Accommodation

Hotels and motels should provide effective means of communications for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to equally utilise the same goods, accommodation and services that hearing people enjoy. Any requirements by people with hearing impairments should be discussed with the hotel staff on arrival and be informed of any procedures such as house keeping, room service and fire drills that may impact on their privacy and safety.  

Facilities: 

- Closed captions/subtitles must be provided upon request if there is a television in the room. Managers should also consider buying televisions with such in built devices when purchasing.  

- To allow guests with hearing disabilities access to hotel telephone services, a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) or a Teletypewriter (TTY) must be provided on request in the guest rooms. Hotel desk staff should also be trained in handling TTY equipment at the front desk for general inquiries, handling bills, taking room service or responding to other guests' calls.

Teletypewriter (TTY)
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_device_for_the_deaf

- Built in-communication features such as visual fire alarms (strobe alarms) that are connected with emergency alarm systems and visual notification devices that alert incoming phone calls and door knocks should be provided in a number of guest rooms.

Strobe alarm: Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_alarm_notification_appliance#Visual_signals 

- Conference rooms should have good quality lighting and sound systems. Installing an induction loop system is ideal for public situations because it will help those with a hearing aid reduce or cut out any background noise. The induction loop system is a cable that surrounds the room to create a magnetic field that picks up audio and feeds it into the hearing aid magnetically.

Induction Loop. Source: http://soundinduction.co.uk/pages/induction-loop-systems/

Neckloop: Source http://bf4life-hearing.weebly.com/2/post/2010/05/fight-induction-loops-vs-neck-loops.html 

This system will also help people feel less conscious about their hearing loss in contrast to using a neckloop which is a miniature version of the induction loop but hangs around the person's neck. Provision of these services that should also include sign language interpreters and/or subtitled presentations must be clearly indicated with photographs of them.

Source: http://www.betterhearing.org.au/node/16

- Hearing Ear Dogs that assist people who are hearing impaired must be allowed where guests are permitted and in areas where animals are normally not.