The Applications of Human Factors Associated with Hearing Impairments: Issues and Recent Technological Developments in Telecommunications

This paper discusses the issues and recent technological developments in the telecommunications industry toward the applications of human factors associated with hearing impairments. The definition, severity characteristics, and causes of hearing impairment are introduced. The communication issues, communication modalities, psychosocial effects, state of the art of telecommunications technologies for hearing impairments, and legal issues of telecommunications technologies will be discussed in detail. The latest developments in standardization of telecommunication technologies to cope with hearing impairments and major outstanding issues will be discussed and future research directions will be suggested.