an interpreter either by the meteorologist in the studio or in a call out box on
the screen. Samantha: The information needs to be very visual. More pictures and icons
would be nice – and it would really be nice to have a video with someone signing the
information. Lots of deaf people can’t read English or they might find it very difficult to do
so because it isn’t their primary language.
Feedback on “Make a Plan” Information:
a. Question 1: How easy or hard was it to find information about making a plan on the
website?
Finding the page about making a plan was more difficult in general for the participants
because it is not a topic on the main menu located on the left each page. Several people
ended up clicking on the link to the “Make a Supply Kit” page first because it was more
obvious. Once they did see the telescoping menu that pops out from when the cursor is
held over the “Be Prepared” menu item some of the participants did click on the “Make a
Plan” menu item. Others with dexterity issues tended to move their mouse too far to the
right causing the second sub-menu to appear and so they often ended up clicking on one of
the sub topics to “Make a Plan” (i.e., the page specifically about disability information). The
telescoping menu presented challenges to most of the participants. It would either pop in
and out quickly making it difficult for them to click on the item they wanted or it would stay
extended out over the information on the page that they were trying to review. It was not
obvious to them that they needed to click on the page to get the telescoping menu to go
away.
b. Question 2: Is the information about making a plan clear? If not, what in particular is
unclear? What would help to make the information more clear?
Participant 1 (Muskuloskeletal) – Would not use the term “family” necessarily because not
everyone has family around. Would prefer other terms like “support system”, “friends”,
“neighbors”, etc. The page could be altered for people who have visual impairments or who
are blind. For people with learning disabilities more pictures or icons need to be included to
go along with the words
Participant 2 (Muskuloskeletal) – skipped this page because she went directly to the page
regarding people with disabilities.
Participant 3 (Muskuloskeletal) – would prefer a list format with limited words. Pictures
would help a great deal or a video would be even better. It would need to be captioned as
well.
Participant 4 (Muskuloskeletal) – the information just needs to be more clear and direct. For
instance, how often should a person meet with their family to talk through their plan?
(Once a year) The language on this page could be much more task or action oriented. Give
people a disaster check list and be very specific about the various tasks. Many people have
difficulty thinking those steps through. She also recommends that if people with disabilities
live with family member or other people who can help them, talk with those household
members to assign different responsibilities to each of them (i.e., who will help the disabled
person, who is responsible for the service animal, who could get the wheelchair or other
equipment – if it is safe to do so). In the gray box to the right, she would move the link to
“People with Disabilities” above the links for “Seniors” and “Children”.
Participant 5 (Muskuloskeletal) – She clicked immediately to the page addressing Seniors.
The telescoping menu seemed confusing to her. She liked the information of the Senior
page, particularly the Emergency supply checklist for seniors. She thought that most people
would probably not have a sleeping bag – at least not seniors. Also, she felt that most
people wouldn’t have a list of the style and serial number of their medical devices.
Participant 6 (Muskuloskeletal) – Pretty straight forward – for me it is understandable.
Would be better if there were more pictures with icons. It might be more impactful if
pictures were included to show the consequences of disasters. It would be helpful to
elaborate on what you mean by “Check your insurance coverage.” For what? Also, What
does it mean to conduct a “home hazard hunt?” that is not clear – add a link there.
Participant 7 (Blind) –.Similarly to the experience with the first question, the JAWS Reader
read through all the links (seen and unseen) on the left hand side of the page. I am not sure
she took in the content on the page.
Participant 8 (Muskuloskeletal and Vision Impairment) – The “My Plan” box stands out very
clearly. However, it almost looks like it is covering some of the text to the left of it. Is there
any way to stack the “My Plan” box on top of the other gray rectangle with the picture in it?
The font could also be bigger on this page. She likes the bulleted list but it could use more
space between the lines. People with visual impairments may have trouble seeing that. She
liked that you included a FEMA Video – and especially with a plain text transcript.
Participant 9 (Vision Impairment) – The font size needs to be bigger. People with learning
disabilities might have a challenge with all the text. Otherwise the information is good.
Participant 10 (Deaf)/Participant 11 (Sign Interpreter) – Thinks the information is great. For
deaf people it would be much better if there was a video with a signer relaying all the
information.
Feedback on “Functional and Access Needs” Information:
a. Question 1: How easy or hard was it to find information about steps that people who have
functional and access disabilities can take to become better prepared?
