Consumer education and advocacy for hearing clearly in public places
Podcasts and Articles
Article. "Survey Sheds Light on Why Many People with Hearing Loss Don't Use Assistive Communication Technology Hearing Tracker 12 January 2024
"The survey reinforced the fact that hearing loops are the preferred Assistive Listening System for the hard of hearing. Not surprising was that over half of respondents learned about telecoils elsewhere than from their hearing care provider."
"Assistive Listening Systems (ALS) are wheelchair ramps for the hearing disabled. They provide users with a silent, wireless connection to a facility's sound system either through earphones or the telecoils in hearing aids and cochlear or bone implant processors."
The Committee for Communication Access in America (CCAA) has conducted a survey to investigate why people who have hearing loss don't use assistive communication technology more, and they have now released a report of their findings.
Whitepaper. "A Sound Investment: Hearing loops and induction coils in Genesis AI yield dramatic improvements in public spaces."
by Justin R. Burwinkel, Au.D., Rachel E. Barret, Au.D., Daniel Marquardt, Ph.D., Eric George, M.S., Kenneth K. Jensen, Ph.D. Starkey Laboratories, Inc., July 2023. (pdf)
Audio clips in and out of the hearing loop (7-31 seconds): City Hall, Historic chapel, Airport ticketing area, airport baggage claim, and information desk
Provides strong evidence for the positive impact of public hearing assistive technology on speech intelligibility in public spaces. The observed improvements in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), ranging from approximately 5 to 30 dB, highlight the substantial benefits these technologies offer individuals in real-world listening situations.
Article. "Hearing Loops and Telecoils Bring Crystal Clear Sound to Public Places:
For those with hearing aids, this technology can cut the clatter"
by Cathie Gandel, AARP. 3/2/23
"A thin strand of copper wire installed around the edge of a room has transformed the lives of tens of millions of Americans who wear hearing aids. Called a hearing loop, it can bring crystal clear hearing in public spaces — including theaters, churches, museums, airports and even the U.S. Supreme Court — to those with hearing aids equipped with a telecoil."
"If your hearing aid is equipped with a telecoil, you can “walk into a room and just push a button on your hearing aid or cochlear implant and then you have access to the loop. It’s easy, seamless.”
Webinar. The Power of Hearing Loops: A Conversation with Juliëtte Sterkens and Susan Taulia” (30:49)
This Week in Hearing, 3/14/23.
Dr. Sterkens explains that hearing loops are not just about the technology but helping patients with hearing aids who are unable to receive sound in noisy environments. Dr. Taulia talks about her experience advocating for loops in her community and hosting an event with Dr. Sterkens. The video provides an introduction to hearing loops and their benefits for those with hearing loss.
Blog Post. Google Maps Now Includes Hearing Loops
By Cheri Perazzoli, Get in the Hearing Loop Program (GITHL), volunteer committee chair. Hearing Loss Association of America. 12/14/22.
At the request of the HLAA GITHL committee, Google has recently added Assistive Hearing Loop as an accessibility attribute in Google Maps. Having easy access to hearing loop locations will help millions of people with hearing loss find communication access when they venture out.
With Google Maps hearing loop information at our fingertips, we can easily find looped locations and plan outings, errands, and activities that are hearing accessible. Without this much needed information, we may have simply stayed home.
Huge kudos go to the GITHL team, especially Wynne Whyman and Peg Bell, for their dedication and energy in making this happen.
How to Find Hearing Loops in Google Maps (1-minute video)
5 Actions to Promote Hearing Loops on Google Maps (2-page, pdf)
Article. Dropping the Mic on Telecoils: Discussion of key research findings regarding the recommendation and demonstration of hearing loops. (pdf)
by Justin R. Burwinkel AuD, Maddie Olson AuD, & Lori Rakita AuD. Audiology Practices. Fall 2022. pp 26-31.
In our studies, we found that use of remote microphones and hearing loops each significantly improved distant speech recognition in noise when compared to hearing aids alone.
These observations validate the recommendation of assistive listening systems for hearing aids, even for individuals with more mild degrees of hearing loss.
We also found that even brief in-office demonstrations and counseling regarding use of HATs with hearing aids appeared to have improved participant awareness and information retention, but greater exposure to comparative listening experiences may be necessary to motivate routine use. These results underscore the importance of counseling and in-office demonstrations of how to utilize these systems with hearing aids. Encouraging patients to make their own paired-comparison evaluations, in realistic scenarios, may improve perceived benefit of using HATs and lead to lasting behavior changes.
