Accessible Common Alerting Protocol Radio Data System Demonstration: Gulf Coast States

The goal of this project was to create and demonstrate end-to-end text radio emergency alerting using Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) messages from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) aggregator for individuals living in the U.S. Gulf Coast who are deaf or hard of hearing. Tools created during the project were designed to be used by Public Radio Satellite System (PRSS)-connected FM radio stations and to have broad application for adoption by other commercial and non-commercial FM broadcasters using Radio Data Systems (RDS), with the understanding that deaf and hard-of-hearing residents living in the vulnerable Gulf States region would benefit directly from receipt of emergency messages that are currently provided in an audio format to hearing individuals.