FCC: All smartphones must have hearing aid compatibility

Addressing the disparities in assistive device access among the 48 million Americans with hearing loss, the FCC has ruled that all "mobile handsets" (read: smartphones) must be compatible with hearing aids. "Americans with hearing loss will no longer be limited in their choice of technologies, features, and prices available in the mobile handset marketplace," wrote the FCC. The rule was announced on Oct. 17 following years of deliberation by the organization's Hearing Aid Compatibility Task Forc