What works in places of worship, and what do the rules ask of them?

Why it matters

Places of worship are among the places where people use their telecoils most: in the hearing aid makers' 2025 UK survey, 31% of the 68 owners who knew they had a telecoil named churches, behind theatres and auditoriums (38%) and level with schools and universities¹. Worship depends on speech in large rooms that can be very reverberant; in a church with about 5 s of reverberation, hearing-aid users understood very little without a loop². An advocacy group warns that worshippers who cannot hear may "stay at home instead"³, and HLAA's magazine notes that houses of worship are slow to upgrade their systems⁴.

The rules for places of worship also differ from those for theatres or courts, starting with the ADA's exemption for religious organisations⁵. This question covers what the rules ask of places of worship and what congregations and worshippers report. Whether to keep a loop when adding Auracast is covered in Should a venue keep its hearing loop when it adds Auracast, and can one system serve both?, and receiver numbers in general in How many receivers and neckloops does each code require, and how should a loan pool be run?. Two church profiles cited there, from England and Illinois, are used here only for what they show about worship^6,7.

What the evidence shows

What the rules ask

• United States, federal law: exempt. Title III of the ADA does not apply to religious organisations or the entities they control, including places of worship. The Justice Department's manual says the exemption covers all of their activities, "whether religious or secular", such as a congregation's day care centre or school open to non-members; a non-religious tenant that pays rent to run a public accommodation on church premises is covered, while the congregation stays exempt⁵. The ADA Standards' assistive listening rules, with receivers set by seating capacity and a hearing-aid-compatible share, therefore do not reach religious entities through Title III^8,5.
• United States, state codes: some do apply. California's building code lists "A religious facility" among places of public accommodation, requires religious facilities to be accessible under the code, and requires assistive listening in assembly areas, with receivers for 4% of seats (at least two), at least a quarter of them (and no fewer than two) hearing-aid compatible unless a loop serves every seat⁹. Massachusetts has a section written for houses of worship, naming churches, chapels, temples, synagogues and mosques: a permanent system where an assembly area holds at least 50 people, has amplification and has fixed seating; other assembly areas need either a permanent system or a portable one with the necessary outlets or wiring; receivers for 4% of seats (at least two); and a system that "should serve all participants" in balconies, the congregation, the altar and the podium¹⁰. Neither names a technology beyond California's loop exception, and neither mentions Auracast^9,10.
• Great Britain: the equality duty, as churches describe it. The Church of England tells parishes that the Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments, that what is reasonable depends on the church, and that changes to the building need a faculty; its guidance page lists induction loops among the aids a church may need¹¹. A diocesan advisory committee writes that "UK Equality legislation requires" a loop "where reasonably possible"¹², and Methodist guidance, without naming a law, that "Churches have a duty to provide a loop system"¹³.
• Europe. A hard-of-hearing federation reports that the European built-environment standard EN 17210:2021 lists religious buildings among the places where assistive listening should be installed¹⁴. Switzerland's draft standard, which is not yet valid, asks for Auracast transmitters as well as inductive transmission in assistive listening systems generally, without singling out places of worship¹⁵.
• Australia. The building code's explanatory information names churches among Class 9b assembly buildings¹⁶, and the code requires hearing augmentation in a room of a Class 9b building where an inbuilt amplification system is installed, with a loop covering at least 80% of the floor area served or receivers available to 95% of it¹⁷.
• Norway. A Bluetooth SIG profile of a Bergen church states that the Norwegian standard NS 8179:2023 defines Auracast as an approved solution¹⁸. The Australian, Californian and Massachusetts provisions read here do not mention Auracast^17,9,10.

