What is the most important thing you do as a church audio engineer? I think all of us would agree that having the message heard clearly by each and every individual is the single most important thing we do. With a properly designed sound system, the average person should be able to hear the message without any problem, but what about those in our congregation who are hearing impaired? What can we do to make their experience better and ensure that they hear just as well as everyone else?
My mother suffers from almost complete hearing loss in one ear, so I know all too well how difficult hearing loss can be. Simple things like going to a restaurant are challenging for the hearing impaired, and the poor acoustics found in many churches only exacerbate the problem. Surprisingly, despite growing up around a parent with hearing loss, I will be the first to admit that I haven’t paid enough attention to my church’s assistive listening system over the years. In fact, writing this article has challenged me to put more time into our assistive listening mix. Quite frankly, I rarely listen to it, and assuming I see level on our transmitter and no one complains, I leave it alone. I’ll take a closer listen to it next Sunday morning.
ADA and Assistive Listening
The Hearing Loss Association of America states that nearly 20 percent of Americans — some 48 million people — report some sort of hearing loss. That means that roughly one-fifth of your congregation struggles to hear your message. The Americans with Disabilities Act, otherwise known as “ADA,” is intended to “prohibit discrimination and ensure equal opportunity for persons with disabilities…” This includes people with hearing, speech and vision impairments. Title III of the ADA covers public accommodations and commercial facilities such as movie theaters, schools, doctor’s offices, and other businesses. Although religious entities are exempt from the Title III portion of the ADA, many churches choose to provide assistive listening systems and other accessibility services to their congregation in the spirit of ADA simply because it’s the right thing to do.
Assistive Listening Technologies
The most common technology used for transmitting assistive listening mixes to church congregants is FM. There are many benefits of FM transmitters, such as their relatively low cost, ease of use and overall good sound quality. Most importantly, FM covers large areas easily and many users can be tuned into your transmission at once. Numerous manufacturers make excellent FM-based systems operating in the 72 MHz to 76 MHz band, and most churches I’ve visited use FM technology for assistive listening.
Another common technology used for assistive listening is Inductive Loop. An Inductive Loop is a loop or array of copper wires installed into a facility’s floor or ceiling (often under the carpet, for example). An output of the mixing console is fed to the input of a loop driver, which is essentially an amplifier for an inductive loop system. When energized, the loop produces an electromagnetic field that can be picked up by hearing aids and cochlear implants equipped with a telecoil.
Many hearing aids on the market today have telecoils, which is a coil of copper wire that can be engaged at the flip of a switch on the hearing aid itself. The beauty of an inductive loop is that anyone with a telecoil-equipped hearing aid can receive the loop’s signal without the use of a separate receiver. Those without a telecoil-equipped hearing aid can use a receiver that will allow them to listen to the loop signal as well. While Inductive Loop is a great technology for the hearing impaired, it does require a more involved design and installation that are most suitable for new construction or buildings that are undergoing renovation.
There are several other technologies that can be used for assistive listening, from infrared to Wi-Fi to digital RF. While FM and Inductive Loop are the most popular for house of worship assistive listening applications, each technology should be evaluated in order to choose the right system for your facility. For example, Sennheiser makes a number of systems using infrared transmissions, which are particularly useful in RF-hostile environments.
Practical Considerations
Should you decide to purchase an assistive listening system for your church, there are some practical considerations you need to take into account. We upgraded our assistive listening system in 2015, and one of the deciding factors when choosing a particular system involves batteries.
Some of the systems that I researched required AA or 9V batteries. Sure, you could use NiMH rechargeables, but who wants to deal with pulling those out and putting them on chargers every week? I wanted something with internal rechargeable batteries and a charging cradle that I could simply set the packs in at the end of each Sunday morning’s services. Another admittedly small feature that I appreciate about our new system is that the receivers have dual 1/8-inch outputs, meaning a married couple, for example, could share a single receiver pack. Whatever system you choose, do so with the knowledge that you are providing an important service to members of your congregation. The feedback that I’ve received on our new system has been very positive, and I can tell how appreciative its users are.
For more info about the ADA and assistive listening visit U.S. Government ADA site (ada.gov); and the Hearing Loss Association of America at hearingloss.org.
Vince Lepore is the technical director at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Orlando and teaches live production at Full Sail University.
