Informing Standards for Acoustics and the Built Environment

1. Project Summary

2. Funding

3. Project Partners

4. Final Reports

5. Project Team

6. Contact

Project Summary

People with hearing loss, asymmetric hearing loss, vision loss, anxiety, attention deficit, and some auditory cognitive impairments can experience barriers from background noise and sound reverberation in built environments.

This project will investigate the impact of the acoustic environment on persons living with disabilities and explore technologies that can contribute to the reduction and elimination of acoustics barriers. Our research team will recommend a set of acoustics best practices and inform the creation of accessibility standards to improve the quality and comfort of the listening experience. Our work will be informed by research literature, field assessments of available acoustics technologies, and active engagement with people with lived experience of disability.

The goal of this study is to determine which practices and technologies can provide the most practicable solutions to acoustic accessibility barriers in different spaces and to communicate that knowledge in a clear and usable way.

Funding

Accessibility Institute received $295,000 over 1 year from Accessibility Standards Canada to fund this research.

Project Partners

The Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC): The Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC) at OCAD University has become the trusted nexus of a global disability community network. It has led and partnered on over 70 national and international multi-partner inclusive design initiatives, playing a pivotal role in the global development of accessibility standards, guidelines and legislation.
The Rick Hansen Foundation (RHF): The Rick Hansen Foundation (RHF) is a national disability organization with a mission to create and deliver innovative solutions that lead to a global movement to remove barriers and liberate the potential of people with disabilities. For over three decades, the Rick Hansen Foundation has led programs and initiatives that raise awareness, change attitudes, and break down barriers for people with disabilities.