Courts and Legal Proceedings
U.S. Supreme Court, hearing loop, FM, and infrared systems
photo credit by Phil Roeder – Flickr: Supreme Court of the United States, CC BY 2.0
Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Denver, Colorado. Blue hearing loop signs are on each side of the doors.
Although most of us will have only infrequent experiences in our courts, hearing accurately in courtrooms, service counters, and other legal settings is critical to our fully understanding all that transpires in the legal process. And jury duty, which is both a civic duty and an honor, requires full access for all who are called.
Under the ADA, ALL courtrooms should have an assistive listening system. That’s so anyone – attorneys, clerks, court reporters, defendants, judges, jury members, plaintiffs, staff, witnesses, and anyone observing in the ‘spectator seating’ area – can have full access to clear sound. CART professionals sometimes use assistive listening systems to give them clear audio.
Every person with hearing loss has the right to serve on jury duty. Juries are a jury of peers, which includes people with disabilities.
Possible Assistive Listening System Locations
Infrared systems and, FM/RF systems, and hearing loops can be found:
- Conference rooms for legal consultation
- Courtrooms, including jury boxes
- Jury rooms
- Visitor and information service desks
Some individuals may request CART (live captions by a certified provider) instead of or in addition to an assistive listening system.
Resources
Center for Hearing Access
- Paragraph template and checklist. Describe your assistive listening system on your webpage. Promoting Your Assistive Listening System, with Checklist by the Center for Hearing Access (2 pages, pdf)
- Templates for facilities/sites: graphics, audio pre-event, handouts, ideas.
- Lists of hearing loops across the United States and Canada.
- Library Zotero online library of articles, websites, and examples
Other Resources
- Video. Effective Communications During Traffic Stops with Deaf or Hard of Hearing Drivers (video, 3:14)
- National Center for State Courts (website)
- A toolkit to enhance accessibility within the court system (May 2025)
- Courts & accommodations for users with disabilities-webinar (May 2025)
- Integrating universal design in courthouse planning
- Ensuring effective communication for people with disabilities
- Accessible Courtroom (broken link)
- Design guide. US Courts Design Guide. March 2021. Judicial Conference of the United States (412 pages, pdf)
- ADA and statutory requirements. Jurors with Disabilities. A discussion of the Americans with Disabilities Act and other statutory requirements requiring accommodations for the disabled, and practical information to be compliant. 2018, Center for Jury Studies (28 pages, pdf)
- Facility Standards. The P100. Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service establishes design standards and criteria for new buildings, repairs and alterations, modernizations, and lease construction facilities that the Government intends to own or has an option to purchase, as well as work in historic structures for the Public Buildings Service (PBS) of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). This document contains both performance-based standards and prescriptive requirements to be used in the programming, design, and documentation of GSA buildings. Includes acoustics standards. July 2021. (316 pages, pdf). Design Standards for US Court Facilities
- Jury assembly room. ABAAS also determines requirements for listening devices…
- Grand jury suite. Refer to ABAAS for the number of listening devices.