This webinar, presented by HLAA’s Task Force for Accessible, Inclusive Employment, explores the unique barriers and limitations faced by individuals with hearing loss when using virtual video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams—and how to overcome them.
A recent study by National Acoustics Laboratories in Australia examined the impact of hearing loss while communicating using a video platform. Guest speaker Padraig Kitterick, a key researcher involved in this study, discusses some of those findings, while sharing knowledge and tools to navigate the digital workplace with confidence and success.
Special Guest
Pádraig Kitterick
Head of Audiological Science, National Acoustic Laboratories, Sydney, NSW, Australia
Pádraig Kitterick is the Head of Audiological Sciences at the National Acoustic Laboratories, Sydney Australia, leading NAL’s adult hearing loss research portfolio. Padraig joined NAL in 2021 from his previous role as Head of Hearing Sciences at the University of Nottingham, UK, where he conducted translational research on severe-profound hearing loss including cochlear implantation. Pádraig gained his Ph.D. in psychology by examining how the natural aging process may contribute to listening difficulties in multi-talker environments. His current research focusses on the evaluation of hearing health technologies, personalization of hearing devices and creating targeted solutions for specific populations of adults with hearing difficulties.
Moderator
Theodore Shomsky
Accessibility Technology Engineer at PNC and member of the HLAA Task Force for Accessible, Inclusive Employment
Theo Shomsky identifies as an individual who is hard-of-hearing, living and working with hearing loss. His experience with the challenges of navigating the workplace with a disability led him to pivot his career path from sales and service to accessibility technology. He is now an enterprise accessibility technology engineer and Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC). He utilizes his personal and professional experience with accessibility to help create a more inclusive environment that allows those who live with disabilities, to bring their whole self to work and become the best version of themselves. He is an active member of the HLAA Workplace Employment Task Force leadership team, an Officer of his workplace employee business resource group that advocates for those impacted by disabilities and a crew member of Mission Astro Access, a nonprofit focused on disability inclusion in space.
Pádraig Kitterick
Theodore Shomsky
