What is Hearing Assistive Technology?
Hearing assistive technology (HAT) includes a variety of devices, tools, software and equipment that can help you better understand speech, music and other sounds, so you can more fully participate in different areas of life.
Some HAT is used with hearing aids or cochlear implants and others support anyone who wants assistance with receiving sound, including those with mild hearing loss. The HAT that will be most useful to you depends on your hearing loss and where you require communication access, whether work, school, home, place of business or public venue.
Assistive listening systems
Assistive listening systems (ALS) deliver sound from a public address system directly to a receiver in a hearing aid, cochlear implant or an external unit connected to a hearing device. This can help you hear more clearly in public venues like performance spaces, court rooms or lecture halls, where background noise or distance from the source of sound can be challenging.
Examples of ALS include:
Assistive listening devices
Assistive listening devices (ALD) include any device, except hearing aids, that support communication for those with hearing loss in small settings and one-on-one conversations. They include a microphone for the speaker and an amplifier to help you hear that speaker better.
There are also a wide range of smartphone and mobile apps that can be used for assistive listening support in various situations.
Alerting devices
Standard audio alarms use a high-frequency sound that is often not perceptible by many people who are deaf or have hearing loss. This puts you at increased risk for danger during emergencies, especially at night, while not wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants.
Accessible listening and alerting devices can help you live more independently by enhancing safety in your home and workplace. Essential alarms include those that notify you of smoke, fire, carbon monoxide or break-ins by using louder, low-pitched sound, flashing strobe lights or vibrations through a bed shaker. Also available are home alert systems—and, more recently, mobile apps—that can notify you of everyday sounds such as knocking, a ringing doorbell, a whistling kettle or a crying baby.
HLAA does not endorse specific products or services but educates and advocates for a range of assistive technology options to help people with hearing loss understand, connect and stay engaged in their lives.