A Guide to Planning Accessible Meetings

Hearing Loss Later in Life

As people age, the likelihood they will experience hearing loss increases. Elders who are beginning to lose their hearing may need accommodations for the first time in their lives. Many people are embarrassed and don’t want to ask for help, or may be unaware that help is available. Most people who lose their hearing later in life do not learn sign language. For these individuals, the most useful access tools may be assistive listening systems and devices, speech-to-text technologies or services (such as CART), and captioning for videos. Captioning videos is an effective practice even when it has not been specifically requested.

Additionally, it is best to have everyone speaking in a meeting use a microphone whenever possible. This helps everyone hear what is being said.