Auditory barriers and solutions

Why it matters

Audio content without text equivalents excludes people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have auditory processing disorder. This lesson maps the most common auditory barriers to the captioning, transcription, interpretation, and listening technology that addresses them. (BoK p. 13)

Digital and web barriers

• Videos and multimedia without captions exclude deaf and hard-of-hearing users and anyone in a sound-sensitive environment.
• Audio-only content (podcasts, phone messages) without transcripts provides no alternative for users who cannot access audio.
• Live events with no captioning or interpretation lock out deaf users in real time.
• Phone-only customer service is a barrier for people who are deaf and do not use voice telephony. (BoK p. 13)

Physical environment barriers

• Lectures and presentations without a hearing loop or FM system reduce speech clarity for hearing aid users in reverberant spaces.
• Alarms and announcements that are audio-only exclude deaf users from safety information. (BoK p. 14)

Captioning and transcription solutions

Pre-recorded captions

Captions are synchronized text displayed with video, representing both dialogue and relevant non-speech audio (sound effects, music labels). They are essential for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers watching pre-recorded content. (BoK p. 13)

Live captioning: CART and STTR

For live events and real-time communication:

• CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation): A certified stenographer transcribes speech verbatim at full speed, providing near-instant captions. High accuracy, used in educational and legal settings.
• STTR (Speech-to-Text Reporter): Real-time automated or semi-automated transcription. Accuracy depends on the system and speaker clarity. (BoK p. 14)

Transcripts

Transcripts are full text records of audio content. Unlike captions, they do not need to be synchronized with a media player — users can read at their own pace. Transcripts benefit deaf users, search engines, and anyone in a noisy environment. (BoK p. 13)

Sign language interpretation

For Deaf users whose primary language is sign language, a qualified sign language interpreter conveys live or recorded content in the user’s first language. It is not a substitute for captions because the two serve linguistically different populations. (BoK p. 14)

Assistive listening technology

For hard-of-hearing users who use hearing aids:

• Induction loops (hearing loops): Magnetic systems that transmit the room’s audio directly into a hearing aid’s T-coil, cutting out room noise. Common in theaters, lecture halls, and ticket counters.
• FM and infrared systems: Wireless radio or light-based transmission, used in classrooms and cinemas.
• Cochlear implants: For people with profound deafness, a cochlear implant bypasses damaged hair cells and stimulates the auditory nerve directly. Cochlear implant users may also benefit from captions. (BoK p. 14)

Real-world example

A corporate training video is uploaded without captions. A deaf employee watches it with no audio access. A hard-of-hearing employee can hear the speech but misses words. An employee with APD can hear all the words in a quiet room but loses comprehension at the video’s fast pace. Adding synchronized captions and a downloadable transcript addresses all three barriers with one authoring decision.