Which systems congregations have

• Loops are common in UK churches. In the National Churches Trust's 2025 survey of 3,628 self-selected UK churches, weighted by denomination, UK nation, rurality and listed status, 65% reported a hearing loop; the survey did not ask whether loops work or about any other system. The report credits support from Yeomans, Ecclesiastical Insurance and the University of York¹⁹. A diocese writes that loops are installed in most church buildings, but that some were put in long ago and have broken without being repaired²⁰, and the Center for Hearing Access (CHA) states, without figures, that British houses of worship are extensively looped³.
• US Catholic parishes, 2016. CARA received responses from 789 pastors (15% of those reached). Of the responding parishes, 36% had assistive listening devices that parishioners could use, larger parishes more often than smaller ones; the survey did not record which technology. Funding came from Potomac Community Resources, the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, the Archdiocese of Washington's Department of Special Needs and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington²¹.
• FM. CHA suggests a hearing loop or an FM system for sanctuaries, and a portable loop for confessionals and counselling rooms³. A maker sells its 72-76 MHz large-area kit for houses of worship, theatres and auditoriums²². A Virginia church's AV team reports that its ageing FM system was used by no one because "the equipment made people feel singled out", and that it suffered from static and dropouts²³.
• Wi-Fi. A UK charity's page says audio over Wi-Fi is found in places such as gyms, sports bars and churches²⁴, and a Wi-Fi system maker calls its receiver ideal for places of worship²⁵. In CCAA's self-selected US survey of 1,519 people with hearing loss or related conditions, recruited through hearing-loss networks and with funding not stated, 16% had used Wi-Fi audio at venues such as a music hall, a church or a museum, and 53% of them found the delay distracting or objectionable²⁶.
• Infrared. No source found reports infrared use or satisfaction in places of worship. A German hard-of-hearing association's brochure says infrared retrofits may be laborious, for example under heritage protection²⁷, and infrared, like FM, needs every listener to borrow a receiver²⁸.
• Auracast. The Bluetooth SIG's profiles describe churches in England, Illinois, Virginia, South Carolina and Norway, four of the five set up by the congregation itself: two kept their loops and added Auracast, one replaced FM, one had no system before, and one could not install a loop^6,7,23,29,18. A maker describes a historic Swiss church where its loop driver and Auracast transmitter were installed together³⁰.

What worshippers report

• A loop in a reverberant church (one study). In a study by Adam Mickiewicz University supported by Poland's National Science Centre and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, 22 hearing-aid users and 10 normal-hearing reference listeners were tested in a meeting room and a Polish church with about 5 s of reverberation. In the church, a loop calibrated to IEC 60118-4 significantly raised sentence and nonsense-syllable intelligibility for the hearing-aid users; with the loop, sentence intelligibility for mild losses reached about 95% and no longer depended on reverberation. The comparison was with the hearing aids' own microphones listening to the room's sound system, not with other assistive systems².
• Loop users' surveys. In online surveys recruited mainly through HLAA and loop advocacy channels and paid for by loop and hearing-technology companies, 81% of the 243 respondents to the second survey chose the loop as their preferred large-venue system; the question covered large venues in general and offered no Bluetooth option³¹. CHA quotes a Michigan congregant reporting that loop users rose from one to over 10 in four months as members had their telecoils activated³, and a pastor in the Catholic parish survey wrote that some people attend Mass there because of its loop²¹.
• Auracast in churches: reports from sound teams, without measurements. A Virginia church's team says some congregants heard the service clearly for the first time in years²³. In South Carolina, those who connected reported much clearer hearing, but "only about half of congregants with hearing devices were immediately able to receive the Auracast™ signal"²⁹. An Illinois parish had no confirmed Auracast users when profiled, although its caretaker found Auracast coverage even and wider than the loop's⁷, and a Norwegian church reports little feedback, which its team reads as ease of use¹⁸.

What congregations chose, and why

• Keeping the loop. A Chippenham church kept the loop it had run for decades and fed a donated Auracast transmitter from the same audio feed⁶, and an Illinois parish kept its loop for current telecoil users⁷. A Church of England diocesan committee expects contractors to propose Auracast for new or upgraded installations and advises: "don't discard a working loop system just because you'd like to have Auracast"¹².
• Going without a loop. The Virginia church retired its unused FM system entirely²³; the South Carolina congregation, worshipping in a shared civic auditorium, found traditional systems impractical²⁹; and the Norwegian church says its building's design made a loop impossible¹⁸.
• Money and help. Some pastors ask in written answers for financial help to buy hearing devices²¹; a Methodist fund will not pay for a basic loop, which it treats as a church's own duty¹³; a diocesan council for the deaf offers grants for loops²⁰; and UK churches often pay for access works through local fundraising and volunteers¹⁹. A loop seller's worked examples, at its 2013 list prices, put two hypothetical 150-seat churches at $3,002 for a simple perimeter loop and $11,731 for a low-spill array where metal, neighbouring loops and a concrete floor had to be dealt with³².

