Contributing

Thanks for your interest in improving the Inclusive Emergency Readiness Guide.

We welcome contributions from the community, especially from:

• People with disabilities (PwD) and others with lived accessibility experience
• Emergency management professionals who have built tools and systems for disaster response
• Plain language specialists and accessibility experts
• Municipal and government teams implementing emergency communications
• Community organizers serving vulnerable populations

Your feedback helps ensure this guide remains practical, inclusive, trustworthy, and grounded in real-world emergency response.

[!IMPORTANT] We deeply value participation from people with disabilities. Lived accessibility experience is essential to the quality of this work. You are welcome to contribute without disclosing personal disability status.

About This Guide

This is a community-driven guide that aspires to be comprehensive, accurate, and trustworthy. We do not claim to have all the answers. We are building this together, learning from:

• Real emergency situations and what worked (or didn’t)
• Expertise from accessibility and emergency management professionals
• Testing and feedback from people with disabilities
• Implementation experiences from municipalities and organizations
• Research and standards development

This guide needs your expertise to grow and improve.

Ways to Contribute

Share Your Experience

• Report barriers you’ve encountered during emergencies.
• Describe what accessibility features helped you in a crisis.
• Share emergency communication strategies that worked in your community.
• Tell us about tools or systems you’ve built for emergency response.

Improve Content

• Open issues for gaps, missing information, or unclear guidance
• Propose improvements to templates, examples, and checklists
• Submit pull requests for documentation updates
• Add new resources or case studies
• Translate content to other languages
• Simplify complex language to improve readability

Test and Validate

• Test emergency templates with assistive technologies
• Try the Digital Egress checklist on your organization’s site
• Validate that code examples work in real scenarios
• Check links and resources for accuracy
• Test print layouts for emergency binders

Standards and Research

• Help align content with CAN-ASC-6.4, WCAG, or WSG standards
• Share academic research on emergency communications
• Document best practices from emergency management
• Review pull requests from an accessibility or emergency response perspective

Contribution Principles

Clarity and Accessibility

• Use plain language (Grade 6 reading level when possible)
• Follow “One Idea Per Line” for critical instructions
• Ensure content works with screen readers
• Keep file sizes small (under 500KB per page)
• Make content print-ready for offline use

Evidence-Based Guidance

• Link to authoritative sources and research
• Document real-world implementations
• Be transparent about limitations and uncertainties
• Prefer tested practices over theoretical approaches
• Note when something is aspirational vs. proven

Inclusive Language

• Use person-first or identity-first language as appropriate
• Respect diverse disability experiences
• Avoid jargon or explain it clearly
• Consider linguistic and cultural diversity
• Be direct and supportive, not condescending

Emergency Context

• Prioritize life-safety over perfection
• Consider stressed networks and dying batteries
• Remember that people in crisis have limited cognitive capacity
• Think about physical backups (print, offline storage)
• Account for power outages and infrastructure failures

Start Now, Improve Always

We embrace progressive improvement over paralyzed perfectionism.

When contributing:

• Small improvements are valuable (don’t wait to submit the “perfect” PR)
• Incomplete is better than missing (a partial template helps someone today)
• Speed matters in emergencies (quick iteration beats slow perfection)
• Track progress, not perfection (Bronze → Silver → Gold approach)

See our Start Now Framework for how this mindset applies to emergency preparedness.

When reviewing contributions:

• Appreciate incremental improvements
• Suggest next steps rather than blocking on perfection
• Help contributors build on their work iteratively
• Prioritize working solutions over comprehensive ones

In disasters, a simple solution deployed today saves more lives than a perfect solution deployed next month.

