INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
Personal Preparedness Planning
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Hearing & Speech Disabilities

People who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf-blind are at a unique disadvantage when it comes to traditional means of receiving emergency information. Television, radio, sirens and police loudspeakers are largely dependent on one's ability to hear. Although there are some methods available to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, such as captioning and text-based messaging, people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or deaf-blind must be prepared to get information in an accessible manner.

Persons with speech disabilities are often not able to communicate with others. Some persons with speech disabilities may rely on augmentative communication devices, like an electronically synthesized board, a qualified speech interpreters, speech-to-speech telephone relay service, may use their own voice which can sometimes be difficult to understand.

The following web sites have more information about emergency preparedness for individuals with hearing or speech disabilities:

Please note: Some of the Web sites listed below are not federal government websites, and may not necessarily operate under the same laws, regulations, and policies as federal websites.