Four of the participants had difficulty finding this page and needed verbal instructions to
find it. Three of the participants went to the page by clicking on the link on the right hand
side of the “Make a Plan” page. The remaining four participants found the page through the
telescoping menus – two of those found it pretty easily, the other two looked around quite
a bit.
One of the participants was looking on the main menu on the left for the link. Another
commented that it would be easier if an “accessible” icon is used for the link rather than
words.
Several of the participants noted that there is no indication on the home page of the
preparemetrokc.org site to indicate that this site is accessible or that it has information
somewhere that addresses the needs of people with a variety of disabilities. The whole site
needs to be designed with accessibility in mind (see overall suggestions on p. ???) and there
could be a link to the disability page for more specific information regarding how people
with disabilities can plan, prepare a kit, communicate etc.
b. Question 2: Is the information that is specific to functional and access needs clear? If not,
what in particular is unclear? What would help to make the information more clear?
Participant 1 (Muskuloskeletal) –There are a lot of words and a lot of small bullets. This
page needs more pictures and icons. Eyes are drawn to the bolded bullets. Thoughts
regarding content: Depending on the disaster, having all this may not help if a tornado
blows them away or a fire burns them up. Some of these suggestions seem impractical. For
instance, how does someone with a disability (in a wheelchair) take all this with them (i.e.,
shower chair). Personally she would likely call 9-1-1 for assistance in getting out of her
building and to a shelter or another location. She would expect Red Cross or some other
organization to have some of the supplies and equipment suggested on this page. She
suggested that Red Cross/Emergency Management partner with Centers for Independent
Living to have better access to certain supplies and equipment.
Participant 2 (Muskuloskeletal) – There is a lot of reading here. The bullets are good – they
get to the point. People with learning disabilities would not be able to deal with this much
information all on the same page. Perhaps the statements that actually suggest a
recommendation could be bolded OR is it possible to have main bullet points that people
could click on and expand the information for each bullet point? More pictures are needed
and the key words need to be brought out more. How do you want people to apply this list?
What do you want me to do with it? Don’t just consider- do something. She also noted that
it was frustrating not to have any of the shelter location listed. In a disaster or after a
disaster, how do people find out about the locations of a shelter? Who do people call if they
are stranded in a building? She noted also that the last bullet seems incomplete since it is
labeled as “equipment and supplies” which is pretty general but it only talks about
wheelchairs and scooters. There are many other types of equipment and supplies. (This may
be a good place to refer to the new Inventory booklet.)
Participant 3 (Muskuloskeletal) – This page is very text heavy. Pictures and icons are needed
and it would really be great to have a video with captions and a sign interpreter. Include on
the section of “Additional Information on equipment and supplies” (or somewhere) a list of
places where people can buy a kit (for people who are going to find it very difficult to put
together one themselves. Or offer a class that essentially helps the participants put together
their own kit (i.e., they leave with a kit). Good questions in the bulleted list but now what?
Where are the resources? Having all this stuff in a kit is a great idea but how would he take
the kit with him? His wheelchair batteries are very heavy. He would need a shower chair,
transfer bench and other equipment but how would he take all that with him?
Participant 4 (Muskuloskeletal) – Likes the idea of developing a personal disaster plan and
having a personal contact list. Great bulleted questions. She was able to respond to certain
action steps because she had actually done those items – but others probably haven’t. It
would be good to provide a booklet or steps so that people can fill in the blank (similar to
the new Inventory). She would also recommend information about a personal care
kit/travel kit with toiletries.
Participant 5 (Muskuloskeletal) – The people they deal with won’t probably read all of the
material. There is too much text on the page – too much detail. More pictures and/or icons
are needed and the use of bullets and bolding could be used to call out information that is
most important for people to pay attention to. The level of readability may be greater than
the reading capabilities of many people with disabilities. This page is very similar to the
page targeting seniors as well. Thoughts regarding content: She would not be able to carry a
bag or container of any size that is full of supplies. She would definitely need help or she
would need to pre-position items
Participant 6 (Muskuloskeletal) – This page needs more pictures. It is good information –
pretty simple. Most people with disabilities have probably experienced times when they
have been short of things that they need. They have probably learned how to “babysit” the
system and maybe they think ahead more. This page is a good reminder to people of those
times.
Participant 7 (Blind) – This page seems to address only physical disabilities. This is not about
people with sensory deprivation (visual or hearing impairments) – so much of this doesn’t
apply. What people really want to know is “Where do you go?” and “How do you get
there?” Those questions should be addressed first – and any other topics that address
everyone. Everyone’s needs are so different – so individual. Put the most important pieces
that everyone will want to know first and then break it down for specific types of
disabilities, if needed. Any visual scenes/cues/videos need to be accompanied by a written
description or tag.
