America transitions from analog to digital TV (DTV) by February 17, 2009. The FCC has a webpage on DTV transition. Go to http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/digitaltv.html and www.dtv.gov for resources to prepare yourself for the switch. Also the FCC held a consumer education conference on digital TV on September 26, 2007 in Washington D.C.
If you watch TV with captions it may not be easy to try out the captions before buying the DTV. Your neighborhood consumer electronics store probably will not have the DTV set tuned to a broadcast or cable channel. Most likely they will only show DVD with movie trailers or promotional material that is not captioned. You may have to insist on their setting up the TV so that you can view the captions live.
The Hearing Loss Association of America has set up a forum for you to share your digital TV shopping experiences and to help you make educated buying decisions through word-of-mouth recommendations of other HLAA members who have bought a DTV and are using captions. If you have shopped for a digital TV please share your experiences. To view the comments on the forum or post your own comments go to www.myhearingloss.org, log in and then click on "General Posts"
Cordless and mobile/cell phones are not the same thing. So what is the difference?
A cordless phone is a landline phone - it may be analog or digital - and it plugs into the wall into a telephone jack. You can carry it around your house or even into the garden but you cannot take it away with you in the car, shopping or to a different town. It has a base unit that may have features such as caller ID (with a service fee), answering machine, and speaker phone. You have to return the handset to the base unit for recharging.
A mobile or cell phone can be taken with you anywhere, even abroad. It does not have a base unit in the house but picks up the signal from base stations out in the community. It can be recharged anywhere there is an electrical outlet, including in the car, with the attachment provided when you purchase the phone. It most probably is digital as analog mobile phones are on the way out.
FCC Upholds Analog Sunset
In 2002, the FCC issued an order that would end wireless analog transmissions by 2008. In deciding not to eliminate its analog requirement right away, the FCC explained that additional time was needed to ensure that hearing aid and cochlear implant users could use digital wireless handsets. The FCC has now rejected an appeal by the alarm industry to extend the analog requirement for two additional years. In making this decision, the Commission specifically found that the gradual sunset of these services had "achieved its goal of facilitating the migration of the deaf and hard of hearing" from analog wireless services to digital wireless services. The Commission explained that analog service was no longer necessary given the significant level of compliance reported by manufacturers and service providers. However, the FCC promised to continue to monitor the progress of manufacturers and service providers to ensure such access.
Hearing Aid Immunity Levels: Useful information to have when shopping for a mobile phone
The hearing aid industry will now rate the immunity level of their hearing aids and put the information in the product manual that is included with each hearing aid purchase. Hearing Industries Association (HIA), the trade association for hearing aid manufacturers, said that all of their members have agreed to include the language in their manuals. HIA membership produces approximately 90% of hearing aid purchased in the US.
The sample language sent to the Food and Drug administration, the agency that regulates hearing aids, states the minimum immunity level, but some companies according to Carole Rogin, executive director of HIA, may choose to use specific immunity levels.
The bottom line is consumers need to look for the immunity levels of their hearing aid and they should be at least M2. This information will help when purchasing a mobile phone. Adding the immunity rating of the hearing aid to the rating of the mobile phone, as long as the total comes to at least 5, the phone should be usable with a hearing aid. The higher the total number the better the phone is expected to perform with the hearing aid.
So remember to ask your hearing health professional to tell you the immunity level of your current hearing aid or hearing aids you may be purchasing.
-----------------
Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technology (COAT)
HLAA chapters and state organizations have you considered joining the COAT Coalition? COAT advocates for legislative and regulatory safeguards that will ensure full access by people with disabilities to evolving high speed broadband, wireless and other Internet protocol (IP) technologies.
COAT currently consists of over 100 national, regional, and community-based organizations dedicated to making sure that as our nation migrates from legacy public switched-based telecommunications to more versatile and innovative IP-based and other communication technologies, people with disabilities will not be left behind. The guiding principle of this Coalition will be to ensure the full inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of daily living through accessible, affordable and usable communication technologies as these continue to evolve in our digital world.
---------------
FCC Notice on Extending Obligations of Sec 255 to VoIP Providers
In a Report and Order, the FCC extended the disability access requirements that currently apply to telecommunications service providers and equipment manufacturers under section 255 of the Communications Act of 1934 to providers of “interconnected voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services,” and to manufacturers of specially designed equipment used to provide those services. The FCC adopted this measure under their Title I ancillary jurisdiction in order to give full effect to the accessibility policies embodied in section 255, and to further our statutory mandate to make available a nationwide communications system that promotes the safety and welfare of all Americans. In addition, the FCC extended the Telecommunications Relay Services requirements to providers of interconnected VoIP services. Among the TRS requirements that the FCC extended to interconnected VoIP providers, they required such providers to contribute to the Interstate TRS Fund, and to offer 711 abbreviated dialing for access to relay services. Together, these measures will ensure that, as more consumers migrate from traditional phone service to interconnected VoIP services, the disability access provisions mandated by Congress under sections 255 and 225 will apply to, and benefit users of, interconnected VoIP services and equipment. To see the full Report and Order go to http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-110A1.doc
----------------------
Deaf and Hard of Hearing Alliance (DHHA) Submits Comments on IDEA Part C - Infants and Toddlers
The Hearing Loss Association signed on to comments sent by the deaf and hard of hearing alliance to the Department of Education on IDEA Part C - early intervention programs for infants and toddlers.
The Hearing Loss Association is a member of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Alliance a coalition that works on issues of concern to people with hearing loss. To view the IDEA comments go to http://www.hearingloss.org/advocacy/fcceip0707.asp
