1193.43(i) Hearing aid coupling
Explanation
Where a product delivers output by an audio transducer
which is normally held up to the ear, provide a means for effective wireless
coupling to hearing aids.
Strategies
1. Many individuals who are hard of hearing use hearing
aids with a T-coil (or telecoil) feature to allow them to listen to audio output
of products without picking up background noise and to avoid problems with
feedback, signal attenuation or degradation.
2. The Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) Act defines a
telephone as hearing aid compatible if it provides internal means for effective
use with hearing aids and meets established technical standards for hearing aid
compatibility.
3. The technical standards for HAC telephones are specified
in ANSI/EIA-504-1989, "Magnetic
Field Intensity Criteria for Telephone Compatibility with Hearing Aids,"
ANSI/TIA/EIA-504-1-1994, "An Addendum to EIA-504," which adds the HAC
requirements, and the FCC regulations at 47
CFR 68.317 (a).
4. A good strategy for addressing this requirement for any
product held up to the ear would be to meet these same technical requirements.
If not readily achievable to provide built-in telecoil compatibility, other
means of providing the electro-magnetic signal is the next strategy to be
considered.
Wireline telephones
In 1982, Congress enacted the Telecommunications for the
Disabled Act (TDA), requiring certain telephones - considered to be
“essential” - to be hearing aid compatible (HAC). HAC telephones have coils that couple electromagnetically with coils in
some hearing aids, called “telecoils” or “T-coils.” When activated by means of a switch on a hearing aid, a
telecoil in the aid in conjunction with a HAC phone enables the user to maximize
the volume on the hearing aid without feedback and with minimal background
noise.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) implemented the
TDA in 1982 through rules which defined essential telephones as telephones which
are coin operated, which are provided for emergency use, and which are
“frequently needed by hearing impaired individuals,” including telephones
necessary for an employee to fulfill employment responsibilities. This still left a considerable number of telephones without
compatibility, prompting consumers to return to Congress for stronger
legislation.
In 1988, Congress enacted the Hearing Aid Compatibility Act
(HAC Act). The HAC Act mandated
that nearly all telephones manufactured or imported for use in the United States
after August 16, 1989, were required to be HAC. The HAC Act exempted only telephones used with private radio
services or public mobile services and secure telephones. Manufacturers of cordless telephones were given an additional two years
to comply with this mandate. Although
passage of this legislation was a significant stride toward full telephone
accessibility for hearing aid wearers, gaps still remained between the 1982 and
1988 laws - namely, all telephones which had been manufactured before 1989, but
which did not meet the FCC’s definition of “essential” telephones, were
still not covered by a HAC mandate.
Through a series of rulemaking proceedings, consumers
pushed the FCC to broaden the requirements for hearing aid compatibility for the
purpose of achieving ubiquitous telephone access for hearing aid users.
These various proceedings culminated in a negotiated rulemaking,
conducted by the FCC during the spring of 1995. On June 27, 1996, the FCC
adopted extensive recommendations submitted by this committee on both hearing
aid compatibility and volume control. These rules were slightly modified a year later, but only
with respect to volume control. Overall,
the FCC’s rules require virtually all wireline telephones in workplaces,
confined settings, and hotels and motels to be hearing aid compatible and to
include volume control, within the first few years of the new millennium.
The following is a summary of all of the FCC’s requirements on both HAC
and volume control, contained in Part 68 of the Commission’s rules:
Workplaces
All common areas of the workplace have had a HAC mandate since 1991. In addition, HAC telephones have been required for use by individual
employees to carry out their employment duties. FCC rules issued in 1996 expanded this requirement to non-common areas as
follows:
(1)
telephones
in workplaces with fewer than 15 employees, and
(2)
telephones
purchased between January 1, 1985 and December 31, 1989.
All
non-common area workplace telephones that fall into these two categories must
be HAC by January 1, 2005.
- In
addition to the above mandate, until such year that the above obligations kick
in - 2000 or 2005 - all workplaces with 15 or more employees must provide HAC
telephones for emergency use through one or more of the following means:
(1) by providing at least one
coin-operated telephone, one common area telephone, or another designated HAC
telephone within a reasonable distance for an individual needing a phone from
any point in the workplace, or
(2)
by
providing a wireless HAC telephone for use outside the common areas and the
offices of the employee with a hearing disability.