Practical issues

• Reverberation and the sound system. A diocese's deaf advisers say a sound system alone can make things harder because it amplifies all noise and often causes an echo, while a loop brings the voice close²⁰; another diocese warns that a good sound system may not be enough for people with moderate to severe hearing loss¹². The Polish study found that the loop's benefit held in the 5 s church².
• Every voice on a microphone. The Church of England asks that everyone who leads or speaks uses a microphone, "even if the speaker may not feel that they need to", with a roving microphone for some styles of worship¹¹. Methodist guidance asks speakers to come to the front, to be trained in microphone use, to speak one at a time and not to hide behind a lectern¹³. A diocese's deaf advisers say a loop does nothing "if speakers don't use the microphone correctly"²⁰, and loop users' complaints in a large survey included presenters not using microphones³¹. The Massachusetts rule asks the system to serve the altar and podium areas as well as the seats¹⁰.
• Music and singing. Methodist guidance warns that "Switching off the microphone during singing can leave deaf people in a vacuum" and that background noise reaches the loop too¹³. In the loop users' survey, about 7 in 10 gave the loop top ratings for speech understanding, against 38% for separating voices from music³¹.
• Historic buildings and loop layout. In the Church of England, works that change the building need a faculty, and listed churches may need to consult Historic England and amenity societies¹¹. Laying loop cable in an existing building can be laborious²⁷, and a maker reports a discreet loop in a heritage church measured for uniform field strength at commissioning³⁰. A diocese notes that a loop may cover the seats but not the sanctuary, that a loop installed too high can lose the signal when heads are bowed in prayer, and that a system designed for a home can fail in a large church²⁰; a measuring-instrument maker's commissioning note makes an exception to its standard measuring heights where heads are not upright, as in places of worship³³.
• Interference. A diocesan committee warns that new LED lighting with dimming may cause interference¹², and another diocese that electrical equipment and wires near the loop do²⁰; the loop standard's introduction says cable layouts and electrical equipment can create interfering background fields³⁴.
• Volunteers. Sound teams who do not wear hearing aids cannot directly hear whether the loop works; the dioceses suggest test equipment or a calibrated tester, and checks by hearing-aid users^20,12. HLAA's installation checklist says the loop standard's final test is an on-site check by a hearing-aid user familiar with loops, and that staff who check a loop will not hear it as a telecoil user does³⁵. A Norwegian church's volunteer head of audio values Auracast for needing "no weekly setup or complex troubleshooting"¹⁸. In the UK survey, 83% of churches say their buildings depend on volunteers, and 45% name a lack of volunteer time as a major barrier¹⁹.
• Loan receivers. The California and Massachusetts codes set receivers at 4% of seats^9,10. CHA's bulletin template tells worshippers without a telecoil that they may borrow "a portable receiver and headphones from an usher"³, and the Virginia church keeps several kinds of Auracast receiver as loaners²³. For venues in general, a survey of listeners and a loop advocate's article list dead batteries, unhygienic headsets and neckloops that were missing or did not work among the problems with borrowed receivers^26,36.

Where sources disagree

Whether there is a duty at all. Under federal law, places of worship in the US are exempt from Title III⁵, while Massachusetts sets assistive listening rules for houses of worship and California applies its accessibility code to religious facilities^10,9. UK church sources describe the duty with different strength: Methodist guidance states a duty to provide a loop¹³, a diocesan committee says the law requires one "where reasonably possible"¹², and the Church of England frames it as reasonable adjustments that vary from church to church¹¹. The National Churches Trust writes of churches making upgrades "even in places where statutory obligations do not apply"¹⁹.