Participant 8 (Muskuloskeletal and Vision Impairment) – When she saw the red arrows
(used as bullet points) she thought that those were indicating places where she could click
to go to find more information. She noted the podcast that is on this page. Thought that
was a great idea. She wondered if there could be other podcasts/videos that relay pieces of
information found on the preparemetrokc.org webpage rather than just adding additional
information from other sources. It would also be nice to have the information separated out
by “Things to do NOW”, “What to do before” and “What to do during”. It would be great to
include the new “Your Very Personal Preparedness Inventory” as a tool as well.
Participant 9 (Vision Impairment) – Examples really help and so do the bulleted lists. The
font size could be bigger though. In regard to the images, make sure there are clear
descriptions under the pictures and tag the pictures with a description so that the JAWS
reader also can describe the picture.
Participant 10 (Deaf)/Participant 11 (Sign Interpreter) – This page has very little specific to
deaf or hard of hearing disabilities. It would be great to have a video with a sign interpreter
signing the information on this page and other pages that is applicable. Other Comment:
Video remote interpreters would be nice to have access to in shelters during and after
disasters OR have a list of hard of hearing or deaf people who would be able to help. Also,
he would like to work with Emergency Managers, MARC and others to offer regular training
specifically for deaf individuals regarding Emergency Preparedness and also Text to 9-1-1.
Feedback on the Organization of the Functional and Access Needs Information:
a. Is it helpful to have the functional and access needs information separate from the
general preparedness information? Would you look at the information there?
A few participants were unsure if the information related to functional and access needs
should be separated from general preparedness or not. One of the participants suggested
that perhaps some information could be included on the general page and then more
specific information could be on another page that has a link on the general page. Another
participant did note that some people would definitely relate to the terms “functional and
access needs” or “disabled” because those terms are part of their world. Others may not
relate to those terms. For the latter, it would be important to get their attention to the
additional information in some other way.
The majority of the participants liked that the information regarding functional and access
needs is separate from the general information as long as it is clear on the home page that
there is information available somewhere on the site. Several thought that the functional
and access needs section really needs to be further divided up. There are some pieces of
information that apply to everyone and then there are other pieces of information that do
not apply to everyone so making everyone with a disability wade through all the
information is problematic. Categories for further distinction might include:
mobility/ambulatory impaired, hearing impaired, and visually impaired. Perhaps instead of
putting all of those on one page there could be a page for each. One participant suggested
combining the Senior page with the Functional and Access Needs page since there is so
much overlap. One person also noted that information about services animals also needs to
be included, not just information about pets. Another person noted that the page could use
some of the color designations that the School for the Deaf uses to communicate about
disasters. The different colors mean different things to the deaf or hard of hearing. Applying
these would help deaf or hearing impaired individuals process the information.
General Guidance for Websites or Other Communication Modes to Increase Accessibility
The following are general points that came up frequently during the interviews. Some of
these points could be applied to many different types of communication modes:
1. Multiple approaches to improve accessibility are needed. Approaches that work to help
some (i.e., creating videos) may not be effective for others (i.e., videos that rely only on
visuals to relay an idea are not helpful to the visually impaired.)
2. Consider having a text version for the whole site that people with visual impairments
can utilize with the JAWS reader instead of having to work through all the layers and
menus each webpage.
3. Be careful about having too much text.
4. However, for any graphics and images included, some text needs to be attached/tagged
to those items. Otherwise visually impaired individuals using JAWS or other readers will
not know what those items are.
5. Incorporate more graphics, icons, pictures, etc. for those that are non readers or low
level readers.
6. Break up text by using bullets, highlighting or bolding important items, etc.
7. Use larger fonts and incorporate more space around paragraphs so that it is easier to
read.
8. Try to use design techniques that make it clear what you can click on to access a link.
9. Strongly consider adding a video with a sign language interpreter because deaf people
may not be able to read English well. Their primary language may be American Sign
Language.
10. Become aware of color codes that the deaf population may be familiar with to
communicate certain emergencies and consider using the same colors (Kansas School for
the Deaf will have more information about this).
11. On main pages that are for the general public, make sure to include some reference or
link to pages that provide information for specific groups – otherwise, people may not
dig deeper.
12. On pages addressing disabilities, put information that applies to everyone at the top.
Particularly what do you want people to do? Where do you want people to go?
