Hosting a hearing loss-friendly game night can be a fun way to gather friends together.
Hosting a hearing loss-friendly game night is a fun way to spend time with friends and family. To keep things inclusive and accessible for all attendees, we’ve gathered a few tips to keep your event hearing loss-friendly. These ideas help keep everyone engaged and active in the games and excited about attending. Let’s shuffle up these tips and deal out some great inclusivity ideas!
Keep Sightlines Clear
When hosting a board game night or playing cards with others, keep sightlines clear of table décor, hanging decorations, and tall game pieces. Clear lines can allow guests to lip-read and more easily follow the conversation. Keeping tables free of excess decorations and clutter can also help your guests move game pieces, cards, or scorecards easily without bumping into other things.
Keep Lights Bright
Keeping the lights bright during your game night can help everyone. From seeing lips for lip reading to reading text on cards for game actions, having bright light can be a benefit to all players at your event. This can reduce eye strain, allow others to see actions taken on the board easily, and improve the flow of information and conversation.
Keep Written Score
If you’re playing a card or board game that requires keeping score, having a large notebook, chalkboard, or dry-erase board where you can clearly write everyone’s scores can be beneficial. This way, even if conversations get a little loud and boisterous, all of your attendees can easily see scorekeeping information.
Print Out Directions
New game? No worries! Along with verbally explaining game rules, try printing out directions. That way, everyone can read along and refer to the instructions if there are any questions. Plus, your guests with hearing loss may appreciate having visual-based guides rather than relying on auditory alone. You can laminate cards for games you play often or have a printed stack of instructions for games you’d like to try, and have guests pick which ones look the most interesting to them.
Limit Background Noise
When hosting a hearing loss-friendly get-together, it’s a good idea to keep the background noise, like music, television or loud chatter, to a minimum. Try limiting group size if you’re worried about too much conversational noise or try separating game tables by a few feet or in separate rooms for a quieter experience.
Create Guidelines for Table Talk
Your guests may be used to holding cards up in front of their mouths, which can create a difficult environment for guests with hearing loss. Have a short, written “Table Talk” guide at each table. List out preferences anyone at the table has, like talking loudly and clearly, keeping mouths free from cards or game pieces for lip reading, or writing out directions and scores if possible.
These easy tips can help keep your game nights fun, inclusive, and exciting for all guests. Keeping accessibility top of mind is key, and implementing a few changes can be easy and make it less stressful for all guests, too. For more hearing loss tips, visit the CapTel blog.
