Signs for Loop Systems

When you walk into a church, auditorium or other public building you don’t know whether the area has a hearing loop installed unless someone tells you, or you see signs on the walls. This is because loop systems are typically invisible when installed.

Unfortunately, many hard of hearing people don’t even know what the signs look like that indicate there are accommodations available for them?

The universal symbol indicating accommodations for people with hearing loss is a blue sign with a white ear and white slash through it. In addition, if the specific accommodation uses a hearing aid’s telecoil (t-coil or t-switch), the sign has a “T” in the bottom right corner. (See picture at right.)

Since such signs are not readily available, and in response to requests for such signs, here are two signs (in PDF format) that anyone or any organization can freely download and use.

The first sign is the universal symbol for telecoil accommodations whether these accommodations are for telephones, room loops or even just indicating that neckloops or Music Links are available there.

The second sign is a more explicit sign combining this universal symbol with English words. I got this idea from a Better Hearing Australia brochure. (See picture at left.)

To print out these signs, just click on the links below and choose print. If you want to save them to your computer, right click on the links below, and then select “Save Target As” to download these signs.

Universal symbol with the “T” in the corner (above right).

Universal Symbol with English instructions (above left).

Here are two more signs you may print out and use.

The sign at the left is for venues that have some sort of Assistive Listening Devices (ALD) available to help people hear better. This could include FM systems, Infrared systems, or other accommodations. It can also be used when neckloops or Music Links are available to couple the above devices to hearing aids via T-coils.