Approximately 15% of American adults (37.5 million) aged 18 and over report some trouble hearing:
Statistics. People with hearing loss may not be able to fully experience meetings in the library or the information that is shared at the information desks. The LSTA grant has been successfully used to fund hearing loops in library meeting rooms and service desks to make them fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The American Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities by eliminating barriers to their participation in major life activities. The (ADA) of 1990 was revised on September 15, 2010 with an effective date, (nationally) of March 15, 2012. The revised regulation includes the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design, also known as ‘2010 Standard’ or ‘Standards’. The 2010 Standard also include the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) effective January 1, 2009 which expanded the non-exhaustive list of major life activities to include activities like “reading, communicating, bending,…” etc as a disability under ADA. The 2010 Standard also expanded the definition of a disability to include the words “speech, vision, and hearing” requiring both physical access and access to effective communication. Places of public accommodations include places such as pharmacies and libraries. (Don Bataille, Architect  – 2015)