Loop first, or Auracast instead. CHA points sanctuaries to loops and FM³, and a diocesan committee tells churches to keep working loops while hearing aids catch up¹². Three of the SIG's church profiles describe Auracast without a loop, for reasons that differ: an unused FM system, a shared venue and a building that could not take a loop^23,29,18. On the listener side, one of those congregations reports that about half of its hearing-device users could not connect at first, and a looped parish had no confirmed Auracast users, while another reports congregants hearing clearly for the first time in years^29,7,23. None of these accounts is a test, and the loop evidence comes from one church study and surveys recruited through loop advocates^2,31.

How common loops are. A diocese writes that loops are installed in most church buildings, and the 2025 UK survey puts the share at 65%; the 2016 US Catholic survey found assistive listening devices of any kind in 36% of parishes^20,19,21. The surveys cover different countries and years, and neither asks whether the systems work^19,21.

What would settle it

Independent tests in occupied places of worship that compare a loop, Auracast and receiver-based systems with worshippers' own hearing devices, measuring speech understanding during sermons, readings and sung parts; the only study found compared a loop with listening through the hearing aids' own microphones, in one church². Counts of how many worshippers use each system where congregations offer more than one, and why some hearing-device users could not join an Auracast broadcast²⁹. Surveys of worshippers, rather than of churches or pastors, on use and satisfaction, and surveys of congregations that ask which system they have, whether it works and who checks it^19,21. Guidance in codes on whether Auracast can meet assistive listening requirements in worship spaces, and the text of NS 8179:2023^18,9.

Planning while it is open

• In the US, check the state and local building code even though Title III of the ADA exempts religious entities: Massachusetts sets assistive listening rules for houses of worship, and California applies its accessibility code, including its assistive listening rules for assembly areas, to religious facilities^5,10,9.
• In Church of England churches, talk to the Diocesan Advisory Committee early, since works that change the building need a faculty, and record the assessment of what is reasonable in an access plan¹¹.
• Do not discard a working loop when adding Auracast; feed both from the same audio^12,6.
• Before relying on Auracast alone, find out how many worshippers' devices can receive it, and keep loaner receivers for those whose devices cannot^29,23,7.
• Make sure everyone who leads, reads or preaches uses a microphone, including a roving one where needed, and keep a microphone live during singing^11,13,20.
• Switch the loop on for every service, show a sign, and list it in online church directories^13,20,11.
• Have the loop checked regularly by hearing-aid users or with a calibrated tester, ask users for feedback, and maintain it every 12 months, as RNID recommends for venues^12,20,37.
• Show volunteers and worshippers where the loop covers, for example with a diagram, and make sure it is installed at a height that still works when heads are bowed^20,33.
• Ask contractors to make sure new lighting or other electrical work does not interfere with the loop^12,20.
• Have a new loop measured at commissioning and confirmed on site by a hearing-aid user^35,30.
• Consider a loop or venue FM system for meeting rooms, and a portable loop for confessionals and counselling rooms^13,3.
• Tell worshippers how to use the system in bulletins and on the website^3,11.

