Fugate
First Name
James
Middle Initial
R
Last Name
Fugate
Department
Engineering Studies
Scholarship Year
2025
Research Center
Non-Center Based
Scholarship Type
Published Conference Proceedings
Contributors List
Amin Hosseini Shakib, Brian Tomaszewski, ISCRAM Proceedings, James Fugate, Jason Rotoli, Mitchell Ripka, Qing Miao, Sandra Rothenberg
Project Title
SafeSigns: Enabling Community Resilience
Start Date - Month
October
Start Date - Year
2024
End Date Anticipated - Month
May
End Date Anticipated - Year
2025
End Date Actual - Month
May
End Date Actual - Year
2025
Review Types
Not Applicable
Student Assistance
Graduate
Projected Cost
$0.00
Funding Source
Grant
Resulting Product
Conference presentation and paper
Citation

Shakib, Amin Hosseini, et al. "SafeSigns: Enabling Community Resilience Communication for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing." Proceedings of the 22nd ISCRAM Conference, Halifax, Canada, May 2025. Ed. ISCRAM Proceedings. Halifax, Canada: ISCRAM, 2025. Web.

Abstract

Emergency Management (EM) strategies often overlook the communication challenges faced by the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) community, limiting their involvement in disaster preparedness and response. This paper introduces SafeSigns, a geospatially enabled toolkit designed to bridge this gap by facilitating hazard reporting and communication by and for DHH individuals. By integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) with user-centered design, SafeSigns empowers users to report incidents, identify hazards, and coordinate with Public Safety (PS) officials. Unlike traditional EM technologies, which rarely prioritize accessibility, SafeSigns leverages ArcGIS Pro, React Vite, and TypeScript to ensure usability, efficiency, and accessibility. This research represents one of the first ISCRAM-related efforts to explicitly include DHH communities in EM. Findings support a more inclusive and participatory approach, demonstrating the significance of geospatial solutions in enhancing community resilience. Future work will refine SafeSigns through real-world testing and explore applicability to other vulnerable populations in disaster response.

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