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Why are assistive listening systems needed?
Why are hearing loops the preferred assistive listening system?
What hearing aids can receive loop broadcasts?

What do loop systems cost? Who sells and installs them?

Churches and cathedrals
Theaters, courts, and
auditoriums
Transient venues: Drive through stations,
ticket windows, etc.
Airports, train stations
Home TV rooms
Future venues: Offices, cars, phone enhancements

 

 

 

 
 

Hard of hearing people can dream of a future when hearing aids might also serve as wireless loudspeakers, delivering clear, sharp, customized, sound right from inside their ears. They can dream of communities where churches, auditoriums, drive-up business windows and home TV rooms all broadcast their sound directly through these in-the-ear loudspeakers. Thanks to the refinement of "induction loop" systems that transmit directly to hearing aids with telecoils (T-coils), that future can be now! What wi-fi is to laptops, loop systems are to hearing aids.
 
 

Why are assistive listening systems needed?
It's wonderful that churches, schools, and business have made themselves accessible to the visible minority of people in wheelchairs...more

Why are hearing loops the preferred assistive learning system?
Unlike FM and infrared listening systems, loop systems that broadcast to hearing aids... more

What hearing aids have telecoils and can receive loop broadcasts?
Most behind-the-ear hearing aids routinely come with telecoil sensors, as do many in-the-ear hearing aids. These are the hearing aids typically... more

 What do loop systems cost? And where can we order one?
American vendors offer equipment that ranges from... more

How might we loop our community?
Consider the objectives, strategies, and results of one pioneering community, Holland-Zeeland, Michigan... more

How might we loop the nation?
Step one has already been taken... more

What are common concerns about loop systems?
Older loop systems, some claim, suffer from interference, sound spillover, and uneven coverage... more

See lists of looped facilities in the Holland-Zeeland, Grand Rapids, and Grand Haven/Muskegon, Michigan areas
“Venues and service points where sound is broadcast shall offer assistive listening, such as induction loop systems designed to the IEC 60118-4:2006 standard, that broadcast sound directly to hearing aids and cochlear implants, enabling them to serve as customized, wireless loudspeakers (without the need for extra equipment).”
~ Hearing Loops International Conference, 2009 (PDF)

Britain's Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) notes that "Induction loops are vital to ensure accessibility for hearing aid wearers," and offers suggestions for installing and checking them.
   
"On behalf of Michigan's hard of hearing persons, HLA-MI [the Hearing Loss Association of Michigan] recommends that Michigan's public places, as defined by ADA and MPDCR, and where sound is broadcast, install assistive listening systems that broadcast directly through hearing aids and cochlear implants. . ." more

"In all new and extensively remodeled buildings, wherever there is a public address system, a loop should be permanently installed. . . . When there is a loop, all a hard of hearing person has to do to be able to hear, is click on the T-switches on their hearing aids."
~Hearing Loss Association of California

For more endorsements of hearing aid compatible assistive listening, see here.

Recent nontechnical articles explaining loop systems have been authored by

The momentum toward hearing aid compatible assistive listening is growing, thanks to recent developments:

  • Loop systems have been mandated for inclusion in all London Transport ticket offices and all London taxis, and are being tested in New York City taxis.
  • Telecoils also enhance phone listening with all landline phones and more and more cell phones. The FCC is requiring digital phone manufacturers to make telecoil-compatible phones available at every price level. For more cell phone information, see here.
  • More and more hearing aids (62 percent in two recent surveys) come with telecoils, as do nearly all the behind the ear aids worn by those most needing hearing assistance.
  • More and more American venues are being looped. These include the U.S. House of Representatives' main chamber. Hearing loss organizations are promoting the technology in West Michigan, Arizona, New Mexico, Wisconsin, and elsewhere.
  • Gerald R. Ford International Airport (Grand Rapids, MI), serving 2 million passengers annually, becomes only U.S. airport to offer assistive listening. (See press release; see more airport photos; see Grand Rapids Press article.)


Entrance to concourse at Gerald R. Ford International Airport