A New Rule Could Make Smartphones More Accessible To Those With Hearing Loss
Fortunately, most phones are already in compliance.
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Subscribe for free to get more stories like this directly to your inboxIt’s difficult to go anywhere these days without encountering individuals engaged with their smartphones instead of the world around them. But while such behavior might seem universal, accessibility to the various features of these high-tech devices is not universal.
Federal regulators step in
According to a statement from the Federal Communications Commission, a new rule will require all smartphones and mobile handsets to be compatible with hearing aids.
The agency said that its new “Bluetooth coupling requirement” with the goal of benefiting “consumers by ensuring more universal connectivity between mobile handsets and hearing aids, including over-the-counter hearing aids, by encouraging handset manufacturers to move away from proprietary Bluetooth coupling standards.”
It’s worth noting that this has become a less common complaint in recent years. Advancing technology means that most of the leading smartphones from the past few generations are already compatible with hearing aids.
But the FCC says that it’s worth addressing those that aren’t, and believes its new rule is the way to achieve that goal.
And now for the details
Although hearing aid compatibility has received most of the attention, there could be a benefit from this rule for all smartphone users.
A new volume control standard, for example, is designed to limit audio distortion at different volume levels.
“Such requirements accommodate consumers with hearing loss who do not use hearing aids as well as those that rely on hearing aids or cochlear implants,” the FCC explained.
The various companies that sell their smartphones in the U.S. will have some time to respond to this new requirement. According to the new mandate, the length of that transition period depends on the type of company and breaks down like this:
- 24 months for handset manufacturers
- 30 months for nationwide service providers
- 42 months for non-nationwide providers.
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