Podcast. Juliëtte Sterkens, AuD on Hearing Loops (web)
The Hearing Journal Podcast. 11/3/21. Host D'Anne Rudden, AuD, owner of Longmont Hearing and Tinnitus Center in Longmont, CO, interviews Juliëtte Sterkens, AuD, national hearing loop advocate.
"I wish that every place was looped - just imagine how much happier and more satisfied our patients could be in the world!"
Be inspired and listen to how audiologists can help make that wish a reality with specific techniques including: putting a hearing loop in their practice, educating patients, encouraging patients to use hearing loops in their community, and being professionally active in their community.
Article. Travel to Get Easier for Telecoil Users (web)
By Stephen O. Frazier. Hearing Health Foundation. 9/23/21
In the past year or so there's been an explosion of what could be industry-altering hearing loop news in the field of transportation, ready to go for us for when we’re all fully back on the road.
Hearing loops have been available in the U.K. for years, in airports, train stations, the Underground, and even London taxicabs. They're now becoming more plentiful in transportation systems here in the U.S.
Podcast. Wireless Hearing:Hearing Loops and the Future of Bluetooth (web)
HearingTracker. 8/18/21. With Juliëtte Sterkens, AuD and Andrew Bellavia. Audio and transcript.
Today's hearing aids can stream multimedia and calls from your phone, but also have the ability to tap into shared audio streams through magnetic induction loops, or "hearing loops", which are installed in public spaces like auditoriums and churches. While hearing loops are the current state of the art, we'll also learn about why Bluetooth LE is at least 10+ years in the future.
Position Statement University of Virginia Hearing Loops: LoopUVA (web)
University of Virginia. "The installation of Hearing Loop should be your first consideration when choosing an assistive listening system (ALS)"
The Coordinator of Academic Accessibility at the University of Virginia has recently posted an excellent document with many references and a clear rejection of Audio-over-WiFi because of UVA's IT department security reasons and not meeting the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as it requires users to bring their own device (known as BYOD).
Position Paper HLAA Telecoils and Hearing Loops (pdf/web)
Hearing Loss Association of America
HLAA supports the inclusion of telecoil technology in all hearing aids and cochlear implants as well as the installation of high quality, well-maintained hearing loop assistive listening systems in public spaces such as ticket counters, auditoriums, houses of worship, classrooms, theaters, concert halls, airports, train stations, and public transportation.
Hearing Loop – the Preferred Large Area Assistive Listening System: Here’s Why (web)
By Juliëtte Sterkens, AuD. Canadian Audiologist. Vol 6, Issue 1, 2019
Recently there has been a renewed interest in assistive listening technology in North America. Driven not only by changes in laws – the Americans with Disabilities Act was updated in 2010 and the Canadian Accessibility Act is poised to pass in 2019 – but also thanks to the work of caring hearing providers who would like to help their clients to hear everywhere, and a growing group of passionate hearing advocates are working to raise public awareness for improved accessibility. They are supported by a small but growing, determined group of trained hearing loop installers.
Louder isn't Necessarily Better (pdf)
By Stephen O. Frazier. Sound & Communication. September 2016, pp. 72-74.
"Just turn up the volume and people an hear what's being said, right? Well, not really..That's why the ADA mandates hearing-aid-compatible assistive-listening systems in certain venues, if there is a functioning PA system.
Getting People With Hearing Loss in the Loop (web)
By David G. Myers. Perspectives on Psychological Science, January 2019, pp. 29–33.
Given the inertia supporting the existing hearing-aid incompatible assistive listening—which is what audiovisual equipment installers have known (and hey, it is easily installed and works for them)—how could we persuade them and hearing professionals to consider the human factor—the benefits of simplicity-of-use, inconspicuousness, and customized sound output with hearing loops? Although Myers' west Michigan initiative helped launch the U.S. hearing loop movement, the greater force of this advocacy comes from its emerging collective power.
America Is Getting in the Hearing Loop (pdf)
By Stephen O. Frazier. Hearing Life, March/April 2018, pp. 43-45.
The creation of the "Get in the Hearing Loop" campaign in 2010 really was the start of something big and it has inspired an impressive consumer-driven effort that stretches from coast to coast. There are now nearly three dozen US-based looping campaigns.
Hearing Loops: The Preferred Assistive Listening Technology (pdf)
By Thomas Kaufmann, Otojoy, Juliette Sterkens, Hearing Loss Association of America, and John M. Woodgate, J M Woodgate and Associates. J. Audio Eng. Soc., April 2015, pp. 298-302.
This article discusses the benefits of hearing loops as an effective and user-friendly assistive listening technology and summarizes the current progress of adoption in the United States.