- All telephones that are purchased or replaced with newly acquired
telephones to fulfill any of the above HAC requirements must also be equipped
with volume control as of January 1, 2000.
- There will be a rebuttable presumption that all telephones located
in the workplace are HAC as of January 1, 2000 or 2005, whichever date is
applicable. Any person may rebut
this presumption, after which such telephone must be replaced with a HAC
telephone within 15 days. Such
telephone must also be equipped with volume control as of January 1, 2000.
Note: Examples
of workplace common areas include libraries, reception areas, and other
locations where employees typically congregate. Examples of non-common areas include enclosed private offices, open work
stations, and mail rooms.
Confined Settings
All hospitals, nursing homes, and other confined settings were required to
have HAC telephones in patient rooms by November 1, 1998. All such telephones must include volume control as of January 1, 2000.
Emergency Use
Telephones
Telephones provided for emergency use, including (1)
telephones in elevators, transportation tunnels, highways and other places where
a person might be isolated in an emergency, and (2) telephones specifically
installed to alert emergency authorities, such as police or fire departments, or
medical assistance personnel, must be HAC.
Hotels and Motels
All telephones in hotels and motels with 80 or more beds had a HAC
requirement as of November 1, 1998. Hotels
and motels with fewer than 80 beds have until November 1, 1999 to meet this
requirement (In the interim, such facilities must provide HAC phones in at least
twenty percent of their rooms.) There
are two exceptions to this rule:
1. Hotel and motel guest rooms that are renovated, newly constructed, or
substantially and internally repaired before the above dates must install HAC
telephones. These telephones must
also be equipped with volume control as of January 1, 2000.
2. Hotels and motels that have telephones purchased from January 1, 1985
through December 31, 1989 must comply with a different schedule:
By April 1, 1997, 20% of the guest rooms in these establishments
needed to provide HAC telephones.
By November 1, 1999, 25% of the guest rooms in these
establishments must provide HAC telephones.
By January 1, 2001, 100% of the guest rooms in establishments with
80 or more guest rooms must provide HAC telephones.
By January 1, 2004, 100% of the guest rooms in establishments with
fewer than 80 guest rooms must provide HAC telephones.
Credit Card Telephones
Since 1991, all credit card telephones, whether located on
public property or in a semipublic location, have needed to provide hearing aid
compatibility.
Closed Circuit
Telephones
Telephones that do not directly access the public switched
network, such as phones in building lobbies or transportation terminals (for the
purpose of calling rental cars or taxis) must be made HAC only when replaced
under the FCC’s rules. However,
additional requirements for public closed circuit telephones to be accessible in
newly constructed or renovated facilities
exist under the Americans with Disabilities Act Accessibility Guidelines. Those guidelines require all such telephones to be HAC, and at least 25%
of such telephones to be equipped with volume control.
Wireless Telephones
Wireless telephones are not covered by Part 68 of the
FCC’s HAC and volume control requirements. However, such telephones must be accessible to hearing aid users under
Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Since passage of that Act, industry, consumers, and hearing
aid manufacturers have worked to identify solutions for hearing aid
compatibility with wireless telephones. Efforts
to achieve a satisfactory solution have, for the most part, been conducted by
the University of Oklahoma and the Rehabilitation Engineering and Research
Center located at Gallaudet University. Recent
work by the ANSI standards committee working on this issue (ANSI C63.19)
reported that 67% of a combination of 10 different telephones with 8 different
kinds of hearing aids produced wireless access results that were acceptable for
use by consumers. Although
there are certain hearing aids that still do not work with any wireless
telephones, of the telephone-hearing aid combinations that did provide access,
users were able to obtain 95% word recognition with little or no hearing aid
interference. The telephones tested
spanned the various wireless technologies (TDMA, CDMA, and GSM), and are
currently commercially available products. A subsequent study with 21 subjects is to take place in June of 1999.
Features that Address this Guideline
Hearing aid compatible