Pai Circulates Draft Hearing-Aid Compatibility Order

The FCC released a draft order, set for a vote at the Nov. 15 commissioners’ meeting, to change how industry reports availability of hearing-aid compatible handsets. The order would adopt “in large part” a consensus proposal “broadly supported by the hearing loss community, nationwide, rural, and regional wireless service providers, and wireless handset manufacturer,” as expected (see 1810240030). It would require carriers to beef up their websites on the compatibility of handsets “to provide more up-to-date and accessible information to consumers and Commission staff." Providers would report on discontinued handsets. They would need to certify yearly “compliance with the Commission’s hearing aid-compatibility rules, including the web site requirements, and indicate the percentage of hearing aid-compatible handsets offered." The agency is killing a “burdensome” annual Form 655 reporting requirement. The current reporting requirements “were intended to provide the Commission with a way to verify compliance with rules requiring service providers and device manufacturers to offer specified numbers of hearing aid-compatible handset models, to monitor the status of hearing aid-compatible handset deployment in the marketplace, and to ensure that consumers have access to information about the handset models that serve their needs,” the draft said. “The enhanced web site requirements that we adopt here are an improved means of promoting those goals.” The National Association of the Deaf “advocates for consumers to be able to make informed choices about wireless devices based on compatibility with their hearing aids, and appreciates the collaboration between industry and consumer groups" on the order, said Zainab Alkebsi, policy counsel.