Pull Request Guidelines

Before Submitting

• Keep changes focused on solving one problem
• Link to related issues where possible
• Test with at least one assistive technology if relevant
• Check that all links work (automated tests will also verify)
• Ensure files are under 500KB

Writing Standards

• Reading level: Aim for Grade 6 (automated checks will flag Grade 7+)
• Accessibility: Meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA minimum
• Sustainability: Follow Web Sustainability Guidelines
• Format: Use Markdown, avoid HTML unless necessary
• Links: Use Jekyll’s /inclusive-emergency-readiness/path/ filter for internal links

For Code or Templates

• Ensure code examples meet WCAG 2.2 AA
• Test with keyboard-only navigation
• Test with at least one screen reader
• Include alt text for any images
• Optimize for low bandwidth

Documentation Updates

• Update related files when adding new guidance
• Maintain consistent structure and formatting
• Add examples to illustrate concepts
• Link to authoritative sources
• Consider adding to the Framework Matrix if relevant

Involving People with Disabilities

We actively encourage participation from people with disabilities in all aspects of this project:

Your Expertise is Valued

• Testing and feedback: Share experiences using the guide with assistive technologies
• Real-world validation: Help us understand what works in actual emergencies
• Gap identification: Point out missing or inaccessible information
• Code review: Provide accessibility expertise on pull requests
• Content creation: Write about your experiences and needs
• Template development: Help create usable emergency alert templates

Accessibility Accommodations

If you need accommodations to participate (e.g., alternative formats, extended time, asynchronous communication):

1. Open an issue labeled accessibility-accommodation
2. Describe what would help you contribute more effectively
3. We will work with you to implement reasonable accommodations

We recognize that people with disabilities are the experts in identifying accessibility barriers and solutions.

Emergency Management Professionals

We need your expertise. If you have experience building emergency tools or managing disaster response:

• Share what worked in real emergencies
• Point out impractical or unrealistic guidance
• Contribute technical implementations
• Help us understand operational constraints
• Review templates and checklists for real-world usability
• Connect us with resources and case studies

Your practical experience is invaluable for keeping this guide grounded in reality.

Testing with Assistive Technologies

Contributors using assistive technologies are especially valuable for validating:

• Documentation clarity and navigation
• Emergency templates with screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, TalkBack)
• Keyboard-only navigation patterns
• Compatibility with magnification tools
• Usability with voice control systems
• Print output quality for emergency binders

When Reporting Test Results

Please include:

• The assistive technology name and version
• The browser and operating system used
• What worked well
• What presented barriers
• How urgent/severe the issue is in an emergency context

Quick Testing Approaches

15-Minute Keyboard Test:

1. Tab through the page - verify focus is visible and logical
2. Activate all interactive elements (Enter/Space)
3. Check for keyboard traps
4. Verify you can reach all emergency information

15-Minute Screen Reader Test:

1. Navigate by headings (H key) - verify structure
2. Navigate by landmarks (D key) - verify page regions
3. Read emergency instructions - verify clarity
4. Test any forms or templates - verify labels

Code of Collaboration

• Be respectful and constructive
• Assume good intent
• Center accessibility and emergency impact in decisions
• Acknowledge uncertainty and invite learning
• Value diverse perspectives and experiences
• Prioritize practical utility over theoretical purity

Community Values

This project is built on the principle that:

“The most accessible information is the information that actually reaches the user when everything else fails.”

We value:

• Lived experience over academic theory alone
• Practical implementation over perfect standards
• Community knowledge over individual authority
• Iterative improvement over waiting for perfection
• Diverse perspectives over single viewpoints

Getting Help

• Not sure where to start? Open an issue describing what you’d like to contribute
• Have a question? Create a discussion or ask in an issue
• Found a barrier? Label it accessibility-barrier for priority review
• Need clarification? Ask - clear documentation benefits everyone

Project Governance

For technical standards and automated checks, see:

• ACCESSIBILITY.md - Accessibility commitment
• CONTENT_DESIGN.md - Content design principles and review checklist
• AGENTS.md - Protocols for AI and human contributors
• SUSTAINABILITY.md - Performance requirements
• DEPLOYMENT.md - Testing and deployment guide

Recognition

Contributors are recognized in project documentation and commit history. You may:

• Be listed in acknowledgments (opt-in)
• Have your organization credited (with permission)
• Remain anonymous if preferred

License

By contributing, you agree that your contributions will be licensed under:

• Content: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY-4.0)
• Code: GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0)

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Thank you for helping make emergency information accessible to everyone.