Sources

1. EuroTrak UK 2025. Anovum. European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA), 2025. Trade body (commissioned by EHIMA and BIHIMA, the European and British-Irish hearing instrument manufacturers' associations; designed, fielded and analysed by the research firm Anovum with a panel company, and EHIMA approved the questionnaire) ↩︎ https://www.ehima.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/EuroTrak_UK_2025.pdf
2. Speech Intelligibility in Rooms with and without an Induction Loop for Hearing Aid Users. Kociński J, Ozimek E. Archives of Acoustics 40(1):51-58, 27 January 2015. Independent (Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań; supported by a grant from Poland's National Science Centre and by Norway through the Norwegian Financial Mechanism) ↩︎ https://doi.org/10.1515/aoa-2015-0007
3. Places of Worship-Assistive Listening. Center for Hearing Access. Center for Hearing Access, The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts, undated (read 9 October 2026). Nonprofit advocacy (Center for Hearing Access, an initiative of The John G. Shedd Institute for the Arts) ↩︎ https://centerforhearingaccess.org/places-of-worship/
4. An Exciting Advancement: Navigating the Transition to Auracast (with the sidebar "Coexisting Assistive Listening Systems: Working Toward Inclusive Hearing Access"). Kaneb A; sidebar by Perazzoli C. Hearing Life magazine, Fall/Winter 2025 (Hearing Loss Association of America), 15 November 2025. Nonprofit advocacy (HLAA's member magazine; both authors serve on HLAA's board of directors, and Cheri Perazzoli is president of HLAA's Washington State association and founded the Let's Loop Seattle campaign; the article's photographs show receivers provided by Ampetronic | Listen Technologies at the HLAA 2025 convention) ↩︎ https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/documents/hearing-life-magazine/2025/fall-winter/hl-2025-3-kaneb.pdf
5. ADA Title III Technical Assistance Manual, section III-1.5000 Religious entities. US Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. US Department of Justice (ada.gov), November 1993. Government (US Department of Justice; issued under section 506 of the ADA, which provides for technical assistance) ↩︎ https://www.ada.gov/resources/title-iii-manual/
6. Auracast location profile: Sheldon Road Methodist Church. Bluetooth SIG. Bluetooth SIG (Auracast website), 28 July 2026. Trade body (Bluetooth SIG marketing material; the SIG is an industry association funded by its member companies and owns the Auracast trademark) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/auracast/auracast-location-profile-sheldon-road-methodist-church/
7. Auracast location profile: Saint Gilbert Catholic Church. Bluetooth SIG. Bluetooth SIG (Auracast website), undated (read 13 October 2026). Trade body (Bluetooth SIG marketing material; the SIG is an industry association funded by its member companies and owns the Auracast trademark; the transmitters and the existing loop are both from Ampetronic | Listen Technologies) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/auracast/auracast-location-profile-saint-gilbert-catholic-church/
8. 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design. US Department of Justice. US Department of Justice (ada.gov), 15 September 2010. Government (US Department of Justice) ↩︎ https://www.ada.gov/law-and-regs/design-standards/2010-stds/
9. 2025 California Building Code (Title 24, Part 2), Chapter 11B: 11B-219 Assistive listening systems, 11B-244 Religious facilities and 11B-706, with the Chapter 2 definitions. California Building Standards Commission (Chapter 11B accessibility provisions of the Division of the State Architect). International Code Council (ICC Digital Codes), for the California Building Standards Commission, 1 July 2025. Government (State of California, California Building Standards Commission; the printed and online code is published by the International Code Council) ↩︎ https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/CABC2025P1/chapter-11b-accessibility-to-public-buildings-public-accommodations-commercial-buildings-and-public-housing
10. 521 CMR 16.00: Houses of Worship (Architectural Access Board regulations, 2006 edition). Massachusetts Architectural Access Board. Commonwealth of Massachusetts (mass.gov), 27 January 2006. Government (Massachusetts Architectural Access Board, part of the state's Division of Occupational Licensure) ↩︎ https://www.mass.gov/doc/521-cmr-1600-houses-of-worship-2006-pdf/download
