Audio accessibility covers several related but distinct measures: hearing access, hearing aids, captions and subtitles, and audio description for visually mediated content. The statistics below identify their populations, geographies, periods and measurement limits.
Key Audio Accessibility Statistics
The most broadly useful figures include:
- More than 1.5 billion people globally, nearly 20% of the population, live with hearing loss in the current WHO estimate.
- 430 million people globally have disabling hearing loss in the current WHO estimate.
- WHO forecasts more than 700 million people globally will have disabling hearing loss by 2050.
- About 34 million children globally have deafness or hearing loss in the current WHO estimate.
- Approximately 30% of people older than 60 globally have hearing loss in the current WHO estimate.
- At least 1.1 billion young people globally are estimated to be at risk of avoidable permanent hearing loss from unsafe listening.
- More than 2.5 billion people worldwide need one or more assistive products in the current WHO estimate.
- Access to needed assistive products ranges from 3% in some low-income countries to 90% in some high-income countries.
- 13.0% of U.S. adults aged 18 and over reported some hearing difficulty in 2019 even when using a hearing aid.
- 26.8% of U.S. adults aged 65 or older reported some hearing difficulty in 2019 even when using a hearing aid.
- 7.1% of U.S. adults aged 45 and over used a hearing aid in 2019.
- Unaddressed hearing loss cost the global economy about US$980 billion annually in the WHO estimate.
- 89.1% of responding UK on-demand providers offered subtitles in 2023, compared with 79.6% in 2022.
- 32.1% of responding UK on-demand providers offered audio description in 2023, compared with 22.2% in 2022.
- 83.3% of programme hours among responding UK on-demand services offering access services were subtitled in 2023.
- About 60% of AFB digital-inclusion survey participants said their television viewing platforms lacked audio description.
- 42% of UK adults aged 18–65 in the 2026 RNIB/Ipsos research were interested in listening to television drama without the screen when audio description was included.
- 47% of RNIB/Ipsos survey respondents found it difficult to focus without seeing the programme on screen in the 2026 clip test.
Contents
- Global hearing-loss scale and future demand
- Age, sex and demographic hearing data
- Hearing-aid access, prevention and economic cost
- Captions, subtitles and described programming
- Audio-description barriers and platform usability
- Audio-only media outcomes and user experience
Global Audio Accessibility Statistics: Hearing-Loss Scale and Future Demand
The World Health Organization’s global figures describe hearing loss broadly, while also separating disabling hearing loss and age-specific estimates. These are current estimates on WHO pages, not a single survey year.
- More than 1.5 billion people, nearly 20% of the global population, live with hearing loss.
- 430 million people have disabling hearing loss.
- About 34 million children globally have deafness or hearing loss; the measure groups deafness and hearing loss and does not imply identical severity.
- Approximately 30% of people older than 60 have hearing loss.
- At least 1.1 billion young people are estimated to be at risk of avoidable permanent hearing loss from unsafe listening.
- WHO estimates that 50% of hearing loss can be prevented through public-health measures.
WHO forecasts that more than 700 million people will have disabling hearing loss globally by 2050. This is a projection that depends on demographic and risk assumptions, rather than an observed count. WHO, “Deafness and hearing loss”
Assistive technology creates a wider frame than hearing products alone. More than 2.5 billion people worldwide need one or more assistive products, while access to needed products ranges from as low as 3% in some low-income countries to 90% in some high-income countries; these are selected country endpoints, not a global average. WHO, “Assistive technology”
U.S. Audio Accessibility Data by Age, Sex and Demographic Group
The U.S. National Health Interview Survey figures below describe civilian noninstitutionalized adults in 2019. “Some difficulty” and “a lot of difficulty or inability” are self-reported hearing categories even when using a hearing aid.
| U.S. adult group, 2019 | Some hearing difficulty | A lot of difficulty or inability |
|---|---|---|
| Ages 18–44 | 6.3% | 0.6% |
| Ages 45–64 | 13.6% | 1.5% |
| Ages 65+ | 26.8% | 4.1% |
| All adults 18+ | 13.0% | 1.6% |
The age pattern is explicit: the some-difficulty measure rises from 6.3% among adults aged 18–44 to 26.8% among adults aged 65 or older. The severe response category rises from 0.6% to 4.1% across the same age groups. CDC, “Hearing Difficulties Among Adults: United States, 2019”
Sex and race/Hispanic-origin comparisons are also population-specific survey results:
- Among adults aged 45–64, some hearing difficulty was reported by 16.7% of men and 10.6% of women; the severe category was 1.8% for men and 1.1% for women.
- Among adults aged 65 and over, some hearing difficulty was reported by 30.9% of men and 23.5% of women; the severe category was 5.0% for men and 3.3% for women.
- Among non-Hispanic White adults, some hearing difficulty affected 16.4% at ages 45–64 and 29.4% at ages 65+, compared with 7.7% and 19.0% among non-Hispanic Black adults.
