Millions of Americans with Mild to Profound Hearing Loss Now Have Opportunity to Access Telecommunications

Hyatt Hotels Corporation joined Able Planet, Inc. to announce the launch of a revolutionary new micro-technology providing access to telecommunications for people with hearing disabilities across the globe.

Nationally acclaimed disability rights champion Jo Waldron, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Able Planet, Inc., along with Hyatt Hotel executives, will showcase this state-of-the-art technology at a press conference in Denver at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 11, 2003 on the steps of the State Capitol.

The patent-pending technology, invented this past year by Waldron and tested by hearing industry veteran, Joan Burleigh, Ph. D, will provide the 34 million+ Americans and 500 million individuals worldwide with mild to profound hearing loss, the opportunity to effectively communicate with others via telephone as well as hear speech more clearly using earphones and other communications devices. Given the profound benefits, Hyatt plans to install this technology in hotel rooms throughout North America.

"There are millions of Americans who do not have access to voice telecommunication or communications devices," said Jo Waldron, who was honored by President Ronald Reagan with "The President's Trophy" and was appointed "Disabled American for the Nation," representing the Presidents of the United States and all Americans with disabilities since 1987. "Simple daily communication, such as calling a friend, ordering from room service, understanding a television program or learning in a computer lab is incredibly frustrating and most of the time, impossible for people with hearing loss."

In committing support to Able Planet's invention and following compliance directives that are federally mandated, Hyatt Hotel Corporation's vice president of engineering, Tom Riegelman, will announce today, "consistent with our goals of providing leading edge technology for its guests and improving the accessibility of its hotels, Hyatt Hotel Corporation will specify the inclusion of Able Planet's technology in all new guestroom telephone sets purchased for Hyatt Hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. Hyatt has installed the technology in almost three hundred telephones at their Colorado hotel properties; Hyatt Regency Denver, Hyatt Regency Tech Center and Park Hyatt Beaver Creek. Hyatt is phasing in the Able Planet technology into their telephones, which will include the replacements of existing guestroom telephones in the normal course of business."

"Hyatt is committed to providing equal access to people with disabilities," said Riegelman, who is also the chairman of the ADA Task Force for the American Hotel & Lodging Association. "And Able Planet's technology will help us meet that commitment."

"All my life, I, like millions of other Americans, have faced the challenge of communication," Waldron said. "It has been a dream of mine to bring the gift of communication and break down many of the barriers."

About The Author:

Jo Waldron is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.digital-hearing-aids-n-protection.com. An ongoing source for information on hearing loss, digital hearing aids and innovations to hearing aid technology.