The Committee for Communication Access in America (CCAA) conducted a large survey to investigate consumer use of and preferences for assistive communication technology in public places within the United States. They’ve now released a report of their findings. 

Perhaps the finding that most stood out was if only one technology was to be available, the first choice of respondents was CART or captions. This makes sense given the fact that if properly implemented, captioning is the most universal single solution benefiting individuals across the entire spectrum of hearing loss irrespective or regardless of hearing aid use.

The survey’s intent was to acquire accurate information on the preferences and use habits of hard of hearing people when utilizing assistive communication systems so of course other accommodations are more appropriate for other audiences whether that be sign language interpreting, audio description, etc. 

The detailed report includes graphs and a host of other information gathered during the survey. It can be accessed in PDF format for free (no paywall) on the CCAA website: https://ccaa.name/