Hearing Accessibility

[Page 839]Consistent with the broader concept of accessibility for people with disabilities, the term hearing accessibility refers to the quality of an activity or place being accessible if people who are hard of hearing can participate in it as effectively as can people who have normal hearing. Furthermore, since people who have normal hearing find it difficult to hear in some situations, a more exacting and inclusive definition is that activities or places are hearing accessible if difficulty hearing does not restrict the participation of any person.

The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) provides a model in which health conditions are characterized in terms of impairments to body functions and structures, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. Importantly, the model recognizes ...