This year the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) turned 30! The act was signed into law in 1990, and this year commemorates 30 years of greater awareness around disability issues, as well as increased rights for those with disabilities. This law is extremely important for people with hearing loss, increasing access to services and employment opportunities. Despite 30 years of progress, there’s still a lot more work to be done.
What is the ADA?
The Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination against Americans with disabilities. The act regulates how people with disabilities are treated. Americans with disabilities cannot be denied services or opportunities on the basis of their disability. This includes any discrimination in the workplace, when accessing government services, or utilizing services in the community. This act has created opportunities for millions of Americans, but there are still more ways the ADA needs to support the differently abled community through increased awareness and legislation.
Celebrating Milestones
The ADA has made a number of improvements over the last 30 years in the field of hearing loss and accessibility for those with hearing loss. For example, real time captioning, note takers, FM receivers, and ASL interpreters are required in educational settings when a student requests an accommodation. TVs have closed captioning on all their programming, and even Broadway shows, and other theatre events will offer captioning devices for use during the show.
Raising Awareness About Hearing Loss
Moving forward, the ADA can continue to support the hearing-impaired community by ongoing awareness around hearing loss. Hearing loss has often been called an invisible disability. That’s because someone with hearing loss doesn’t look obviously different. A stranger on the street will have no idea that you can’t hear clearly, and will not know to make accommodations to help you hear.
One easy way to raise awareness about hearing loss is to use more images of people with hearing loss. Since you can’t see hearing loss, it’s important to show people wearing hearing aids in a variety of settings. This will continue to raise awareness around hearing loss, and normalize the use of hearing aids in every environment. It’s also important that media outlets use photos of modern hearing technology rather than older technology. Using pictures of outdated hearing aids will re enforce the idea that hearing aids are large or ugly, rather than showcasing modern, attractive hearing devices.
New Regulations for Online Communication
Another area that needs improvement is in digital communication. The ADA has very few guidelines when it comes to making digital spaces accessible for people with hearing loss. For example, videos on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram often don’t have closed captioning. This excludes people with hearing loss. Without regulation from the ADA, there is no way to ensure that companies take the necessary steps to provide equal access to online content.
Captioning for Video Calls
As our meetings move online, regulations need to keep pace. Another area where more work needs to be done is in making video calls more accessible for the hearing-impaired community. Some companies provide free auto-captions for all meeting participants, but other companies do not. This creates extra challenges for people with hearing loss, and makes it impossible for those with hearing loss to easily participate in video calls and meetings.
Using Clear Masks in Doctor’s Offices
Visiting the doctor can be stressful for everyone, especially during this time when medical professionals in doctor’s offices and hospitals are wearing masks. Masks make it harder for people with hearing loss to communicate. The ADA could mandate the use of clear masks in medical facilities so that those who are hearing-impaired can access medical services without struggling to communicate.
Treating Hearing Loss
Along with the ADA, we will continue to raise more awareness about hearing loss. It’s estimated that around 50 million Americans have a hearing loss. That’s about 15% of the population, so you probably know at least one person with hearing loss.
Join us in raising awareness about hearing loss, and find hearing aids that you’re excited to wear. Not only do these devices look and feel great, they’ll help you hear clearly in every listening environment.