ASSISTIVE LISTENING DEVICES AND CAPTIONED VIDEOS

Listening Devices (ALDs)

Hard of hearing students may use an ALD in the classroom to enhance the voice of a speaker. The most common ALD is a personal FM system; the speaker wears a microphone and the student wears a receiving unit. Students may borrow an FM system from the Office for Students with Disabilities on an as-needed basis.

Captioned Videos

An increasing number of educational videotapes as well as television broadcasts are being "closed captioned" for deaf and hard of hearing viewers. Closed captions are similar to subtitles in foreign language films: captions appear at the bottom of the screen so the viewer may follow narration and dialogue. A closed captioning decoder is needed to display the usually hidden captions. Television monitors manufactured after July, 1993, have built-in decoders that can be activated through the remote control. Instructors can determine whether or not videos are captioned by looking at the video container, which usually contains a short statement about captioning or carries the initials "CC" or a Q-like symbol.