Announcements

Nepal has begun providing Nepali Sign Language interpretation for live broadcasts of its parliamentary proceedings, the first time deaf citizens in the country can follow debates in both the House of Representatives and the National Assembly independently. Live interpreted broadcasts began on May 11, 2026. The National Federation of the Deaf Nepal, which had advocated for the change over a long…

Hawaii has enacted a law directing the state to develop a statewide plan on hearing loss. House Bill 1974, signed into law as Act 223 on July 9, 2026, requires the State Health Planning and Development Agency to conduct a statewide assessment and publish a plan for better diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss. The measure appropriates $100,000 for the work. According to the bill and supporting…

Advanced Bionics announced on July 26 that the FDA has approved expanded candidacy criteria for its cochlear implants, allowing more people with single-sided deafness and asymmetric hearing loss to qualify. Single-sided deafness refers to substantial hearing loss in one ear with typical hearing in the other. Asymmetric hearing loss refers to significantly different levels of hearing between the…

Google has introduced a sign-language-to-text feature that lets users sign to their phone's camera and have the signs converted into written text. The feature was announced at the Made by Google event on August 12 and is powered by a new model from Google DeepMind called SL2T. It launches first on the Pixel 11 series, supporting American Sign Language (ASL) to English, with the company stating…

Samsung received FDA clearance for a hearing aid feature on its Galaxy Buds on August 11th. The clearance allows compatible Galaxy Buds to function as an over-the-counter hearing aid for adults 18 and older with mild to moderate hearing loss, without a prescription or clinic visit. The feature works on the Galaxy Buds3 Pro and Galaxy Buds4 Pro and requires a compatible Galaxy smartphone. According…

A USA TODAY feature has drawn attention to a longstanding accessibility gap in air travel: gate and in-flight announcements delivered only through audio, which leave travelers with hearing loss without access to critical information. Missed announcements can include gate changes, boarding calls, delays, diversions, and safety instructions during emergencies. According to the National Institute on…

A new Virginia law that took effect July 1 requires most movie theaters in the state to offer open-captioned screenings. Open captions display a film's dialogue, speaker names, and sound descriptions directly on the screen, unlike closed captioning devices that individual viewers request and hold. The law is applicable to companies that own, operate, or lease five or more locations in Virginia.…

Two organizations in Albuquerque, Grace Lutheran Church and the Albuquerque Hearing and Balance clinic, are among the first in the Albuquerque area to deploy Auracast broadcast audio. Both were early adopters of hearing loop technology, and in each case the new Auracast system supplements an existing hearing loop rather than replacing it, giving people with hearing loss another way to receive…

A Federal Communications Commission rule requiring TV captioning display settings to be easier to access takes effect on August 17, 2026. People who use captions have long reported that adjusting how captions appear, including font, size, color, and background, often means digging through confusing menus that differ from one device to the next. The rule applies to TV manufacturers and to video…

The International Association for Hearing Accessibility (IAHA) has established a working group to review hearing accessibility regulations across different countries, identify gaps, and coordinate with local stakeholders to expand access to assistive listening technologies. According to IAHA, more than one billion people worldwide experience some degree of hearing difficulty, yet access to…