Virginia is awash with historic walking tours, from journeys around Jamestown to historic Williamsburg. If you have hearing loss, walking tours can feel a little intimidating. The combination of large groups, background noise and a tour guide facing away from you can make it catch all the nifty facts.
If you’re among the more than 10% of people in the U.S. with hearing loss, take a look at our tips to improve your walking tour experience.
1. Wear Hearing Aids
Hearing aids are an essential tool for staying in the loop during your walking tours. They collect and amplify the tour guide’s speech to ensure you never miss a word. If your hearing aids have a telecoil (t-coil) setting, you can connect them to a loop system if the tour has one available. The loop system works by sending sound from the tour guide directly to your devices, ensuring you catch every word, no matter where you are in the group.
2. Ask About Accessibility Equipment
Before booking your tour, research which tour companies offer hearing loss accommodations. You could ask about live captioning software, written scripts or loop systems.
Some tours offer audio equipment for large groups or people with hearing loss. The equipment varies, but a microphone-to-receiver option is common. With a microphone-to-receiver, the guide will wear a microphone, and you’ll wear a lanyard with a receiver and earphones that bring speech directly to your ears, similar to how loop systems work with hearing aids.
3. Stand at the Front
If your tour doesn’t offer accessibility equipment, it’s helpful to grab a spot at the front so you can hear better. You can also improve understanding by asking the tour guide to face you when speaking.
4. Choose Small-Group Tours
If available, look for small-group or private tours. Smaller groups will allow the guide to give you more one-on-one attention, answer questions and clarify any missed points.
Hearing loss doesn’t have to keep you from enjoying the historic, spooky or silly tours Virginia has to offer. By wearing hearing aids, using accessibility equipment, positioning yourself strategically, and choosing smaller groups when possible, you can stay engaged, learn a lot and have plenty of fun. For more information about managing your hearing loss, contact Hampton Roads ENT ~ Allergy today.