No masking this...
I’m well versed in guessing what someone is saying to me at the best of times but add a global pandemic into the mix and I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle. Social distancing, face masks, self-isolation have all become household words in the last few months. Few question their obvious importance but we must acknowledge the challenges they bring. For those who are deaf or have a hearing loss this pandemic has brought new difficulties and if we don’t start addressing them then we risk isolating a community already vulnerable to isolation and loneliness before this all began.
Before COVID-19 I would naturally lean in to hear what was being said, I would look closely at someone’s lips and then carefully piece together the words. Speaking to someone from two metres away, with a face covering (which not only disrupts lip-reading but also muffles the voice) makes day-to-day interactions even more stressful. It's not just physical face-to-face interactions when there are difficulties though. Socialising and working from home often involve video calls but the accessibility of these can be well behind the rest of video technology and can result in some dubious captioning or you can only access subtitles if you pay an additional premium. Trying to follow conversations as soon as there is more than one person on a video call can be difficult for those with normal hearing, for those with a hearing loss it’s easy to just withdraw and feel that you can’t contribute. The new NHS video conferencing tool is being rapidly rolled out but this too has yet to have the technology for live captioning allowing the speaker to follow what is being said with subtitles. When encouraging people to access remote care we must make something as important as healthcare as accessible as possible, as quickly as possible.
We have to acknowledge that we are in uncharted territory and that rapid changes are being made to our everyday life. We know though that some of the changes we make now are here to stay so we must make an effort now to invest in those with a hearing loss. The WHO estimates that 466 million people worldwide have a hearing loss and around one third of the over 65’s - an already isolated group. This isn’t an insignificant group and they must be considered when we are looking to establish our ‘new normal’.
Whilst we should continue to campaign for better access to technology and the production of safe transparent masks there are a few things that you can do day-to-day that might help those with a hearing loss:
Be supportive - accessibility is important for all of us. Support campaigns that aim to improve basic access to subtitles or other technology.
Be understanding - Unfamiliar voices are much harder to follow than familiar ones. It can be exhausting concentrating on understanding unfamiliar speech.
Be patient - if someone is in your way don’t assume they are purposefully ignoring you (I was recently in someone’s way in Tesco and had no idea that they were annoyed at me until they started shouting)
If you’re hosting a video meeting, consider providing information before it starts to help listeners follow what’s being said. I do a video quiz once a week and the quizmaster sends me the questions just before it starts so that I can follow the questions.
If you’re a speaker on a video call - consider your lighting. Make sure your face is well-lit, your face is clear and close to the camera. Try to reduce any background noise.
Download a speech-to-text app or save a browser in your favourites. This means if you’re struggling to make yourself understood, or struggling to hear others you can use an app to help. ‘Web captioner’ is a universal web page, Live transcribe (google app) or Ava are all good options.
NHS Audiology departments are still open. They may be working differently but if you or someone you know someone is struggling with their hearing aid or running low on batteries contact the local NHS Audiology department to find out how they can help.
