Assistive Listening Knowledge Base
  • Paper (device usability study; abstract only)

Usability of assistive listening devices by older adults with low vision

From https://assistivelisteningknowledgebase.org/evidence/wittich-2015-device-usability/ · record checked 13 October 2026

  • Wittich W, Southall K, Johnson A
  • Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology (Taylor & Francis), 11(7), 564-571

Independent (university and rehabilitation-centre researchers in Montreal; funding is not stated in the available abstract or indexed metadata)

Summary

A study of 60 older adults tests whether brief instruction and practice help people with low vision operate assistive devices.

Key findings

  • Participants aged 60-100 comprised 23 people with low vision, 25 with combined hearing and vision loss, and 12 controls. Tasks included assembling a pocket talker and operating a talking clock and amplified telephone, with minimal or no instruction.
  • Among participants with sensory loss, task completion without errors ranged from 20% to 95% depending on the device, task complexity and instruction. Instruction and repetition each had a statistically significant beneficial effect, but neither produced universal success on any device.
  • The authors identify device visibility, cognitive and motor task complexity, and manual dexterity as potential barriers needing further investigation. They recommend attention to visibility, hand-eye coordination and dexterity when assigning devices.

Limits

Only the journal abstract and bibliographic metadata, indexed by Europe PMC, were readable. Publisher and PubMed pages returned 403; Wayback had no copy of the publisher URL. Full methods, funding and device-specific results could not be checked. These were personal assistive devices, not venue systems; the evidence is relevant only to the shared task of handling equipment and learning its controls, and cannot rank venue technologies. Date is first online publication; the journal issue is October 2016.

Read the original

www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/17483107.2015.1042076

Link checked . We link to the original and do not host copies.

Cited in

Cite this source

Wittich W, Southall K, Johnson A. Usability of assistive listening devices by older adults with low vision. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology (Taylor & Francis), 11(7), 564-571. 6 May 2015. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/17483107.2015.1042076 (accessed 13 October 2026).

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