13. Separate different types of disabilities: mobility related, visually impaired, hearing
impaired, developmentally disabled, etc. so that the information is easier to find.
Sometimes materials tend to stress information that is meaningful to people with
mobility issues and the sensory (visual and hearing) disabilities get either left out or lost
in all the information.
14. Apply design guidelines suggested to all pages on a website that you want people to be
aware of not just pages that are specific to people with disabilities.
Barriers or Motivators to Being Personally Prepared Questions
The participants were asked the following questions regarding their own personal
preparedness:
1. Are you personally prepared for a disaster?
Most of the participants (eight of the eleven) responded that they were not personally
prepared for a disaster. Some indicated that they had taken some steps toward being
prepared. One participant commented “I am a little prepared but not ready to go.”
Another stated, “Probably not as much as I should be.” The deaf individual said that he
was not prepared but he does have a weather radio with a strobe light and vibrator
mechanism. He has an app on his phone that helps to keep him informed of hazardous
weather events. He has a fire alarm that flashes on both the first floor and the basement
of his home. He has also gone to a FEMA training on preparedness. A couple participants
stated that although they hadn’t taken steps to become personally prepared they felt
that they would be ok in a disaster situation – they would be able to get by and be
resourceful with what they have.
Three of the participants responded that they are personally prepared for a disaster.
One of them said that he learned how to be prepared through the Boy Scouts. Another
participant reported that she has taken steps to be prepared including. In addition to
the usual preparedness steps she keeps a list in her purse of all surgeries, medications,
doctors and their contact information, preferred hospitals, etc. She has also shared this
list with other people. She also always lets someone like a neighbor know when she is
going out of town. The third participant who reported being prepared had clearly taken
a number of steps toward making sure that she and her service dog would be able to
cope in a disaster. These steps include:
• Having a backpack on the back of her wheelchair that has a blanket, first aid and
emergency supplies.
• Has contacted responders to let them know that she has a service dog.
• Has a separate set of batteries for her wheelchair and a charger in her van.
• Has placed a pocket on the front of the refrigerator at home with medication
information for each person in the family in case of emergency.
• Has a plan for home with her family outlying who will be responsible for her
personal care, who will be responsible for her service dog, who will get her chair out
(if safe to do so), who will be her power of attorney, etc. Also has a plan worked out
for work: one colleague has agreed to assist her and contact her family if something
should happen to her and another coworker is responsible for taking care of her dog.
2. If you are prepared, why did you take steps to be prepared? If you aren’t prepared, why
haven’t you taken steps to be prepared?
Of the three participants who are prepared, two of them attributed their actions to their
childhood or upbringing. One said that is was a part of the Boy Scout program that was
brought up regularly and those lessons just stuck with him. He also said that he doesn’t
want to die or acquire another disability. “You might end up with a secondary disability
if you don’t prepare for yourself and your own capabilities.” Another said that she had
always been taught to be prepared from her parents. The third participant said that she
took steps to be prepared so that she can feel ready to go. She wants to take the burden
off of co-workers and family by making it very clear what to do and what her wishes
would be during a disaster. “Knowing that I have a plan in place helps me to feel like I
have taken some of the burden off my family and coworkers.”
The participants who reported that they had not taken steps to be prepared gave the
following reasons:
• I haven’t really though it through or taken the time to plan. I have always felt like I
would be ok if something happened.
• I haven’t really worried about it because I live with my sister and she is willing to
assist. A lot of things in the supply kits are items that I would need assistance with.
• It would be difficult to pack all these items in a central location (i.e., a big duffel bag
or box). Carrying such a kit and also getting myself out would be a real challenge.
Honestly on a daily basis, I don’t think about being prepared a lot.
• I never really imagined that something is going to happen. Before this I guess I didn’t
have enough planning information. The expense of the items that I need or would
like to have would be prohibitive. I have thought about gas generator but that would
cost quite a bit.
•
•
•
I didn’t have anyone who ever stressed awareness to be prepared. It wasn’t even
stressed when I got my first guide dog. She feels like this information needs to be
more regularly incorporated into education and into the media.
I just procrastinate about getting prepared. It is just one more thing to do.
I just haven’t done it. I forget about getting things ready. I get sidetracked. He also
noted the expense of all the different adaptive devices that would be needed for the
deaf or hearing impaired. Each additional device, like lights, strobes, vibrators, etc.
cost another $50-75 or more.
3. How will the information you have considered today impact your personal
preparedness?
The participants that were more prepared responded as follows:
•
•
•
I feel like this is information I already know and have covered.
