Deafness and hearing loss: how to be deaf or hard of hearing friendly (2025)

Being deaf or hard of hearing friendly is crucial to fostering inclusivity and ensuring effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. It promotes a supportive environment that allows everyone to participate fully in social activities.

Nearly 20% of people experience some degree of hearing loss and this percentage is increasing. Hence it is likely that we will need to communicate with people who are deaf or hard of hearing in our daily life. Being aware of good communication strategies for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing will allow us to be better communicators with everyone.

• Face the person. This allows them to see your face, making it easier to lip-read and understand facial expressions.


• Communicate visually using your face, body and hands to express yourself.


• Speak clearly and at a moderate pace. Avoid shouting, as it can distort speech and make lip-reading challenging. Clear and deliberate speech is easier to understand.


• Use visual cues from your direct environment. Based on what is available in the environment where you are, refer to visible elements that can help clarify some concepts such as colours, persons concerned, pictograms and locations.


• Do not exaggerate or distort lip movements. Maintain natural lip movements while speaking to facilitate lip-reading.


• Use the materials you have. Write on paper, type on your phone or computer, point to the words/illustrations used in the presentation slides, or make drawings.


• Speak one at a time and avoid talking over others, as this can create confusion. Speaking one at a time helps the person who is hard of hearing or deaf focus on the speaker.


• Take advantage of new technologies. Exploit the potential from your smartphone or tablet such as using voice-to-text apps, remote sign language interpretation services, and digital sign language dictionaries.


• Reduce background noise or move to a quieter setting. Excessive background noise hinders communication, especially for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.


• Learn basic signs and fingerspelling. When you can plan the interaction ahead of time, take the opportunity to learn basic signs and fingerspelling in the national sign language used by the person who is deaf.


• Don’t say “I’ll tell you later”, as this excludes those who are deaf and hard of hearing from the immediate conversation, making them feel isolated. Instead, strive to include them by finding ways to convey information at that moment.

• Ask children what they need as reasonable accommodations from you, the students, and the school staff and be an ally.


• Seat the child in front of the class, when possible and with child’s consent, and face the child directly while speaking.


• Support children who use hearing aids or implants by learning how to troubleshoot common problems, like changing batteries.


• Encourage children to let you know when they are not hearing others and need them to repeat themselves.


• Encourage other children in the class to communicate accordingly such as learning the child’s national sign language or using visual communication.


• Use hearing induction loop and frequency modulation (FM) systems as these can ensure smoother communication for children using hearing aids or implants.


• Teach children to self-advocate for their needs at home and at school. For example, encourage children to inform their teacher or parents when the hearing aid stops working.


• Encourage parents to disclose their child’s disability and not to hide it.


• Include the child in all activities and encourage other children to do the same.


• Facilitate the encounters between the child and other peers and adult role models who are also deaf or hard of hearing.


• Look into whether the child has hearing loss if a child is not performing well in class by encouraging parents to get the child’s hearing checked.
  

Through:

• ensuring accessible communication: written information, subtitles or captions, professional national sign language interpreters, will facilitate access to communication, learning and using the national sign language; and


• facilitating the use of assistive devices such as hearing aids or implants, FM, infrared and hardwired systems, and hearing induction loops.

• Installation of visual alerts: Incorporate visual alerts for important announcements, such as flashing lights or scrolling text, to supplement auditory notifications.


• Provision of hearing induction loop systems: Install hearing loop systems that transmit audio directly to hearing aids, enhancing sound quality for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.


• Training of staff on communication techniques: Educate staff members on effective communication strategies and the importance of accommodating individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Employers can support staff who are deaf or hard of hearing by:

• making them aware of reasonable accommodation available to them;


• ensuring all meetings are made accessible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing; for example, holding them in well-lit spaces with clear visuals, providing captions or professional national sign language interpreters, and following up with written summaries;


• making virtual meetings accessible by using good audio equipment for clear audibility, providing professional national sign language interpreters, providing the possibility to multipin, and mandating that participants speak with their cameras onto facilitate lip reading or interpretation;


• fostering an environment where colleagues feel comfortable discussing their hearing/visual needs; and


• allowing for flexible work arrangements or breaks to manage appointments related to hearing health.

Be an advocate for hearing loss prevention and hearing care by:

• consulting persons who are deaf and hard of hearing or their representative organizations on what you can do to support them and be their ally;


• participating in awareness campaigns that raise awareness about hearing loss, deafness and hard of hearing, its challenges, and its solutions;


• advocating with businesses and public spaces to invest in accessibility features, such as captioning, hearing loops, sign language translations and visual alerts;


• disseminating information about people who are deaf and hard of hearing, their communication needs, and how individuals and communities can become deaf and hard of hearing friendly;


• being a role model by becoming deaf and hard of hearing friendly, checking your hearing regularly,and encouraging others to do the same;


• learning the national sign language of your country by attending courses provided by deaf sign language teachers;


• volunteer with organizations focused on hearing health to further their efforts in creating awareness and providing resources; and


• organizing World Hearing Day activities or events to raise awareness in communities.