11. Equal Access to Church Buildings. Church Buildings Council (Church of England); theological material by the Revd Bill Braviner. Church of England (ChurchCare), 2021. Independent (the Church of England's Church Buildings Council, advising its own parishes; copyright Archbishops' Council; the theological material was drafted by a Council member who is a trustee of the charity Disability and Jesus) ↩︎ https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2025-08/equal_access_to_church_buildings_v7.pdf
12. Advisory Leaflet 9a: Hearing Disability. Diocese of St Albans Diocesan Advisory Committee (with thanks to the Revd Martin Shaw). Diocese of St Albans, Church of England, May 2025. Independent (the Diocesan Advisory Committee of the Diocese of St Albans, which advises the diocese's parishes on church buildings) ↩︎ https://www.stalbansdiocese.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Hearing-Disability-leaflet-9a.pdf
13. An Introduction to Supporting People with Hearing Loss in your Church. Methodist Women in Britain. Methodist Women in Britain (MWiB), August 2019. Independent (Methodist Women in Britain, an organisation within the Methodist Church in Britain, writing for Methodist churches; it states that it has set aside funds for churches' provision for deaf people, but not for a basic loop system) ↩︎ https://cdn.mwib.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Supporting-People-with-Hearing-Loss.pdf
14. EU standard for hearing access in the built environment. European Federation of Hard of Hearing People (EFHOH). EFHOH, 14 March 2024. Nonprofit advocacy (European federation of hard of hearing people's organisations; its site states that its 2024-2026 publications are co-funded by the EU CERV programme) ↩︎ https://efhoh.org/2024/03/eu-standard-for-hearing-access-in-the-built-environment/
15. prSIA 500:2025-07 Hindernisfreie Bauten (obstacle-free buildings), consultation draft. SIA (Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects). SIA; consultation copy with highlights published by Pro Audito Schweiz (in German), July 2025. Standards body (SIA) ↩︎ https://pro-audito.ch/wp-content/uploads/prSIA500_Vernehmlassungsentwurf-mit-Hervorhebungen.pdf
16. National Construction Code 2025, Volume One, Part A6 Building classification (A6G10 Class 9 buildings). Australian Building Codes Board. Australian Building Codes Board (NCC online), 1 May 2026. Government (Australian Building Codes Board) ↩︎ https://ncc.abcb.gov.au/editions/ncc-2025/adopted/volume-one/a-governing-requirements/part-a6-building-classification
17. National Construction Code 2025, Volume One, Part D4: D4D7 Signage and D4D8 Hearing augmentation. Australian Building Codes Board. Australian Building Codes Board (NCC online), 1 May 2026. Government (Australian Building Codes Board) ↩︎ https://ncc.abcb.gov.au/editions/ncc-2025/adopted/volume-one/d-access-and-egress/part-d4-access-people-disability
18. Auracast location profile: Sædalen Church. Bluetooth SIG. Bluetooth SIG (Auracast website), 29 January 2026. Trade body (Bluetooth SIG marketing material; the SIG is an industry association funded by its member companies and owns the Auracast trademark; the transmitters are from Ampetronic | Listen Technologies) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/auracast/auracast-location-profile-saedalen-church/
19. National Churches Survey: Giving every church a voice (full report). National Churches Trust; research by Whitestone. National Churches Trust, 28 October 2025. Independent (National Churches Trust, a UK charity that supports church buildings of all denominations; questionnaire and analysis with the research consultancy Whitestone; the report thanks Yeomans, Ecclesiastical Insurance and the University of York for support that enabled the survey) ↩︎ https://www.nationalchurchestrust.org/sites/default/files/2025-11/FULL_NationalChurchesTrust_SurveyReport_AW_281025.pdf
20. Why would you go to church if you can't hear what's being said?. Diocese of Oxford (with the Revd Hannah Lewis, Terry Dawes and John Trett). Diocese of Oxford, Church of England, 19 May 2025. Independent (the Diocese of Oxford, advising its own churches; the advice comes from its Chaplain among Deaf communities and two deaf hearing-aid users, a churchwarden and a professional loop engineer; the diocese's council for the deaf offers grants towards loops) ↩︎ https://www.oxford.anglican.org/hearing-loops.php
21. Disabilities in Parishes Across the United States: How Parishes in the United States Accommodate and Serve People with Disabilities (CARA Special Report). Holland J, Gilger P, Gaunt TP (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate). Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), Georgetown University, July 2016. Independent (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, a research centre affiliated with Georgetown University; commissioned and funded by Potomac Community Resources, the National Catholic Partnership on Disability, the Archdiocese of Washington's Department of Special Needs and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington) ↩︎ https://cara.georgetown.edu/s/PCR-Special-Report-on-Disabilities-FINAL.pdf
