“This page is a digitally archived AccessInfo Announcement”
On October 26, 2017, the FCC released an Order to update its requirements for hearing aid compatibility and volume control on wireline and wireless telephones.
This Order does the following:
- adopts a revised volume control standard for wireline handsets to provide a more accurate measurement of voice amplification;
- implements a provision of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act to apply all of the Commission’s hearing aid compatibility requirements to wireline telephones used with advanced communication services, including phones used with Voice-over-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) services;
- requires, in 3 years, that all wireless handsets newly certified as hearing aid compatible must include volume control suitable for consumers with hearing loss; and
- reminds manufacturers and service providers of existing outreach obligations to ensure that consumers are informed about the availability of hearing aid compatible phones.
More information on existing FCC hearing aid compatibility rules is available online at https://www.fcc.gov/general/hearing-aid-compatibility-and-volume-control.
Links to the Order:
URL: https://www.fcc.gov/document/report-order-updating-hearing-aid-compatibility-rules
Word: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-17-135A1.docx
PDF: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-17-135A1.pdf
Text: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-17-135A1.txt
Links to the Press Release:
Word: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-347380A1.docx
PDF: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-347380A1.pdf
Text: https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-347380A1.txt
For more information, please contact Susan Bahr, Disability Rights Office, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, at 202-418-0573 or Susan.Bahr@fcc.gov. For those using videophones and fluent in American Sign Language, you may call the ASL Consumer Support Line at 844‐432‐2275.