It helps but is very general. Each person’s plan is going to need to be different
especially with all the different disabilities.
It would be a good resource. I didn’t know this information existed. I need to learn
more about where the different counties are and who the contacts are.
The participants that said that they were not prepared responded as follows:
• Some of the information she already knew but she would like to have the contact
information and emergency numbers for people that can help in emergencies.
Would also like to have a list of shelters that my possibly be open so that she can
plan where she might go and how she would get there.
• I think this is a great start and really do want to take this seriously. I want to use this
to help with the basic steps and then consider what items I will need personally to
meet my needs.
• I have been thinking of this topic recently so this will give me some good
information. This information has good strategies for food and water. He asked
about information regarding voice activated radios or walkie talkies. Are there such
things that don’t require you to actually hit a button?
• “It would surely help if I would bother to do it!”
• I will probably prepare more to make sure my pets and partner are safe. I would like
to make a more formal checklist for myself and my household.
• Two participants responded “Yes.”
Technology Questions
The following questions were asked of the participants.
a. What type of setup do you have at work that allows you to access and use the internet?
b. What type of setup do you have in your home that allows you to access and use the
internet?
c. What types of mobile technologies (hardware and software) work well for you in public
places?
d. What do you do when you don’t have access to adaptive technology?
Their answers will be summarized in this section by participant:
Participant 1 (Muskuloskeletal) –
a. At work she uses a standard computer setup.
b. At home she uses a cell phone and a tablet with Microsoft products on it.
c. In public places she uses a cell phone although walking and talking at the same time is
very challenging. She has crutches and holding her phone is hard when she is using her
crutches.
d. Did not answer this question.
Participant 2 (Muskuloskeletal) –
a. She uses a Dragon Dictate program because she can’t type easily. She also uses a
Bluetooth keyboard with a track pad.
b. At home she uses a Surface Pro with a touch screen. Laptops are much more mobile and
the touch screen allows her to do things without having to type all the time. A touch pad
is definitely preferable to a mouse.
c. In public she uses a cell phone with dictation apps that most cell phones have.
d. Did not answer this question.
Participant 3 (Muskuloskeletal) –
a. At work he uses Dragon Naturally Speaking which allows for voice access to his
computer rather than just typing. He uses this application with headphones. This
program is designed to work with Microsoft Office products.
b. He has a similar set up at home so that he can avoid two-fingered typing which is very
slow.
c. In public places he uses his iPhone. He uses CERI quite a bit and also the Google “Speech
to Text” feature. Apps are pretty readily available to help people: Text to Speech (TTS)
and screen readers can be very helpful.
d. Everything would just get lot slower without some of these tools. He would love to see a
media campaign targeted toward people with disabilities about this topic and why it’s
important for them.
Participant 4 (Muskuloskeletal) –
a. At work she used Dragon Dictate with her computer. She uses a headset with Dragon
Dictate and also with her phone because it is hard for her to hold the phone with her
hands.
b. At home she uses and iPad and an iPhone (with unlimited minutes and data). She has an
emergency button on her phone so if someone needs to make a phone call on her
behalf they can do so and the rest of her phone will still be locked. She has weather
alert system apps on her phone and she uses CERI and other voice activation apps.
c. In public she just uses her iPhone.
d. She would rely on the people that she has already made plans with. Also she would ask
others for help. That is a recommendation that she would have for others with
disabilities: Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Help people understand how they can best
help you.
Participant 5 (Muskuloskeletal) –
a.
b.
c.
d.
At work she uses a standard computer set up.
At home she also uses a standard computer set up.
In public she doesn’t use any technologies. She doesn’t have a cell phone.
She would have to make do.
Participant 6 (Muskuloskeletal) –
a. At work he uses a standard computer. However, the desk is about a foot or so off the
floor and the keyboard with a mouse is on the floor. Since he has no arms, he types with
a pencil between his toes (no shoes). He also uses a headset and a speaker phone.
b. At home he has phone system that is motion activated (it answers when he enters the
room). He also can give it voice commands. He has a pendant he can wear when he goes
outside to receive calls. His computer system is pretty much the same as at work. He
could use voice technology for his computer but her prefers to keep up his typing skills
manually.
c. He doesn’t use a lot of technology in the community. He does have a cell phone that he
uses for calls and GPS mainly. At the library sometime he will see if the keyboard will ask
if they can place the keyboard on the floor where he can use it.
d. He really doesn’t depend on technology much mostly because of the cost. Would love to
have a whole smart house. He would also like more information about what types of
things are out there for people with disabilities. He depends a lot on his wife.
