Push for Increased Hearing Aid Compatibility of Wireless Phones

By Cheryl Heppner

Editor: Here's Cheryl's latest update on advocacy work with the FCC regarding hearing aid compatibility with wireless phones (cell phones). You are welcome to share this article, but please be sure to credit NVRC. See credit at the end of the article.

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Comments were submitted last week to the Federal Communications Commission by seven national organizations that addressed the progress of hearing aid compatibility with wireless telephone handsets and the need for expansion. The organizations are: Hearing Loss Association of America, Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, American Academy of Audiology, American Association of People with Disabilities, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Consumer Advocacy Network, National Association of the Deaf, and Telecommunications for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Inc.

Among the statements made by the organizations:

- The FCC's 2003 mandates for hearing aid compatibility have been effective in increasing the ability of hearing aid users to locate and use digital wireless telephones.

- More still needs to be done to give people with hearing loss equivalent access to the wireless phone system that is used worldwide.

- Everyone should be able to select from the full array of wireless service plans and have access to new and innovative phone technologies as these continue to be developed and deployed.

- The lack of ubiquitous hearing aid compatibility takes on an even greater urgency in emergency situations, when having an accessible phone can mean the difference between life and death.

The organizations urged the FCC to take the following actions:

- Enforce the obligation of carriers to provide live, in-store testing and clarify that this obligation applies to all hearing aid compatible (HAC)-compliant phones.

- Permit the same phones to have labels with different "M" and "T" ratings and require external labeling of "M" and "T" ratings that are accurate and consistent with other informational materials disseminated by companies.

- Require companies to facilitate access to information about "hearing aid compatible phones" on their company websites.

- Require companies to provide sales personnel with the training and resources needed to ably and effectively assist consumers seeking HAC phones.

- Encourage the industry to voluntarily work toward meeting M4 and T4 ratings and initiate a proceeding to impose a requirement for handsets to meet these ratings if this is not accomplished in the near future.

- Require industry to provide a better understanding to consumers of both the technical difficulties preventing greater access and the measures being taken to respond to these barriers, so that the industry's efforts to achieve hearing aid compatibility are transparent.

- Develop regulations to expand handset access for telecoil users (inductive coupling).

- Engage in efforts to ascertain audio output levels needed to best assist individuals with hearing loss, and eventually impose a requirement to meet those levels.

- During phase-in periods for existing and new benchmarks, require companies to offer a representative cross section of accessible phones with a range of prices, features, and styles.

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