The online hearing test is a screening exam. Specifically, it has been designed to test the ranges of hearing that pick up the conversational tones of the human voice. However, it is designed only to identify if hearing loss exists and DOES NOT measure how much hearing loss you have or exactly what portion of the spectrum that hearing loss is in. Thus, when you take the test, and utilize the features of the volume boosters, you are getting a relative measure of your hearing loss as sensed by both your ears at the same time.
The online hearing test is calibrated using the volume control on your computer speakers and a person who has no known hearing deficit. The "normal" hearing person must follow these instructions for calibrating the test:
1. First setting the speaker volume to their mid point.
2. Play sounds 1-5 in order. The volume of each sound is less than the one before it. To calibrate your speakers, adjust their volume such that you can hear tones 1 through 4 and sound 5 cannot be heard.
3. When done, sound 1 should be a comfortable volume while sound 4 should be barely audible. Sound 5 SHOULD NOT be heard. Once you feel that your system is calibrated, click on the "test" button to take the exam.
Once you have calibrated your speaker volume, you can test your hearing. Each tone (activated by the buttons labeled Sound 1, 2, and 3) will play at four different volumes. If you cannot hear all four volumes of each tone, use the volume boosters. Test yourself again using each booster setting, 2-10, until you can hear all four volumes of each tone. When you can hear all four volumes, press the "finished" button to receive the results of your hearing test (Learn More About the Boosters).
If you reach a booster level of 10 on any of the three sounds and you can still not hear all four volumes of that sound, go back to the calibrate screen and have your "normal" hearing person recalibrate your speaker volume.
The boosters are a feature that allows the user to adjust the sound volumes individually. The boosters are adjusted using the arrow buttons. The up button will increase the volume of the associated sound by roughly 6.5%, up to a total of 65% at a setting of 10. Likewise, the down button will lower the volume for its associated sound.
How are the booster dials used?
The boosters should be used when the test taker cannot hear all four volumes for a given sound. For example, if a user hears only three volume levels for sound 1 when they initially take the Online Hearing Test, they can utilize the booster for sound 1. The user would click on the up arrow button for Sound 1's booster, thereby raising the booster to a setting of 2. Then the user replays Sound 1 to determine if they can now hear all four volume levels. If they cannot they will once again raise the booster dial number and replay sound 1. This is done until all four volume levels for Sound 1 can be heard. This process is repeated for sounds 2 and 3.
What do the booster dials mean?
The booster settings are incorporated into the overall scoring of the report you receive at the end of the test.
What does the end report mean?
The report and the end of the test indicate your performance on the hearing test. Typically, there will be correlation between the score on the questions and your score on the interactive sound-based portion of the test.
The hearing test has been tested extensively on Windows 9x/2000, NT, and Mac OS 8.5+, with IE 4.0+, 5.0+ and Netscape 4.0+. Most problems with the hearing test can be cured by ensuring you have the proper hardware and software installed. Go through the items below to ensure your computer is properly configured for the hearing test.
1. Do you have version 4.0 or greater of Quicktime Installed? (Download it from Apple)
2. Did you install the full version of Quicktime 4.0 with the musical instruments extension? If not search for the Quicktime Updater program on your computer and add the Quicktime Musical Instruments to your computer.
3. Are you using a version 4.0 or greater browser? (Get either Netscape Communicator 4.0 or Internet Explorer 5.0)
4. Does you computer have the following hardware:
-An IBM compatible PC with a 16 bit sound card or a Mac (which comes with 16 bit sound ).
-A monitor set to display Thousands of colors.
-A computer that meets the requirements for Quicktime as set forth by Apple Computer
If problems still persist e-mail help@nigelworks.com