Hearing Assistance Technology (HAT)

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering hearing assistance technology (HAT), wireless transmission methods, alerting devices, telecommunication tools, and accessibility accommodations.

Hearing Assistance Technology (HAT)

Specialized and universal design technologies used full- or part-time alongside hearing aids or cochlear implants, or instead of hearing aids, to improve communication, safety, and sound awareness.

Communication Access

The provision of technology and accommodations that give an individual with hearing loss the ability to communicate across varied listening environments and participate fully alongside peers with normal hearing.

Acoustic Triad of Listening

The three environmental acoustic barriers that degrade speech understanding—especially in classrooms: background noise, distance from the speaker, and reverberation.

Hearing Ear Dog

A service dog specially trained to alert individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to key environmental sounds such as doorbells, alarms, and crying infants.

Hardwired System

An audio connection method in which the listener is physically tethered by a wire or cable directly to the sound source (such as a TV, computer, audio player, or microphone).

Induction Loop System

A wireless assistive listening system that uses an amplifier and embedded floor, ceiling, or perimeter wire loops to broadcast an audio signal via an electromagnetic field directly to telecoil-equipped devices.

Telecoil (T-Coil)

A miniature induction wire coil built into many hearing aids and cochlear implant processors that detects magnetic signals from hearing loops or compatible phones and converts them to customized audio.

Infrared (IR) System

A wireless listening system that transmits audio signals using line-of-sight infrared light beams; contained within room boundaries for privacy, but vulnerable to sunlight and physical obstructions.

FM System

A wireless assistive listening system that transmits audio from a speaker's microphone to a personal receiver via frequency-modulated radio waves, capable of passing through walls and covering long distances.

FM-Only Receiver

A body-worn or ear-level device designed for individuals without typical hearing aids that picks up FM radio signals directly to aid listening in noise or for auditory processing difficulties.

Sound Field Amplification System

A classroom or group audio setup consisting of a teacher microphone, amplifier, and strategically placed room or desktop loudspeakers that raises the vocal signal above background noise for all room listeners.

Bluetooth

A short-range wireless digital protocol using ultrahigh frequency (UHF) radio waves to connect mobile and fixed audio devices across wireless personal area networks within approximately $\sim 2\text{--}3\,\text{meters}$.

Bluetooth Latency

A brief transmission delay inherent to standard Bluetooth processing that can create lip-sync desynchronization unless specialized low-latency codecs (e.g., aptX Low Latency) are utilized.

Live Listen

An iOS accessibility feature enabling an iPhone or iPad to function as a remote directional microphone that transmits real-time audio directly to paired AirPods or compatible hearing aids.

Auracast

An advanced Bluetooth-based broadcast technology enabling a single audio transmitter to broadcast to unlimited nearby receivers simultaneously without requiring traditional device-by-device pairing.

CART (Computer-Assisted Real-Time Captioning)

A large-area accessibility accommodation in which a trained court reporter or steno-captioner transcribes speech into text instantaneously for projection onto monitors or screens.

CAN (Computer-Assisted Note-taking)

A support accommodation where a designated note-taker enters real-time notes and summaries electronically during lectures or presentations for hard-of-hearing participants.

UbiDuo

A portable dual-screen, dual-keyboard face-to-face communication device that allows two people to type back-and-forth simultaneously without an interpreter.

TTY (Teletypewriter)

A legacy telecommunications terminal equipped with a keyboard and alphanumeric visual readout that converts text into audible tones over standard landline telephone lines.

Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS)

A nationwide telephone operator service that facilitates phone calls between individuals who are deaf/hard of hearing and hearing individuals using text, internet, or Video Relay Services (VRS).

Voice Carryover (VCO)

A telephone relay or equipment feature allowing an individual with severe hearing loss to speak directly to the other party using their own voice while reading the other caller's spoken words in text.

Captioned Telephone (CapTel)

A dedicated telephone with an integrated digital screen that provides automated or operator-assisted real-time text captions of the incoming caller's voice while preserving standard voice listening.

Closed Captioning (CC)

A video captioning format in which text transcription and audio descriptions are embedded in the video feed and can be toggled on or off by the viewer.

Open Captioning

A captioning format where subtitles are permanently rendered directly onto the visible picture or film screen and cannot be turned off.

Rear-Window Captioning

A movie theater system featuring a rear-wall LED display showing reversed captions, which moviegoers view right-side up using an adjustable, transparent reflector mounted at their seat.

Hotel / ADA Compliance Kit

A self-contained portable kit for hospitality venues featuring a bed shaker alarm clock, visual door knock signaler, visual telephone ring flasher, and a TTY or telephone amplifier.