What are the best ways to contact low-literacy andlimited-English-proficiency populations? How to Engage Low-Literacy and Limited-English-Proficiency Populations - Planning

..."Strings and Ribbons"

The Volusia County (FL) Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) used "Strings and Ribbons" as their main public-involvement tool for their Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). This game offered a number of advantages over traditional public involvement, such as:

Leveling the playing field by giving every player the same amount of money and influence.
Eliminating the conflict between the public and the MPO, or another agency, by requiring the public to reach a consensus among themselves.
Relying on almost no written information, all populations including low literacy, limited English proficient, and visually impaired can play.
Providing project-specific recommendations.
Constructing maps that visually document the citizens' transportation choices.
Letting citizens explain their choices to others.
Including a mechanism for ranking the choices.

The MPO displayed each map by session on their website (http://www.vcmpo2025.com/input.html), took the improvements identified by the public, prioritized them based on how many times an improvement was listed. The MPO defined the

Watercolored photo of a group of people sitting around a table viewing a project map.

Volusia County (FL) MPO plays "Strings and Ribbons" during a Spanish Association scheduled meeting.

"Public's LRTP" by taking the LRTP budget and applying it to this prioritized improvement's list until the budget was expended. This list was then given to the MPO Board and modeled along with other plans. High school and college students, Hispanic associations, housing authority residents, emergency response personnel, bicycle and walking clubs, senior groups, faith-based organizations, visually impaired groups, and members of the general public have played. As a result, interest in the MPO process and participation at the MPO meetings have increased.

...Transopoly

The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) in Chicago, IL, utilizes Transopoly, a version of "Strings and Ribbons" played with ribbons and dots. It is a good process for identifying transportation infrastructure needs as part of the Long-Range Transportation Planning (LRTP) process. The game documents the public's LRTP; then it is sent to the Chicago Area Transportation Study, the area's MPO. One year, information was collected at each of 19 small group meetings held throughout the area. From this information, a series of small group reports was drafted and returned to the game players for them to verify that their vision, values, problems, and solutions had been correctly stated. Once public approval was obtained, an area plan was prepared. After all of the area plans were completed, one plan was created for the region. The game has been played with residents who cannot read, do not speak English, are deaf or hard of hearing, and are visually challenged.

Watercolored photo of a man standing in front of a group of people at a meeting.

The CNT's Transopoly game allows a player to explain his team's concept in sign language.

Incorporate magnets, color, and symbols Project magnets have lasting power, color can increase visibility and provide an element of protection, and symbols easily convey information.

...refrigerator magnets

Maine DOT created project refrigerator magnets and passed these out at public advisory committee, scoping, and public information meetings. On the magnets were the Maine DOT logo, the project name and website address, and the project manager's division telephone number. The magnets proved effective because people kept them and displayed them in an area they see every time the refrigerator is opened.

...colored T-shirts

The mayor asked each of the team members to wear a plain bright green T-shirt to the project's first series of public-involvement meetings. She anticipated a large crowd and wanted to make it easy for anyone to identify a team member, even from across the room. Although more than 250 residents packed the gymnasium, the public could pick out the team members without having to get close enough to see a name tag.

...visual protection

Everyone going into the Denver, CO, neighborhoods to conduct interviews wore a yellow shirt with the I-70 logo and a picture identification card around their neck. This was done to protect both those conducting the interviews and those being interviewed. Yellow was chosen because it was easy to spot and could be seen from a distance. For additional safety, two-person teams were used and each team had a walkie-talkie. The 10 or more teams stayed together and moved through the neighborhood block by block. Seeing a large number of yellow-shirted interviewers in their block made it easier for residents to feel safe about opening their doors. It peaked their interest and made them want to know what was going on in their neighborhood. If team members were invited into a home, a project bag was hung on the outside of the front door to let the project manager know their location. All teams waited until everyone was present until moving on to the next block. This strategy kept all the teams in sight of each other and provided a way to keep the length of the interviews within a reasonable time limit.

Watercolored photo of people at a meeting.

Staff wore green T-shirts so they could be identified without the public having to read a name tag.

...squares of paper with pictures

On a small neighborhood project, 2- by 2-inch squares of paper with pictures of stop signs, landscaping, sidewalks, potholes, a speeding car, and water standing in the road were used in place of questionnaires. Street names were written on the neighborhood map because most people knew how to read and write their address. Residents were asked for their address and shown where they lived. Staff members engaged the public in conversation about neighborhood problems and possible solutions. The meaning of each square was identified, and residents were asked to tape the squares on the map where they thought improvements should be made. Staff also offered to place the squares on the map for residents. Blank squares were also available to illustrate any other problems the residents identified.

Watercolored photo of a woman and a man conducting an interview on the steps of a dwelling.

Team members wore yellow shirts to identify themselves while out in the neighborhoods, and at all project functions.

Use photographs, 3D animations, and videos

Pictures are worth a thousand words in any language. They can quickly simplify the most complex concept.

...color-coded roadway alternatives

While people might not be able to read the word yellow, most know it by sight. Rather than label roadway alternatives with written descriptions, each was shown in a different color. Care was taken to make sure colorblind individuals could
distinguish the colors used. Each alternative's color was also shown on the corresponding cross-section view that the driver sees. If the red and yellow alternatives were used, then the broad stripes of red and yellow would be shown under that cross-section view. To make the cross-section views look realistic, trees, grass, people, sidewalks, and cars were included.

...before-and-after photos, morphs, and 3D animations

Depending upon the size and complexity of a project, a combination of visual techniques may be used. If the project is a simple widening, before-and-after photos are used. One photo shows the existing conditions and a photographic rendering shows the "after" conditions. This technique provides a relatively inexpensive way to show several widening alternatives at the same location and/or at different locations.

Project map showing different alternatives in a variety of colors.

Each alternative was identified by using a different color, rather than a different name.

If the project is a more complex widening, either before-and-after photos or a computer-generated series of different pictures (a morph) are used. The morph presentation starts out as a still photograph and then slowly adds features; such as, additional lanes, a planted median, bike lanes, sidewalks, or bus pull offs. This presentation is repeated in 30-second cycles.

If the project is a new multi-lane road, a computer-animated "3D drive through" can be used. This shows what it would be like to drive the new facility.

...looped videos at public hearings

Mississippi DOT's in-house video group produces videos for approximately 85 percent of their public hearings. For most projects, a 10- to 12-minute, continuously running, loop video is prepared. However, larger, more complex projects require longer videos. The video begins with the DOT's Executive Director welcoming citizens to the meeting and providing an introduction to the project. The environmental and project-development processes are described, project-specific issues are identified, and the project's purpose and need are discussed. Footage of the project corridor is shown from a driver's perspective, and environmentally sensitive areas are highlighted. The video provides the public with background information before they proceed into the next part of the public hearing, with the viewing of aerial photographs, cross-section views, and the alternatives. To date, the videos have been in English only, although it would be easy to provide voice tracks in other languages.

Watercolored photo of people attending a meeting and watching a video.

Mississippi DOT uses a continuously running, looped video at public hearings to welcome residents, introduce the project, and describe the process.

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