- Among Hispanic adults, the corresponding figures were 8.6% and 16.6%, while non-Hispanic Asian adults had figures of 5.7% and 16.2%.
These categories reflect NHIS survey definitions and self-report; they are not interchangeable with audiometric testing, ancestry or nationality.
Hearing-Aid Access, Prevention and the Cost of Inaccessible Audio
Hearing-aid use is much narrower than hearing difficulty, and use does not show whether a device was affordable, well fitted or beneficial. In the United States in 2019, 7.1% of adults aged 45 and over used a hearing aid.
| U.S. population, 2019 | Hearing-aid use |
|---|---|
| Adults aged 45+ | 7.1% |
| Adults aged 45–64 | 2.3% |
| Adults aged 65+ | 14.4% |
| Men aged 45–64 | 2.8% |
| Women aged 45–64 | 1.9% |
| Men aged 65+ | 19.2% |
| Women aged 65+ | 10.6% |
The WHO estimates that hearing-aid production meets only 3% of estimated need in low- and middle-income countries. Its broader global estimate says production meets less than 10% of global demand, a different scope from the LMIC estimate and not a usage rate. WHO, “Deafness and hearing loss”; CDC, “Hearing Difficulties Among Adults: United States, 2019”; WHO, “Assistive technology”
WHO estimates that 60% of childhood hearing loss is preventable. It also estimates that unaddressed hearing loss costs the global economy about US$980 billion annually, including health, education, productivity and societal costs while excluding hearing-device costs. WHO, “Deafness and hearing loss”
Captions, Subtitles and Audio-Description Programming Statistics
Ofcom’s 2023 UK figures measure responding on-demand programme services and, in some cases, programme hours. Changing response denominators mean provider trends are indicative rather than a national catalog-wide rate.
| UK on-demand measure | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Providers offering subtitles | 79.6% | 89.1% |
| Providers offering signing | 14.8% | 22.6% |
| Providers offering audio description | 22.2% | 32.1% |
| Programme hours subtitled among services offering access services | 71.9% | 83.3% |
| Programme hours audio described among services offering access services | 15.8% | 25.8% |
| Programme hours with signing among services offering access services | 2.2% | 1.9% |
In 2023, subtitles were available on 94.7% of connected-TV platforms and 95.8% of mobile-app platforms among responding UK providers, compared with 76.9% of games-console platforms. These availability measures do not assess quality, discoverability or user activation. Ofcom, “Television and on-demand programme services: Access services report – January to December 2023”
For UK broadcast television, 13 channels provided audio description on more than 50% of programming in 2023, compared with seven in 2022. DMAX delivered 9.1% audio description against a 10% requirement in 2023; that single-channel observation should not be generalized.
Audio-Description Access Barriers and Platform Usability Statistics
The American Foundation for the Blind’s digital-inclusion survey measures reported experiences among participants with visual disabilities in the United States. It indicates that availability and usability are separate barriers.
Among AFB survey participants, about 60% said the television viewing platforms they used lacked audio description. In a conditional group of 33 respondents reporting television-device barriers, 60.6% said audio description was unavailable, 57.6% could not turn it on, 42.4% could not access the settings menu and 39.4% could not navigate television menus. AFB, “Executive Summary: Barriers to Digital Inclusion”; AFB, “Access Barriers in Video Programming and Ebooks”
Reported business and independence effects were also substantial within the AFB survey:
- 44% of website users and 41% of mobile-app users said they would switch businesses after encountering access barriers, measuring stated intention rather than observed switching.
- 79% of website users and 78% of app users said barriers made them feel less independent than a sighted person.
- 59% of website users and 63% of app users said barriers gave them less choice of businesses than a sighted person.
These results are survey perceptions and intentions, not measured market-share losses or population prevalence.
Audio-Only Media Accessibility Outcomes and User Experience
RNIB and Ipsos reported 2026 research on UK adults aged 18–65 and responses to audio-described television clips. The findings test interest and short-clip experience, not regular adoption or willingness to pay.
- 42% were interested in listening to television drama without the screen when audio description was included.
- 71% agreed that the audio description was clear.
- 56% found the clips easy to follow without the screen.
- 41% said they enjoyed listening to the programme clips.
- 41% felt immersed in the scene.
- 47% found it difficult to focus without seeing the programme on screen.
- 40% found the combination of dialogue, description, music and sound effects overwhelming.
The report cautions that the clips were standard television tracks rather than purpose-built audio-only editions, so these results should not be treated as full-programme satisfaction or a universal accessibility outcome. RNIB, “Audio is King: television beyond the screen”
Historical AFB figures provide context but are not a trend line with current Ofcom or RNIB measures. In average 1989–1994 U.S. household survey evidence, 7% of respondents with visual difficulties watching television had actually experienced video description and 13% had heard of it; in a separate historic AFB DVS Guide Users Survey, 66% had experienced video description on television or videotape. AFB, “Who’s Watching? A Profile of the Blind and Visually Impaired Audience for Television and Video”