Cultural differences in visual communication and perception

The average screen size of mobile device was a constraint in the safety tips designed. Indeed it required drawing cartoons with few details so that they could appear clearly on small mobile screens. On each cartoon, a combination of red and green colours as well as ticks has been used. Indeed, ticks and checkmarks have been found to be highly cultural and linked to the education system. They are not understood the same way everywhere around the globe. This is also the case with green and red colours which are not universally understood as do/don't colours. For these cartoons, red and ticks were chosen to signify "don't" and green and checkmarks "do". The red sign was chosen to represent the "don'ts" in accordance with ISO standards. The assertion was that combining both the marks and the colours will help the user to understand which picture is what should be done, and which one represents the behaviours to avoid.

Cultural Factors: Communication, Languages

Hazards: Natural hazards

Disaster Phases: Response

Types of Actors Concerned: Non-active citizens, Active citizens

Recommendations:

• Use trustworthy, widespread, multi-lingual, culturally appropriate and inclusive means of alerting the target population in case of disasters
• Inform citizens about the risk they may face and about possible actions and measures, they can take to reduce vulnerability and better prepare themselves
• Use cultural factors to improve the effectiveness of disaster communication