NPR Labs plans to work with manufacturers to develop “text-based radio...
NPR Labs plans to work with manufacturers to develop “text-based radio receivers,” which will be used in a pilot project aimed at delivering radio emergency alerts to the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. The project “concentrates on reaching deaf and hard-of-hearing…
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populations through new implementations of conventional FM broadcasts,” said Rich Rarey, manager of strategic technology applications at NPR Labs. NPR Labs was awarded a contract from the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop the project. It will be funded by FEMA for more than $360,000, and it’s contracted for one year, Rarey said in an email. The pilot effort will target people in the Gulf Coast and deliver alerts through local public radio stations and the Public Radio Satellite System, NPR said in a press release (http://n.pr/13kSdjZ). The deaf and hard-of-hearing volunteers “will be alerted to the message by a flashing indicator on their radios or a bed-shaker triggered by their radios, to ensure the message is received day and night,” NPR said. NPR Labs is in the process of refining requests for proposals for the receivers, Rarey said. The public radio organization said it will work with DHS and FEMA to identify 25 public radio stations in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas to participate in the pilot. Some stations have already expressed interest in participating, Rarey said. Mississippi Public Broadcasting in Jackson said it’s excited about the opportunity “to expand the emergency broadcast services MPB provides to Mississippians.” The program “complements the work we are already doing and we are pleased to have another method for helping Mississippians during times of disaster,” MPB Executive Director Ronnie Agnew said in an email. NPR Labs plans to select participating stations by the end of March, Rarey said.