Mass Notification Technology Should Not Overlook Deaf and Blind Students
Imagine a crisis hits right where you are: a natural disaster, active shooting, gas leak or other emergency that puts you at risk for harm. You notice the commotion around you, hear a fire alarm or tornado siren depending on the emergency. You can’t figure out what’s going on, or what to do.
It’s an emergency scenario blind, deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences know well — segments that are particularly vulnerable and underserved during emergencies.
How do you deliver time-sensitive instructions to audiences who may not see, hear or understand routine communication formats?
What’s more, how do you do so instantly when people under your care have just moments to react?
In this cover story for Campus Security & Life Safety, we’ve interviewed leaders at the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind (CSDB) and their counterparts at the American School for the Deaf (ASD) about how they’ve tackled this predicament, leveraging tools they already to make mass notifications inclusive for everyone utilizing both visual and audible components.
>> Here’s the full inclusive mass notifications story in a handy, printable PDF.
