On February 15, 2024, the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau (“Bureau”) released a Public Notice (“PN”) seeking comment on specific mechanisms to implement multilingual Wireless Emergency Alerts (“WEA”), as directed in the Third Report and Order, which adopted rules to improve WEA’s accessibility and performance.
Specifically, the Bureau seeks comment on the following:
- Identifying Alert Types for Templates: The Bureau seeks comment on requiring Participating CMS Providers to support the use of the Alert Messages templates listed in Appendix C to the PN, which would be pre-installed and stored on mobile devices. The Bureau asserts that these templates represent the most commonly issued alerts and most time-sensitive alerts and seeks comment on this assertion and the text of the proposed templates.
- Incorporating Event-Specific Information into Fillable Alert Templates: The Bureau seeks comment on whether the Alert templates can be customizable to include event-specific information, and specifically on the following four fillable elements: (1) Sending Agency; (2) Area Affected; (3) Expiration Time; and (4) if desired, a URL. The Bureau seeks comment on this approach, including the technical feasibility of this proposal, noting its anticipation that fillable elements would not be translated into the displayed template language.
- Considerations for American Sign Language (“ASL”): The Bureau seeks comment on a variety of proposals concerning the implementation of ASL templates, including but not limited to whether to require Participating CMS Providers to support a minimum resolution or video quality for ASL video templates.
- Supporting Additional Languages: The Bureau seeks comment on whether to require Participating CMS Providers to support templates in additional languages, beyond the 13 “most commonly spoken languages in the United States” selected by the Commission (see discussion below). The Bureau also seeks comment on implementation considerations associated with this proposal (e.g., whether additional languages can be added over the air through software and firmware patches, device updates, timing, etc.), and on consumer outreach.
- Future Updates to Alert Types, Templates, and Languages: The Bureau seeks comment on the process by which it might update, supplement, or otherwise require improvements for templates.
Finally, the Bureau also seeks comment on the cost/benefit analysis of the proposals contained in the PN along with comment on ways it may promote digital equity and inclusion, to the extent not already addressed.
Comments will be due 30 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Reply Comments will be due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
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