36 CFR Parts 1190 and 1191 ADA and ABA Accessibility Guidelines - Preamble (Discussion of Comments and Changes)

219 Assistive Listening Systems

This section covers requirements for assistive listening systems and receivers in assembly areas. Section 219.2 requires an assistive listening system in each assembly area where audible communication is integral to the space and audio amplification is provided. However, in courtrooms this requirement applies whether or not audio amplification is provided. Section 219.3 specifies the minimum number of receivers according to a sliding scale based on the seating capacity of the assembly area.

Comment. Assistive listening systems are generally categorized by their mode of transmission. There are hard-wired systems and three types of wireless systems: induction loop, infrared, and FM radio transmission. Induction loop systems use a wire loop to receive input from a sound source and transmit sound by creating a magnetic field within the loop. The loop may surround all or part of a room and can be installed in ceilings, floors, or walls. Listeners must be sitting within the loop and have either a receiver or a hearing aid with a telecoil. People with telecoil hearing aids do not need to use a receiver. In view of this benefit, comments to the draft of the final guidelines recommended that the requirement for receivers specifically recognize that fewer hearing-aid compatible receivers can be specified for induction loop systems.

Response. Section 219.3 specifies the minimum number of receivers for assistive listening systems, including the number of receivers that are hearing-aid compatible. In the final rule, the Board has added an exception for assembly areas where all seats are served by an induction loop system (219.3, Exception 2). Under this exception, the additional amount of receivers required to be hearing-aid compatible is not required at all. For example, at an assembly area with a seating capacity of 500, a total of 20 receivers would generally be required and at least 5 of this number would have to be hearing-aid compatible. Under the exception for induction loop systems that serve all seats of an assembly area, at least 15 receivers would be required instead of 20.

Requirements for signs indicating the availability of assistive listening systems has been relocated from this section to the scoping section on signage (216.10). Revisions to these provisions are discussed above in section 216.

Comment. Facility operators urged the Board to lower the required number of receivers because, in their view, the vast majority of provided receivers go unused. This is especially true at facilities with multiple assembly areas, such as multi-screen movie theaters, where receivers are provided for each assembly area.

Response. In the final rule, the Board has clarified that the minimum number is to be based on each assembly area. Thus, where a facility has multiple assembly areas, the required number is to be determined individually for each assembly area based on its seating capacity. However, the Board also has included an exception which would permit the minimum number to be based on the combined seating capacity of multiple assembly areas as an alternative if two conditions are met: all receivers are usable with all provided assistive listening systems; and all assembly areas required to have such systems are under the same management (219.3, Exception 1). This allows "mix and match" types of receivers to generally serve such facilities.