With many people beating the January blues by booking ‘staycations’, Action on Hearing Loss is urging holidaymakers with hearing loss to know their rights and check the accessibility of hotels they are considering booking.
Under the Equality Act 2010, UK services including hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs must make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to be accessible to people with disabilities. This means that accommodation managers must ensure that people who are deaf or hard of hearing can enjoy the same level of service as other guests. However, not all hotels are as accessible as they should be and this can cause frustrating experiences for guests with hearing loss.
Action on Hearing Loss is urging people with hearing loss to avoid future disappointment by contacting their accommodation options in advance and checking what steps they will take to meet their individual communication needs.
The charity is advising staycationers to ask if the accommodation has:
- staff trained in basic deaf awareness
- a hearing loop in reception, and when the last time they checked that it was working
- rooms with an amplified telephone with an in built hearing loop and a flashing doorbell
- procedures to alert guests with hearing loss when their fire alarm is activated and an alerting system designed for guests with hearing loss
- televisions with subtitles already set up in rooms
Acting Chief Executive of Action on Hearing Loss, Paul Breckell, says: “With more holidaymakers choosing to stay in the UK, it’s vital that all hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs recognise their legal responsibilities and make simple adjustments to meet the individual needs of guests with hearing loss. We urge people with hearing loss to check accommodation is suitably accessible before making any reservations and exercise their right to get the same level of service as other guests.”
If you have hearing loss and recently stayed in a hotel which was not deaf aware or accessible, email brief details of your experience to campaigns@hearingloss.org.uk
Contact for media enquiries about Action on Hearing Loss:
Alan Dalziel, Senior PR Officer, telephone: 020 7296 8388, mobile: 07944 038635 or email: alan.dalziel@hearingloss.org.uk
Notes for editors:
- 41% of respondents to Action on Hearing Loss's membership survey said they'd go out of their way to use a service if they knew an induction loop was available.
- Induction loops work by picking up the spoken word with a standard microphone. This is then processed by a loop amplifier and output through a metal coil (or loop) as a magnetic signal. Moving the switch on a hearing aid to the T (telecoil) position disengages the aid's own microphone, so it only receives input from the loop. In an environment with background noise, a hearing aid wearer is therefore able to choose to hear only what is necessary by flicking the switch on their hearing aid.
- Action on Hearing Loss is the charity working for a world where hearing loss doesn't limit or label people, where tinnitus is silenced – and where people value and look after their hearing.
- For further information about Action on Hearing Loss or to become a member, visit www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk, contact the Action on Hearing Loss Information Line on 0808 808 0123 (freephone) or 0808 808 9000 (textphone) or email: informationline@hearingloss.org.uk.