"Americans with hearing loss will no longer be limited in their choice of technologies, features, and prices available in the mobile handset marketplace," wrote the FCC. The rule

The FCC has approved a new rule requiring 100% of all mobile handsets sold in the US to be compatible with hearing aids.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Thursday issued rules requiring that all mobile phones — including smartphones — sold in the U.S. be compatible with hearing aids. The news comes two years after the FDA made hearing aids available to all Americans without a prescription.

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

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

"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.