Participant 7 (Blind) –
a. At work she uses JAWS with her computer. She does have issues with JAWS getting to
websites correctly and JAWS has problems with a lot of social media sites and also with
pdfs. She also uses a braille display device. She has an iPal which is a device that can
scan a piece of paper and read it but now she uses her phone a lot to do that same type
of thing. She can take a picture of a piece of paper with her phone and then use an app
to read it.
b. At home she mainly uses her iPhone. Right now she does not use a computer at home
but sometime soon she may buy a Mac.
c. In public she uses her iPhone. She has weather alerts and texting ability on her phone.
She also has a tiny key board that will print braille. She utilizes scanning and reading
apps. She paid $100 for one app that is more advanced but there are others that are
cheaper. Another app that she has will describe pictures. Images are often very tricky
for visually impaired people because if they aren’t tagged with a description then all the
person hears is text that doesn’t mean anything or a picture number. (NOTE: 3-1-1 had
trouble with this the last she checked because it was all map based and there weren’t
any descriptors tied to it.) There is an app called CAMFIND that searches for products
that will assist people with visual impairments. For instance she found a money reader
for free with the CAMFIND app. Both Android and iPhones are really good resources.
They build reader technology into many of their systems.
d. If she didn’t have assistive technology she would use a battery powered radio to get
information and if she needed more help she would call 9-1-1.
Participant 8 (Muskuloskeletal and Vision Impairment) –
a. She has fiber myalgia and so she uses a number of different devices/technologies to
help her at work. She has a standing desk and an ergonomic keyboard. She uses a
joystick mouse which helps her to be able to more accurately click on links and icons. It
also allows her to single click rather than double click – that is much easier. Anytime she
can incorporate shortcuts to minimized clicking or steps on the computer that really
helps. When she works on documents she likes to have more space between text and
graphics. She has used Dragon Dictate before but it is pretty slow.
b. At home she has a desk top computer and an iPad which she likes for the portability.
c. In public she uses a cell phone. She uses a number of apps like Google Voice.
d. She watches TV, listens to the radio or goes to the library to get information.
Participant 9 (Vision Impairment) –
a. He uses a standard setup with a larger monitor. The monitor is closer to him than most
people would prefer so that he can see it. He could increase the size of the words if he
really needs to but most of the time he doesn’t bother.
b. At home he just uses a laptop. Nothing special other than that.
c. He does use a cell phone but does not use apps – just the phone mainly.
d. He would just get by.
Participant 10 (Deaf)/Participant 11 (Sign Interpreter) –
a. At work he has a computer with email and a video phone so that he can see people who
are signing on the other end. He also uses a cell phone to text a lot. The hearing
impaired people he works with use texting a lot if they are comfortable with English. He
has a UbiDuo (a product that comes with two keyboards that can talk to one another).
He likes the concept and the product but not the company.
b. At home he has the same setup.
c. In public he uses a cell phone with videophone apps. He uses Facetime, Glide and
texting. He also uses the Note Pages to type out info (i.e., for ordering at restaurants,
etc.). He also uses paper and pen. NOTE: He mentioned that outside deaf people won’t
know if hazards are imminent. They can’t hear sirens – either tornado sirens or the
sirens on responder vehicles. Would it be possible to add colored lights on traffic lights
that indicate particular hazards/warnings. (The sign interpreter has seen this done in
Florida where they have blue lights on traffic lights to warn of hurricanes.)
d. If no assistive devices are available, he would rely on paper and pencil or pen. He also
would rely on gestures.
Conclusion
Information online and in other types of media can be much more accessible to people with a
wide variety of disabilities. Through the use of design and with an awareness of a variety of
different assistive technologies, significant improvements can be made to make it easier for
people with disabilities to find the information they need and to understand it. Organizations
need to be aware of the different design recommendations for their website pages and they
also need to make sure that there are documents available that can be opened and used by a
number of assistive technologies or apps.
In addition, information related to emergency preparedness needs to address general
recommendations first, which would be applicable for everyone. Then emergency preparedness
instructions or information needs to address specific types of disabilities and the specific things
people in each category might need to consider. It should be obvious on emergency
preparedness websites where people with disabilities need to go for specific information. Icons
leading to that information need to be on the home page not further embedded into the site.
Emergency managers and first responders could work with people with disabilities and Centers
for Independent Living to try to strategize to solve some of the challenges that people with
disabilities have with building a kit, making a plan and staying informed.