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.

The new rules will go into effect after a transition period, and also require that phones meet volume-control benchmarks.

Now that hearing aids are available over-the-counter, the FCC takes accessibility a step further with requirements for Bluetooth and volume control.

"With this change, the 48 million Americans with hearing loss will be able to choose among the same mobile phone models that are available to all consumers," the FCC wrote. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently granted marketing authorization for the first over-the-counter hearing aid software for AirPods Pro 2.