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Fire and Life Safety Pictographs

Did you know that more than 30 million adults in the U.S. can't read, write or do basic math above a third-grade level? Besides the literacy barriers, many cities have a wide range of languages spoken in their communities. How do we effectively deliver fire safety messages to people in any language and from diverse cultural backgrounds?

Pictographs can help overcome literacy barriers by communicating messages with pictures. These pictographs will help you to communicate fire safety messages to high-risk populations. Each was tested nationally with people who have low literacy, as well as those who speak Chinese, Hindi and Spanish — the nation’s largest immigrant groups.

How to use pictographs

Present (view online or download) images contained in each pictograph to your audience in the order shown. This is the order that was tested for comprehension.

You can use these pictographs in educational outreach materials such as flyers, posters and banners. We also encourage you to share them on social media. Individual images in each pictograph are provided for you to download and use for any other outreach needs you may have.