Access and Functional Needs Planning: Turning Your AFN Annex Into Practiced Capability

An access and functional needs (AFN) annex can be thorough and still fall short when an incident puts it to the test. In the moment, staff need to know who activates support, how to reach people through accessible channels, and what to do if a planned route, vehicle, or communication system is unavailable.

The difference between a document and a working capability is practice. For corporate organizations, universities, colleges, and public health authorities, that means assigning responsibilities, training people to carry them out, exercising the arrangements, and addressing gaps before the next emergency.

AFN planning should include the people who may be on site or rely on organizational services: employees, students, faculty, staff, visitors, and contractors. Needs can be temporary or situational as well as ongoing. The goal is not to make assumptions about individuals; it is to build response options that people can use.

Assign AFN responsibilities before an incident

An annex is difficult to execute if it says what should happen but not who is responsible. Assign primary and backup roles for key actions, such as:

• Sending accessible alerts and confirming that messages are understood.

• Coordinating evacuation assistance and accessible transportation.

• Checking in with people who have requested support.

• Confirming that shelter locations, routes, and services are accessible.

• Coordinating with facilities, security, transportation providers, and emergency management.

• Tracking requests, decisions, and unresolved needs during the response.

Define the boundaries of each role. Staff should understand when to provide information, arrange a resource, or escalate a request, and when a task requires qualified personnel. Identify alternates, including coverage for evenings, weekends, and other times when usual office teams may be unavailable.

Build this responsibility into onboarding and role-specific training. A role assignment that appears only in a plan, or depends on one person being present, is a fragile arrangement.

Make a voluntary registry useful, and protect the information

A voluntary registry may help an organization plan for requested evacuation or communication assistance. The U.S. Department of Justice’s emergency-planning guidance describes voluntary, confidential registries as one possible tool for planning transportation and evacuation assistance. A registry is not a substitute for accessible alerts, a guarantee of help, or a reason to delay a response while staff check a list.

Before collecting information, decide what it is for and who needs access. Ask only for information relevant to planning and delivering support, explain how it will be used, and make participation genuinely voluntary. Establish safeguards such as:

• Limiting access to designated personnel who need the information for their roles.

• Setting procedures for secure storage, updates, retention, and disposal.

• Telling registrants what information may be shared during an emergency and with whom.

• Providing accessible ways to enroll, update, or withdraw information.

• Offering ways to request support during an incident without first enrolling.

Avoid treating diagnosis as a proxy for what help someone needs. Ask what assistance or communication method works for the individual. Keep other routes to assistance available for people who have not registered, including visitors and contractors who may be unfamiliar with campus or workplace procedures.

Make alerts accessible, and make communication two-way

No single alert channel reaches everyone. A siren may not reach someone who is deaf or hard of hearing; a visual-only message may not reach someone who is blind or has low vision. Use multiple channels where appropriate, such as audible and visual alerts, text messages, email, phone, accessible web updates, and direct staff communication.

A message should explain the hazard, the action people should take, where to go or how to get help, and when to expect an update. Prepare accessible formats and processes in advance, including captions, plain-language instructions, and alternate formats as needed. The ADA emergency-planning guidance outlines considerations for alerts, communication, transportation, and shelter programs.

Plan for responses as well as outgoing messages. People may need to report that an elevator is unavailable, ask for a pickup, confirm a destination, or request a different format. Decide who monitors incoming requests, how they are routed, and what backup method is used if a platform or network fails. In exercises, test whether the organization can receive, understand, and act on a request, not just send a message.

Practice evacuation, transportation, and shelter support

People may need different kinds of assistance to evacuate safely. One person may be able to reach an assembly point independently but need accessible transportation from there. Another may need help navigating an unfamiliar route, receiving instructions in an alternate format, or planning for a mobility device, service animal, medication, or power-dependent equipment.

Work through the steps with relevant staff and partners before an emergency:

• Evacuation: Identify accessible routes and alternatives, procedures for elevator outages, assistance points, and how staff will confirm that areas have been checked.

• Transportation: Confirm how requests reach the right person, what accessible transport options may be available, and what the fallback is if a vehicle, route, or pickup point cannot be used.

• Sheltering: Check access to entrances, routes, restrooms, sleeping areas, food, information, and other services. Train staff to ask individuals what accommodation or assistance is useful rather than assuming.

Do not rely on an evacuation chair, accessible vehicle, or backup power source simply because it is listed in a plan. Confirm where it is, who can use it, whether people know the procedure, and what happens if it is unavailable. The CDC’s guidance on sheltering and evacuating and the DOJ’s emergency-planning page offer additional planning considerations.

Put AFN scenarios into exercises

An AFN exercise does not need to be a separate event. Include realistic access and communication needs in existing drills and tabletops, and ensure the exercise tests actions rather than just awareness.

For example, a tabletop could test what happens when a building loses power and an accessible route is blocked. Participants would need to clarify decision authority, identify who contacts affected people, arrange a workable alternative, and communicate where assistance is available. A drill could test whether staff know how to respond to an accessible transportation request and whether the designated destination can meet the stated needs.

Include people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs in planning and feedback when appropriate, and make participation accessible. Explain exercise boundaries and safety procedures in advance. Exercise the chain of responsibility, including backup staff and after-hours coverage, not only the most experienced coordinators.

After an exercise, conduct a focused debrief. Ask what was expected, what actually happened, where participants encountered delays, and which procedures or resources were unclear. Record findings, assign an owner and due date to each corrective action, and retest important changes. Alpha Research Group’s article on corporate crisis exercise simulations offers further guidance on building exercises around learning objectives and follow-through.

Measure capability so it does not fade

A plan can become outdated between training refreshers as staff, contact details, buildings, technology, and transportation options change. Track a small set of measures that show whether the arrangements still work. Depending on your objectives, measures might include:

• Whether primary and backup AFN roles are assigned and trained.

• Whether alert channels are accessible and tested, and whether people can send requests back.

• How long it takes to route an assistance request to the responsible person.

• Whether staff can identify the relevant evacuation and shelter alternatives.

• Whether exercise findings have owners, due dates, and documented completion.

• Whether completed corrective actions have been retested.

• Whether procedures cover visitors, contractors, and after-hours operations.

Set baselines and realistic local targets rather than relying on one universal benchmark. Review measures after exercises, staffing changes, facility updates, and technology changes. Use the results to decide what needs a refresher, a revised procedure, or another practical test.

The aim of access and functional needs planning is not a perfect exercise. It is a response team that understands its roles, can communicate with people in more than one way, and can adapt when the original plan meets real-world conditions.

Alpha Research Group develops customized emergency management training for corporate and academic audiences. To explore training options, visit alpharesearchgrp.com or contact mardis@alpharesearchgroup.com.