22. BST-75 Synthesized Base Station Transmitter Operator's Manual (72-76 MHz). COMTEK Communications Technology. COMTEK Communications Technology (downloads page), 18 January 2011. Manufacturer (COMTEK Communications Technology, which sells 72-76 MHz and 216 MHz transmitters and receivers for assistive listening, language interpretation and other uses) ↩︎ https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/414496dc-67ac-402c-ac0d-00342b1b241d/downloads/BST-75%20Mmanual.pdf
23. Auracast location profile: Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church. Bluetooth SIG. Bluetooth SIG (Auracast website), undated (read 13 October 2026). Trade body (Bluetooth SIG marketing material; the SIG is an industry association funded by its member companies and owns the Auracast trademark; the transmitters are HomeSpot products) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/auracast/auracast-location-profile-bethel-evangelical-lutheran-church/
24. Other assistive listening systems. Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, undated (read 9 October 2026). Nonprofit advocacy (Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, a UK charity whose support pages include Hearing Link Services; the page thanks the loop and Auracast maker Ampetronic for help creating it, and Ampetronic's owner, Allvida, also owns the Wi-Fi system maker Listen Technologies) ↩︎ https://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/support/living/assistive-technology/systems
25. ListenWIFI Wi-Fi Audio Receiver (LWR-1050). Listen Technologies. Listen Technologies (product page), 1 February 2024. Manufacturer (Listen Technologies, maker of the ListenWIFI system and receiver described, which also sells RF/FM, infrared, hearing loop and Auracast assistive listening products) ↩︎ https://www.listentech.com/shop/product/listenwifi-wi-fi-audio-receiver/
26. Consumer use of and preferences for assistive communication technology in public places. Committee for Communication Access in America (Frazier SO, Bailey A, Cadwell B, Clifford C, Liebe K, Myers D, Sterkens J). Committee for Communication Access in America, 8 January 2024. Nonprofit advocacy (an ad hoc committee of hearing-loss advocates, chaired by Stephen O. Frazier (Loop New Mexico; a founding member of HLAA's Get in the Hearing Loop initiative), the report's correspondence author; funding not stated; data collected and analysed by the Frost Center for Data and Social Research at Hope College. The committee's site lists David Myers (founder of hearingloop.org) and Juliette Sterkens (HLAA hearing loop advocate) among its members, with Abram Bailey (founder of HearingTracker), Blake Cadwell (founder and CEO of Soundly), Kevin Liebe (hearinghealthmatters.org) and Carol Clifford (audiologist, former ReSound training director)) ↩︎ https://www.ccaa.name/Report_Final_1-12-24.pdf
27. Warum IndukTive Höranlagen? Muss man sie in öffentlichen Gebäuden wirklich einbauen? (Why induction loops? Must they really be installed in public buildings?). Ruhe C (DSB-Referat Barrierefreies Planen und Bauen). Deutscher Schwerhörigenbund e.V. (refeRATgeber 04), 2 November 2013. Nonprofit advocacy (Deutscher Schwerhörigenbund, the German federation of hard-of-hearing and deafened people, through its accessible planning and building section led by the engineer Carsten Ruhe; the brochure states that its printing was paid for with financial support from four companies, among them the loop makers Ampetronic and Univox, with beyerdynamic and Humantechnik) ↩︎ https://www.schwerhoerigen-netz.de/fileadmin/user_upload/dsb/Dokumente/Information/Service/Ratgeber/refeRATgeber_04_-_Warum_indukTive_Hoeranlagen.pdf
28. Comparison of Large Area Assistive Listening Systems. Compton-Conley C. Hearing Loss Association of America (reprint), 2015. Nonprofit advocacy (reprinted by HLAA with the contact address of its Get in the Hearing Loop program; written by Cynthia Compton-Conley, PhD, of Gallaudet University; who paid for the original is not stated) ↩︎ https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/comparison-of-large-area-assistive-listening-systems.pdf
29. Auracast location profile: Redeemer Fellowship of Edisto Island. Bluetooth SIG. Bluetooth SIG (Auracast website), 23 February 2026. Trade body (Bluetooth SIG marketing material; the SIG is an industry association funded by its member companies and owns the Auracast trademark; the transmitters are HomeSpot products) ↩︎ https://www.bluetooth.com/auracast/auracast-location-profile-redeemer-fellowship-of-edisto-island/
