> INSTALLATION GORDON MORRIS
Gordon Morris’ Lisa Sharp explains how to get the standards set out by the DED right for your next installation… “
The DED expects that public authorities and private businesses deliver real improvements that will aid and assist the daily lives of disabled people. Lisa Sharp
s of October 1st the new Equality Act of 2010 was fully imposed throughout the UK. This new act replaces the Disability Discrimination Act and shares many similarities, although it now covers indirect discrimination that may arise from faulty or inadequate access equipment that leaves the person with the disability at a disadvantage. This is now a legal obligation, but still some disability needs are overlooked or the DDA compliancy box is ticked, while the equipment provided is either ineffective or, more commonly, inappropriate equipment is installed and poorly maintained. In 2004 when the DDA came in to force, there was a peak in demand for assistive hearing equipment and the market soon became saturated with low cost, low quality solutions. Three years ago the Disability Equality Duty came in to play. The DED expects that public authorities and private businesses deliver real improvements that will aid and assist the daily lives of disabled people, thus enforcing and raising the standard of the Equality Act 2010 compliancy. Hearing impairment is a complex and often misunderstood disability. Although hearing aids do help, they have their limitations. In public buildings or private establishments these challenging environments will present many difficulties when opting for specific sound systems or incorporating induction loop systems into existing equipment. There are many induction loop systems and alternative solutions on the market today. Understanding the end users needs and the basics will enable a viable and effective solution. For 30 years, Gordon Morris Ltd has installed and maintained many induction loop systems within schools and other local authority locations. In this time it has been called
Disability advantages A
upon to improve and replace existing systems that have been poorly or wrongly installed.
Modern schooling techniques focus on including students in class discussions and debates where pupils are encouraged to participate and contribute. When specifying the need for assistive hearing solution in a school environment, this should be taken into account and, thus, one standard ceiling microphone by the interactive whiteboard may not be sufficient. A well-known boy’s school in London has recently undergone
an extensive refurbishment with a number of induction loop systems being installed. The main hall was fitted with an SLS (Super Low Spill) induction loop, which was recommended to overcome the magnetic soak up from the steel work within the buildings construction. For the loop system to give maximum coverage and excellent sound quality to the hearing aid user, the super loop required a multiple loop pattern with loop cables fitted into the floor construction. The original specification requested a boundary microphone fitted on the ceiling; however, in a room this size and high ceilings a single boundary mic would give insufficient coverage and pick up. To overcome this, a rechargeable radio microphone system and suspended ceiling mics that are controlled by an automatic mixer has been installed to allow the hearing aid user to hear the main speaker and the audience clearly.
The lobby of the school presented two major issues. On entering the lobby, visitors must pass through the security desk and then move on to the reception desk, to avoid confliction between loop systems and maintain privacy a standard counter loop was fitted with gooseneck microphones. To ensure the systems are used and remain live the two systems have been fitted with local fused spur connections.
As the project drew to a close, budgets became tighter, and rather than installing low quality and insufficient static loop systems with in the class rooms, a portable digital FM radio system was used. The Digi System uses state of the art technology and can be used as a system for one to one or within group discussion and provides an effective solution for class room, meeting rooms and museums or touring environments. >
gordonmorris.co.uk
28 audioPRO December/January 2010/11
www.audioprointernational.com
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