Transcript Document
The Hearing Assistive Technology Landscape for Hearing Loops and Telecoils Dana Mulvany, MSW (U.S.A.) Differing Abilities Personal Background Consumer with pre-lingual, ski slope hearing loss Advocate for people with disabilities Technological social worker Consultant (Differing Abilities) Program planner for this conference Scope Other types of hearing assistive technology (HAT) that are legally needed for effective communication access can have an impact on loop systems, and vice versa… Effective Communication Access (ECA) The Americans with Disabilities Act Requires ECA in public facilities (not religious organizations) Recent court cases requiring captioning in stadiums Functionally Equivalent Communication Access Equivalent (not equal) access to important aspects of communication Meaning Sensorially (optimize our senses) Cognitively Psychologically Same ease of access as TABs? Hearing Loops: Functional Analysis Audio loops excel at providing functionally equivalent access to communication for telecoil users Easy to use Virtually immediate Non-obtrusive If compliant with IEC standards, provides high-quality experience Equal access (if all seats are looped) Limitations of Hearing Loops Visual access still needed for deaf or severely HOH people Other technologies may cause interference Can cause unintended interference with other telecoil uses Other current limitations (monoaural sound, frequency response) Other types of HAT needed for effective communication access can have an impact on loop systems… 1. Speech to text: Open captioning or CART (Communication Access Realtime Transcription) Closed captioned solutions 2. Speechreading support 1. Video devices showing faces 3. Other assistive listening technology Compete or Complement? Goal: Provide effective communication access for people with various disabilities Legal requirement in some countries DHAC (Directly Hearing Aid Compatible) listening still desirable in conjunction with other technology Open Captioning or CART Photo courtesy of www.c2ccaptioning.com Open captioning (live) Photo courtesy of www.c2ccaptioning.com Open captioning (pre-recorded) Closed captioned solutions Closed captioned solutions Closed captioned solutions Portable computers Smart phones, hand-held devices 1. Captioning 2. Access to text and images 3. Sign language 4. Video for speechreading 5. Song recognition 6. Future: speech recognition? Portable WiFi-enabled devices Portable video devices Videoconferencing Mobile Devices Other Wide–Area Assistive Listening Technology: Current functional advantages 1. Stereo (directionality) 2. Broader frequency response--Good for lower frequencies (music) 3. Confidentiality 4. Portability 5. Individual Control 6. (non-HAT) video description 7. (non-HAT) multiple languages Competing or complementary? Can hearing loops complement or accommodate? Check for non-interference Synchronization of audio & video Can people with hearing aids use the technology comfortably? Other HAT that competes for the telecoil 1.Telephones 2.Devices with or connected to Telecoil couplers (neckloops, silhouettes, HAC headphones) 3.Other loops (rare) Telephones Landline Mobile VoIP (soon) High Definition Telecoil Couplers Neckloops, silhouette inductors (aka ear loops) Personal assistive listening technology Computers, netbooks, iPads, etc. Video devices (DVD players, etc.) Videophones or Webcam conversations Music players The Need for Personal HAT Hand-held amplifier Personal ALS Personal ALS and alerting system ALS with multiple sender units Recommendations: Competing Telecoil Uses Minimize spillover that could affect other telecoil uses Minimize unnecessary signals through hearing loops Make it easy to turn audio on or off Create areas for telephone use/other telecoil use Recommendations: Other wide area HAT Analyze functional advantages and disadvantages Consider working with the other HAT: Synchronization Non-interference Comfort Other Ideas? Dana Mulvany, MSW Differing Abilities [email protected] http://dmulvany.blogspot.com