30. Two Solutions, One Goal: Audio for All. Hearing Loops and Auracast at St. Mauritius Church, Berg, Switzerland (case study UV00012-1). Ampetronic | Listen Technologies. Listen Technologies, 31 March 2026. Manufacturer (Ampetronic | Listen Technologies, which made both the loop driver and the Auracast transmitter described) ↩︎ https://www.listentech.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/UV00012-1_CS_HoW_Catholic_Church_St_Mauritius_Switzerland_2026.pdf
31. Consumer Perceptions of the Impact of Inductively Looped Venues on the Utility of Their Hearing Devices. Kochkin S, Sterkens J, Compton-Conley C, Beck DL, Taylor B, Kricos P, Caccavo M, Holmes A, Powers TA. Hearing Review (October 2014 issue), 24 September 2014. Manufacturer (paid for by grants from Etymotic Research, Contacta, Listen Technologies, IntriCon and Univox by Edin, which the acknowledgments describe as including two hearing loop makers, an assistive listening company and two hearing-device technology makers; co-author Juliëtte Sterkens runs the Loop Wisconsin advocacy blog, one of the recruitment channels. The article prints no affiliations; from other sources, co-author Douglas L. Beck worked for the hearing-aid maker Oticon, joining as director of professional relations in 2005 (AudiologyOnline, 20 August 2005) and named director of academic sciences in 2016 (Hearing Review, 6 April 2016), and co-author Thomas A. Powers was vice-president of audiology at the hearing-aid maker Siemens Hearing Instruments (Hearing Review, 19 September 2013) and later a vice-president of its successor, Sivantos (Better Hearing Institute biography)) ↩︎ https://hearingreview.com/hearing-products/implants-bone-conduction/cochlear-implants/consumer-perceptions-impact-inductively-looped-venues-utility-hearing-devices
32. Installing Hearing Loop Systems and Costing. Listen Technologies. SynAudCon (prosoundtraining.com), 12 August 2013. Manufacturer (Listen Technologies, which sells the loop drivers, phased array kits and design service priced in the examples; published on the audio training site of SynAudCon) ↩︎ https://www.prosoundtraining.com/2013/08/12/installing-hearing-loop-systems-costing/
33. Application Note: Induction Loop Systems with XL2 Analyzer (AFILS). Norman DI (for NTi Audio). NTi Audio, 12 January 2021. Manufacturer (NTi Audio, which sells the analyzer and signal generator the note is written for; the author, David Ian Norman, is described in the note as a member of the IEC committee for these systems) ↩︎ https://www.nti-audio.com/wp-content/uploads/NTi-Audio-AppNote-AFILS-with-XL2.pdf
34. IEC 60118-4:2014 Electroacoustics - Hearing aids - Part 4: Induction-loop systems for hearing aid purposes - System performance requirements. IEC TC 29 (Electroacoustics). International Electrotechnical Commission, 11 December 2014. Standards body (International Electrotechnical Commission; the full text is sold, and only the abstract is public) ↩︎ https://webstore.iec.ch/en/publication/798
35. Best Practices for Hearing Loop Installation. Hearing Loss Association of America (contact: Juliëtte Sterkens, HLAA hearing loop advocate). Hearing Loss Association of America (Get in the Hearing Loop), 28 October 2021. Nonprofit advocacy (Hearing Loss Association of America, a US consumer organisation; guidance from its hearing loop programme) ↩︎ https://www.hearingloss.org/wp-content/uploads/best-practices-for-hearing-loop-installation.pdf
36. Hearing Loop – the Preferred Large Area Assistive Listening System: Here's Why. Sterkens J. Canadian Audiologist 6(1), 21 January 2019. Nonprofit advocacy (written by Juliëtte Sterkens, AuD, who according to the author note has worked since 2012 as an advocate for hearing loops and other assistive technology with the Hearing Loss Association of America, with grant funding from the David and Carol Myers Foundation; published in the Canadian Academy of Audiology's magazine) ↩︎ https://canadianaudiologist.ca/hearing-loop-large-area-system-feature/
37. Providing a hearing loop in your venue or business. RNID. RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People), 26 May 2026. Nonprofit advocacy (RNID, UK charity; the page refers businesses to its installation partner Contacta Systems, a hearing loop maker and installer, and states that RNID receives a 5% donation for every assistive listening system Contacta installs through its dedicated email address) ↩︎ https://rnid.org.uk/employers-and-professionals/providing-communication-support/hearing-loops/

Change log

• 10 October 2026Published with 37 sources.
• 13 October 2026Specified the Title III exemption and clarified receiver rules, survey samples and funding.
• 13 October 2026Independent audit clarified the survey population and limited small-room planning to venue systems.

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