The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday adopted new rules that will require all mobile phones introduced in the country to provide compatibility with hearing aids and meet volume control standards. According to the US regulator, the move aims to expand access options for the 48 million US consumers affected by hearing loss. The FCC will also enforce universal connectivity with hearing aids through new Bluetooth requirements and require manufacturers to correctly label devices that are certified as hearing aid compatible.
New rules announced by the FCC will require “100 percent of all mobile handsets” to be compatible with hearing aids. The agency also mentions a transition period, but does not specify a deadline for smartphone makers to provide support for hearing aids. Until last year, the FCC said manufacturers had to ensure that 85 percent of their models offered support for hearing aids. It is worth noting that the regulator includes cochlear implants in its definition of hearing aids.
The FCC says it worked with an independent organization called the Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) Task Force, which worked with the regulator for years to establish the new requirement that 100 percent of mobile handsets must be compatible with hearing aids. . According to the agency, the HAC task force included smartphone manufacturers, research institutes, wireless service providers, as well as individuals with hearing loss.
Many manufacturers are already compliant with FCC rules — all of Apple’s smartphones from the iPhone 6 series to the latest iPhone 16 lineup are compatible with hearing aids, as are all of Google’s Pixel smartphones. Samsung says most of its recent Galaxy S series and Galaxy Z series phones support the use of hearing aids.
The regulator also revealed that a new Bluetooth pairing requirement will push smartphone makers to eliminate proprietary standards and improve connectivity between phones and listening ads, while expanding access to accessibility features.
Manufacturers will also be required to provide detailed information about their products, including details such as compatibility with hearing aids, compliance with pairing requirements, and the smartphone’s talk gain (or how much the customer can turn up the volume under the FCC’s standards). Are.
To support both customers who do not use hearing aids as well as those who use cochlear implants, smartphone makers will also have to ensure that all new handsets launched in the US can amplify the volume without any distortion. Compliant with the FCC’s volume control benchmarks. , according to the regulator.
