Why Accessible Communication Is Essential in a Crisis

Imagine this. You’re driving home from work, listening to the radio as a thunderstorm looms in the distance. You flip through the stations and hear something about an active tornado on SR-168. Wait, what road is that? Are you driving on SR-168? Or are you on SR-142? You see the weather getting worse, and now you’re starting to worry.

Or maybe you’ve just immigrated to the United States from a Spanish-speaking country, and English is not your first language. Can you count on official emergency communications — about an extreme weather event, for example — to be available in Spanish?

Seemingly minor communication barriers, such as using technical language for a state road number instead of a locally known name for the same highway, a lack of translated materials, poorly designed visuals with low contrast, and missing alt text, can magnify confusion and fuel misinformation, especially during crises.