Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Industry guidance

Management of Hearing Assistance Systems in Auditoria

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/abtt-2013-hearing-assistance/ · record checked 9 October 2026

  • Association of British Theatre Technicians
  • Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT)

Trade body (Association of British Theatre Technicians, a UK membership association for the theatre technical industry; no author or funder is named)

Summary

A two-page UK theatre industry guide to running loop and infrared systems in auditoria, covering signs, advertising, staff training and notices when a system is out of order.

Key findings

  • Says the existence of a hearing assistance system, and the type in use, should be made clear in all advertising material.
  • Calls it vitally important that all box office and front-of-house staff are trained so that patrons know the system exists and which type it is, especially with infrared because the theatre must supply the receiver, and that staff know which seats are covered where coverage is partial.
  • Asks for a designated member of staff to check regularly that the system works and, when a fault cannot be fixed before the next performance, for prominent notices saying the system is not working, with box office and front-of-house staff told.
  • Shows two different signs: the ear-and-bar symbol with a T for a loop, for hearing aids with a T switch, and an ear with wavy lines for infrared.
  • Advises stating in venue contracts that the loop will be on at all times, because touring companies may ask for it to be switched off.

Limits

Brief guidance with no data. It predates Auracast in venues and notes only that some Bluetooth systems were becoming available. The date is the 2013 copyright line; the file was created in July 2015. It cites the 2004 edition of Approved Document M.

Read the original

www.abtt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Management-of-Hearing-Assistance-Systems-in-Auditoria2013.pdf

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Cited in

Cite this source

Association of British Theatre Technicians. Management of Hearing Assistance Systems in Auditoria. Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT). 2013. https://www.abtt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Management-of-Hearing-Assistance-Systems-in-Auditoria2013.pdf (accessed 9 October 2026).

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