BETHESDA, MD - After a process of ten years, Self Help for Hard of Hearing People (SHHH) applauds many accessibility revisions to the Access Board's "Guidelines".

However, SHHH is very concerned about the Access Board's failure to require hotels to install enough fire alarms that will effectively and reliably alert people with hearing loss. "The shame of it is that after a ten-year long process and a golden opportunity to fix major problems with the ADA accessibility guidelines, people with hearing loss remain vulnerable and unsafe in hotels in the event of a fire," said SHHH's Director of Public Policy Brenda Battat.

Many of the 28 million Americans with hearing loss do not hear fire alarms when they are sleeping. Hearing aid and cochlear implant users are especially vulnerable because they remove their hearing devices at night. The sheer number of people with hearing loss - and its projected increase - should itself dictate the need for more hotel rooms to be equipped with visual fire alarms and alarms with lower, more audible frequencies.

At the July 23 press conference marking the release of the revisions, the Access Board's vice chair said these changes raised the bar for future construction and renovations. "These guidelines are our guarantee that when a building is built or renovated anywhere in the nation, its doors are wide open to our citizens with disabilities," said Jan Tuck, Vice Chair of the Access Board.

The updates were based on recommendations from the ADAAG Review Advisory Committee and over 2,500 comments received from the public, including many from SHHH members, during an open comment period. Many recommendations from people with hearing loss were included in the final guidelines which will be detailed in the next issue of the SHHH-E-News and posted to the SHHH website.