Readability and Suitability of Local Disaster Preparedness Materials in Predominantly Hispanic Border Communities: A Case Study of Cameron County, Texas

Katarzyna Sepielak; Dawid Wladyka

doi:10.1515/jhsem-2021-0052

Article

Readability and Suitability of Local Disaster Preparedness Materials in Predominantly Hispanic Border Communities: A Case Study of Cameron County, Texas

Katarzyna Sepielak and Dawid Wladyka

Published/Copyright: July 1, 2024

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From the journal Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Volume 21 Issue 2

Abstract

Community awareness is a key component of disaster resilience and numerous agencies developed a plethora of preparedness materials. Previous studies evaluated national-level resources and social media content indicating that these efforts are not effectively reaching vulnerable populations, as the information is provided at or above the secondary education level. However, the local-specific content has been mostly overlooked in the analyses, subsequently neglecting the needs of areas with specific demographics and hazards, like predominantly Hispanic border communities. Thus, this study turns to local preparedness and mitigation materials, rather than general internet searches or national level documents. We analyze information provided on 239 webpages of local authorities in Cameron county in the southernmost tip of Texas. We evaluate: 1) the availability of languages and visual materials, 2) the reading difficulty level, and 3) the suitability of content. Our results demonstrate the lack of suitable and readable information provided on the local authorities’ websites with the average readability level implying “difficult” to “very confusing”, and the average suitability score equivalent to “below average/adequate”. Moreover, the lack of Spanish-language content indicates an under-utilization of the otherwise vernacular language. We discuss those results in the socio-cultural context of the border community.

Keywords: readability and suitability; accessibility; disaster preparedness; Hispanic; border

Corresponding author: Katarzyna Sepielak, Department of Sociology, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley College of Liberal Arts, 78520-4933 Brownsville, TX, USA, E-mail: katarzyna.sepielak@utrgv.edu

Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Alberto Avila, Karen Flores, Xochilth Roman, and Leslie Seaton Sanchez for their work as Research Assistants and support in conducting the study.

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Received: 2021-07-04

Accepted: 2024-03-17

Published Online: 2024-07-01

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https://doi.org/10.1515/jhsem-2021-0052

Keywords for this article

readability and suitability; accessibility; disaster preparedness; Hispanic; border