Announcements

During its October 29, 2026 Open Meeting, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) about updating its accessibility rules. According to the FCC, the proposal would seek comment on making the rules technology-neutral and forward-looking, which would allegedly give developers flexibility to build accessibility into their products. The NPRM would…

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) submitted its 2026 Biennial Report to Congress on October 7, 2026. This is the eighth report the FCC has submitted under the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010 (CVAA). Congress passed the CVAA to help people with disabilities use emerging communications services and equipment and to improve access to video…

The Federal Communications Commission is accepting applications from organizations that want to serve as the national outreach coordinator for the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP), also known as iCanConnect. The selected organization will lead national efforts to inform people who are deafblind about the equipment and services available through the program. The term is…

A report from a North Carolina public radio station examines the barriers residents of Buncombe County faced during Hurricane Helene and its recovery. Residents who are dead or hard-of-hearing described losing access to emergency information when power outages drained cochlear implant batteries and disabled televisions. This left them unable to follow radio or broadcast updates. One resident who…

Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center has shared the stories of a brother and sister, both born with profound hearing loss, who regained hearing after receiving a gene therapy for inherited deafness. The therapy, known as DB-OTO and marketed as Otarmeni, targets a form of congenital deafness caused by variants in the OTOF gene. The children were treated under ongoing clinical trials, and…

Vue, one of the largest cinema chains in the United Kingdom and Ireland, installed an Auracast-based assistive listening system across 200 screens at 18 of its movie theaters. The installation uses the Auri system, co-developed by Listen Technologies and the hearing loop specialist Ampetronic, to broadcast a film’s audio directly to compatible devices. At the equipped cinemas, visitors with…

Temple University’s theater program began offering smart caption glasses that display live captions during performances. The glasses show captions in the wearer’s line of sight using an augmented reality display, so that the audience can read dialogue without looking away from the stage. Using this approach addresses what accessibility advocates call a "split-attention" problem. Traditional…

MED-EL, an Austrian-based hearing implant manufacturer, announced TICI UNICO, which the company describes as the first and only commercially available invisible cochlear implant. The device, announced September 29, is designed for people with severe-to-profound sensorineural hearing loss and is supposed to provide continuous hearing while remaining entirely beneath the skin, with no externally…

CymaSpace, a Deaf-led nonprofit arts and cultural organization based in Portland, Oregon, has received a $90,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to support a year-long research project called Universal Music Design. The project explores how a Deaf-centered approach to STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics) can improve engagement, learning, and…

Legato, a hearing technology startup, announced on October 1 that its AI hearing glasses "Legato Frames" are now available for purchase, starting at $999. The glasses are designed for adults with up to moderate hearing loss and build hearing-assistance technology into the arms of the eyewear rather than using a separate earpiece. According to the company, the glasses utilizes an AI system that…