ReadyPhiladelphia, the City’s free mass notification system, is now available to residents and businesses in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese, Swahili, Simplified Chinese, Arabic, Russian, and American Sign Language. These initial messages have been pre-translated to fit dozens of emergencies that could occur in the City of Philadelphia and direct enrollees on where to find further information.

How did The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management (OEM) decide which languages to include?
OEM worked with the Office of Immigrant Affairs (OIA) to learn more about the needs of different language access groups in the city of Philadelphia. OIA had done extensive research identifying French, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, and Swahili as having the greatest need either because of the number of people in Philadelphia who spoke these languages or because of the lack of resources and support the groups had access to. To remain consistent with the City’s effort to make information accessible to those who do not speak English as their primary language. OEM also chose to adopt these nine languages as well. To ensure the emergency alerts are accessible to all Populations OEM chose to include ASL to better support the d/Deaf community.

How were the language translations developed?
The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has English pre-scripted emergency alerts in place to use when a situation occurs where the public needs to be notified quickly.  To make these alerts more accessible OEM worked with a company that provides professional translation services to translate the messages into nine additional written languages. OEM also worked with the Deaf-Hearing Communication Center (DHCC) and two Certified Deaf Interpreters to create videos with the American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation. All of the translated emergency alerts went through several rounds of review to ensure they are an accurate and appropriate translation of the original emergency alert. Artificial Intelligence (AI) was not used in this process.

What Languages can I choose?
ReadyPhiladelphia alerts are available in English, French, Arabic, Russian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Simplified Chinese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Swahili, and American Sign Language.

Can I choose more than one Language?
No, at this time you can only select one preferred language. However, the ability to select more than one language will be coming in a future update.

How do I sign up to receive ReadyPhiladelphia alerts in my preferred language?
You will need to create an online ReadyPhiladelphia account here. As you enter your information it will ask that you select your preferred language. The language you select will determine what language the ReadyPhiladelphia emergency alerts will be sent to you in.

I texted ReadyPhila to 888-777. Will I be able to receive alerts in a language other than English?
No, while it is possible to sign up for ReadyPhiladelphia by texting 888-777 and creating an online account you are only able to indicate that you want to receive messages in your preferred language when you create an online account. Everyone who has signed up to receive ReadyPhiladelphia alerts by texting 888-777 will continue to receive alerts only in English.

Will I receive all emergency alerts in my preferred language?
The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management is working to make all public messaging accessible. However, at this time only a set number of pre-scripted messages are available in eleven languages. Unexpected events that require public messaging will only be available in English.

Why is there English in some of my translated Alerts?
The Philadelphia Office of Emergency Management aims to send out information to the public as soon as possible. In order to do this there may be information that cannot be translated quickly enough to include in the message such as locations, addresses, or type of emergency. Additionally, some information may come from other City Departments or Agencies such as the National Weather Service that is only available in English at the time the alert is sent out.

I don’t see my language listed. Will other languages be available?
Currently, the only languages available to choose from are Arabic, English, French, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Swahili, Simplified Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, and American Sign Language (ASL). There are no plans at this time to include additional languages.

Were the ASL interpreted messages signed by a Certified Deaf Interpreter?
Yes, all of the ASL interpreted messages were signed by a Certified Deaf Interpreter.

Were d/Deaf and/or Hard-of-Hearing individuals consulted in the planning process?
A panel of d/Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing stakeholders were consulted in a focus group panel. Deaf-Hearing Communication Center (DHCC) and Liberty Resources were part of the planning process for the inception and roll-out of the ASL translated alert and warning.

Are ReadyPhiladelphia alerts screenreader compatible?
Our website does not currently have screenreader capability.  We are working with community partners to identify and address accessibility issues as they arise and our web developers are aware of this concern.

I signed up to receive alerts in ASL, but I am having trouble finding the ASL interpretation. Where will it be located?
The ASL interpreted emergency alert video is available via a link that is located at the bottom of the English alert you received via text and/or email. This link is only included in the English alert. May emergency alerts contain links to additional information so make sure that you scroll to the bottom of the message to locate the ASL link.

I watched the emergency alert in ASL. It did not include the specific location or time of the event. Where do I find this information?
The ASL emergency alert video was recorded in advance and does not include time, place, or incident specific information. This information is listed in the text of the English alert that you received that contained the link to the ASL emergency alert video.

What kind of alerts will I receive?
The alerts sent out through ReadyPhiladelphia will contain information on severe weather forecasts and developments, shelter-in-place and evacuation instructions, road closure details, and more, direct from sources like the City of Philadelphia and National Weather Service.

How often will I receive Alerts?
Alerts are sent out on an as-needed basis. There may be some days you do not receive any messages. Other times, if there is an active emergency happening in the City that is affecting residents and visitors, you may receive more alerts to keep you updated.

For General ReadyPhiladelphia FAQs and How-Tos  please visit ReadyPhiladelphia FAQs