Don’t learn safety by accident
As you may recall, my last post made passing reference to the launch of Safety Zone on CUInfo.
Since then, we’ve had the chance to gather some (not a lot) of feedback from the community. But, you know me. I’m all about the feedback. And it does say “Join the conversation!” up there at the top…
So, here’s a screen shot of the Safety Zone (click to enlarge).
Or, if you like, you can go directly to CUInfo and look at the most current listing. Totally up to you.As mentioned before, the purpose of this feature is to both point to important announcements about safety-related events and provide links to other safety resources on the web at Cornell.
The question is, is it working?
Several folks have wondered aloud about whether or not having such information so prominently displayed on a regular basis will dilute the message. Others have gone so far as to complain that adding it to the upper part of the page and moving the directory links to the bottom does them a real disservice in the realm of functionality.
Fact of the matter is that, in today’s climate of potential shooters on campus, possible terrorists lurking around every corner and–oh yes, I’m really going there–irresponsible people whose lack of sexual savvy leads to syphilis outbreaks on campus, we need to have a place to communicate emergency and safety related information.
Here are the sort of things you can expect to see in this area:
- Health alerts
- Travel Advisories/Road closures
- Campus Outages (power, water)
- Emergency alerts
- Crime alerts
And here are some questions for you to chew on–because I know it’s always easier to start with something to jump from.
- Do road closures belong in the Safety Zone?
- Is SZ something that you want to see all the time, whether or not there is something going on?
- What about those links to safety resources? Good? Bad? Indifferent?
- How long should something stay up on SZ?
- Should there be an archive of old postings?
Drop us a comment with your answers to the above or your thoughts on the SZ in general?
Remember: Danger never takes a vacation!
Lisa
(and, apparently, neither does syphilis)
I don’t think the titles of individual road closing notices need to be displayed. They are not directly safety related. A link to their web page in the list at the bottom the safety notice area probably would be adequate.
The date/time of and a link to the most recent campus police advisory should be prominently displayed, however. Their notices *ARE* related to personal safety.
s.
I think Safety Zone is a good addition to CUInfo and we should start driving appropriate traffic in that direction. A couple of thoughts though…
Should the lead be “Current Campus Safety Message(s)”. the use of the word “Alert” could be confusing relative to “Crime Alerts”…
Then we could Label “crime alerts” as such when we have them. Could the blue light be “on” in the case of a true emergency or crime alert?
As far as the timing of postings, I think crime alerts need to go down within 3-5 days depending on the case. Messages, such as the ones up at the moment, can stay as long as they are relevant.
That’s it for now.
Tommy
How about a simpler interface? I’m imagining a rectangle bordered with red/yellow stripes, containing the two or three Current Safety Alerts links, and a clickable Blue Light image, that links to the Safety Zone page. Smaller footprint, less clutter on the CUInfo page.
Also, shouldn’t the three search links
# Search Cornell
# Search People
# Search Units
be at top of page on CUInfo? I bet they’re the most used. Put ‘em next to the weather?
Of course, if you really think Safety is the most important thing, why is it below the weather, and equal to the “Buzz on Campus” links? If you really want to express priorities by location, you might want to re-think the layout some.
My2Cents
Since I’m always a bit anal about categorization, I have to say that “Cough Safe” doesn’t really belong under disaster planning. OTOH, it suggests adding some sort of health section, which could include quick links to Gannett and other resources and updates on current concerns like the occurrence of menengitis cases or the onset of flu season.
I also don’t think the road closing notices belong here. They are taking up prime real estate that would be better served by posting current crime alerts, etc.
There may be a “Safety Zone” naming/branding issue with Gannett: http://www.gannett.cornell.edu/volunteer/ZONE.html
I think the bulleted links in the Safety Zone belong in their own category further down on the page. The content in the box at the top of CUInfo (Weather, Buzz on Campus and Safety Zone) changes regularly, right? Therefore, I don’t think links to static content belong in the Safety Zone if it’s purpose, like that of the weather or Buzz on Campus areas, is to announce as needed important messages in a timely way. Perhaps a single link in the Safety Zone to another category of links further down the page would get people to the important information in planning guides, crime alerts, etc. People probably reference that information; few need it displayed at their fingertips. Safety Zone should contain exactly what it says: “Campus Safety Alert(s)” which people wouldn’t necessarily know to look for but need to know.
For me, CUinfo is all about the links, and I agree that Safety Zone is taking up valuable real estate. Soon’s idea makes sense.
I wonder whether you need the long title: “Current Campus Safety Alert(s).” Without any title — and with bold type instead of the usual links — topics next to the blue light would be obvious as alerts, particularly with the time/date stamp.
Also, for the alerts, I’d favor safety tips (“Wear a condom!”) over road closings if nothing critical is happening.
I got a disappointing earful from students recently about the crime alert emails. Most delete the emails without reading them and one reads them because they’re “funny.” Of course my sample size was only about 7…
You asked…
* Do road closures belong in the Safety Zone?
No – unless of a truly dangerous or unexpected nature, e.g., Stewart Ave. bridge washed away by storm, or Tower Road closed because of police activity.
* Is SZ something that you want to see all the time, whether or not there is something going on?
Attenuation is a big concern. I’d prefer to see SZ change position (perhaps from lower on the page to top), or brighten, or somehow attempt to stand out from its normal appearance or placement when it contains a priority message, if it’s present on the page at all times.
* What about those links to safety resources? Good? Bad? Indifferent?
Indifferent.
* How long should something stay up on SZ?
As long as relevant. Breaking news seems most important. General health precautions, not so much. Might be best to say “no current issues” instead of forcing items on to it that really aren’t pressing, or letting old ones sit around for lack of anything to replace them.
* Should there be an archive of old postings?
Yes.
Will Safety Zone contain weather-related messages or links, such as severe electrical or winter storm warnings, and perhaps advice on what to do about them (unplug equipment, take shelter, buy extra food)?
-Ken
I also want the links to be the handiest thing on the CUInfo page. The way it’s laid out now, I automatically scroll down as soon as I get there, so I’d probably miss important safety news.
I think you should only include the Safety Zone info (and the image) if there’s something of an emergency nature right now. That way, if it’s there, the reader will really notice it. If there’s nothing to report, perhaps include the one-liner “No emergencies at this time”, but don’t bother with the image.
In addition, you could better use the screen real estate by (a) giving the weather one line at the top, not 6 square inches, and (b) moving the “Buzz on Campus” down to the bottom of the page.
Do you really need the blue light and the yellow and black stripes together? Feels redundant. The blue light could be smaller and be used selectively to call out pressing alert notices.