As part of the Government’s drive to make their buildings and services more accessible, and thereby providing a more inclusive service to the community, the Ministry of Equality is conducting an exercise to determine the current need departments, agencies and authorities have for fixed and or portable hearing loop facilities. Hearing loops are a work stream of the accessibility audit and other audits have been conducted in the past to determine how accessible departments are.
A Hearing Loop is an electronic device that picks up sounds through a microphone or electrical connection and then transmits it wirelessly to a receiver or hearing aid and then the audible sound reaches the ear. This device is particularly useful to people who use hearing aids as the sound they will hear will be clearer and not have too much background sound interference.
It is Government policy to ensure that all public buildings are able to offer their services to everyone regardless of their disability. This includes the provision of a Hearing Loop for people who are hard of hearing.
An online questionnaire has been prepared by the Ministry of Equality and this has been circulated to all heads of department, agencies and authorities. Accurate information will be collected on this form in order to determine how many public service counters are used per department, agency and authority and how many have hearing loops and how many do not. With this information, it can then be determined how many hearing loops may be required by the Government. The questionnaire will also establish if hearing loops are required for employees and also for meeting rooms that cater for meetings with the public. A by-product of this exercise will be that it will help to raise awareness of the responsibilities that each department, agency and authority has in order to provide an inclusive service to the public.
The Minister for Equality, the Hon Samantha Sacramento MP, said: “This Government has shown that it has been investing in the needs of people who are deaf or hard of hearing in the past. Recently, a new state of the art audiology suite at St Bernard’s Hospital was inaugurated. This is not the first audit that has been carried out and as a consequence of these past audits, public buildings are now more accessible than before and many departments have already invested in Hearing Loops in their public counters. The information gathering exercise that is being carried out now is just one more step that Government is taking in order to ensure that the service it provides to the public is generalised and inclusive. Our aim is to ensure that we can offer a standardised service to all Government clients and ultimately reduce any barriers that they may face. We will also establish whether departments, agencies and authorities, as employers, are fulfilling their requirements of meeting the needs of employees who are hard of hearing.”
As part of the Government’s drive to make their buildings and services more accessible, and thereby providing a more inclusive service to the community, the Ministry of Equality is conducting an exercise to determine the current need departments, agencies and authorities have for fixed and or portable hearing loop facilities. Hearing loops are a work stream of the accessibility audit and other audits have been conducted in the past to determine how accessible departments are.
A Hearing Loop is an electronic device that picks up sounds through a microphone or electrical connection and then transmits it wirelessly to a receiver or hearing aid and then the audible sound reaches the ear. This device is particularly useful to people who use hearing aids as the sound they will hear will be clearer and not have too much background sound interference.
It is Government policy to ensure that all public buildings are able to offer their services to everyone regardless of their disability. This includes the provision of a Hearing Loop for people who are hard of hearing.
An online questionnaire has been prepared by the Ministry of Equality and this has been circulated to all heads of department, agencies and authorities. Accurate information will be collected on this form in order to determine how many public service counters are used per department, agency and authority and how many have hearing loops and how many do not. With this information, it can then be determined how many hearing loops may be required by the Government. The questionnaire will also establish if hearing loops are required for employees and also for meeting rooms that cater for meetings with the public. A by-product of this exercise will be that it will help to raise awareness of the responsibilities that each department, agency and authority has in order to provide an inclusive service to the public.
The Minister for Equality, the Hon Samantha Sacramento MP, said: “This Government has shown that it has been investing in the needs of people who are deaf or hard of hearing in the past. Recently, a new state of the art audiology suite at St Bernard’s Hospital was inaugurated. This is not the first audit that has been carried out and as a consequence of these past audits, public buildings are now more accessible than before and many departments have already invested in Hearing Loops in their public counters. The information gathering exercise that is being carried out now is just one more step that Government is taking in order to ensure that the service it provides to the public is generalised and inclusive. Our aim is to ensure that we can offer a standardised service to all Government clients and ultimately reduce any barriers that they may face. We will also establish whether departments, agencies and authorities, as employers, are fulfilling their requirements of meeting the needs of employees who are hard of hearing.”
