What does HAC/VC stand for?
"Hearing Aid Compatibility/Volume Control"
What makes a telephone "hearing aid compatible?"
A telephone is hearing aid compatible if it provides internal
means (i.e., without the use of external devices) for effective use with
hearing aids that are designed to be compatible with telephones that
meet the FCC's technical standard for hearing aid compatibility (the
technical standard is codified at 47 C.F.R. § 68.316). This is usually
accomplished by inserting a telecoil in telephones that detects, or is
compatible with, a similar telecoil in the hearing aid, and thus allows
the hearing aid to "couple" with the telephone through an
electromagnetic field.
Are all coin-operated and credit-card operated telephones
required to be hearing aid compatible?
Yes. See 47 C.F.R. §§ 68.112(a), 68.112(b)(4).
Are telephones set up for emergency use required to be
hearing aid compatible?
Yes. Also, telephones in areas where people with hearing disabilities
may be isolated in the event of an emergency (i.e., elevators, tunnels,
highways, and workplace common areas) must be hearing aid compatible.
Why would I need to purchase HAC/VC phones if I don't have a
hearing disability?
Places of employment and places of public accommodation are
frequented by many persons, including employees and visitors, and the
likelihood of a person with a hearing disability being isolated in an
emergency and needing access to a telephone in such settings is greater.
The FCC has a number of rules requiring establishment owners in various
settings, including the workplace, hospitals, nursing homes and hotels,
to install HAC/VC phones under various timelines, and to ensure that new
and replacement telephones are HAC/VC. See 47 C.F.R. § 68.112
for the FCC's HAC/VC installation rules.
Is HAC/VC part of the Americans with Disabilities ADA (ADA)
or the Telecommunications Act of 1996?
No. Regulations for HAC/VC are promulgated under the authority of the
Hearing Aid Compatibility Act of 1988 (HAC Act), codified at 47
U.S.C. § 610. The intent of the HAC Act is to ensure reasonable access
to telephone service by persons with hearing disabilities.
Will a HAC/VC phone make it possible for people who are deaf
to use the telephone?
It depends upon the individual's degree and nature of hearing loss,
and factors such as whether a person uses a hearing aid or can hear with
volume amplification. Some individuals with hearing disabilities do not
use hearing aids or cannot benefit from amplification, and may access
the telephone network primarily through text telephones (TTYs) and
telecommunications relay services (TRS).
What is "volume control" under the FCC rules?
Volume control allows the telephone user to adjust the volume of the
sound emanating from the handset. An analog or digital telephone
complies with the Commission's volume control requirements if the
telephone is equipped with a receive volume control that provides,
through the receiver in the handset or headset of the telephone, 12 dB
of gain minimum and up to 18 dB of gain maximum, when measured in terms
of Receive Objective Loudness Rating (ROLR).
Are all telephones sold in the U.S. required to be hearing
aid compatible?
Yes. As of August 16, 1989, all telephones manufactured or imported
for use in the U.S. have been required to be hearing aid compatible.
Cordless telephones manufactured or imported for use in the U.S. have
also been required to be hearing aid compatible since August 16, 1991.
Secure telephones are exempt, as are telephones used with public mobile
services or private radio services.
Do all HAC phones sold in the U.S. also have volume control?
Not at present. The definition of hearing aid compatibility was
recently expanded to include the volume control feature. Manufacturers
and importers will be required to ensure that wireline telephones
manufactured imported for use in the U.S. after January 1, 2000 contain
a volume control feature.
Are telephones required to have labels indicating they are
HAC?
Yes. All hearing aid compatible telephones, including cordless
telephones registered under Part 68 of the FCC rules that are
manufactured or imported for use in the U.S. after April 1, 1997, must
have the letters "HAC" permanently affixed to the telephone. The "HAC"
labelling is usually found on the base of the telephone along with other
Part 68-required information. Telephones are not required to have "VC"
labelling, however, because whether or not the telephone has VC will be
evident upon inspection of the telephone.
As an employer, when do I need to replace my phone with a
hearing aid compatible phone?
At present, all telephones in workplace common areas must be
hearing aid compatible. Examples of workplace common areas include
libraries, reception areas, and other areas where employees are
reasonably expected to congregate.
All non-common-area workplace telephones must be hearing aid
compatible by January 1, 2000, except that employers that purchased
telephones between January 1, 1985, through December 31, 1989 will have
a few more years, until January 1, 20005, to replace these phones with
hearing aid compatible telephones. Non-common-areas include, for
example, private offices, work stations and mail rooms.
At present, any time a new telephone is purchased or an old
telephone is replaced, the employer must ensure that the new telephone
is hearing aid compatible.
After January 1, 2000, or January 1, 20005 (whichever is applicable),
there will be a "rebuttable presumption" that all telephones in the
workplace are hearing aid compatible. A person may rebut this
presumption by making an identification of a telephone as non-HAC and
making a bona fide request that it be replaced. The employer will then
have 15 working days to replace the non-compliant telephone.
What is a "bona fide request" to replace a telephone in a
workplace non-common area?
The person making the request must be an individual present in the
normal course of the establishment's business, legitimately on the
premises as an employee or invitee of the establishment. The FCC's "rebuttable
presumption" does not give someone a right of entry onto the premises of
an employer solely for the purpose of investigating and identifying
whether an establishment's telephones are HAC.
As an employer, do I have to replace all of my telephones
with volume control telephones by January 1, 2000?
No. After January 1, 2000, the employer must simply ensure that any
new and replacement telephones acquired after this date also have volume
control. Thus, the FCC's rules envision replacement of telephones with
volume control telephones on a telephone-by-telephone basis, during
natural replacement cycles. Please keep in mind that the HAC and VC
requirements are two separate requirements.
I have several deaf employees who need hearing aid compatible
telephones. Am I obligated to provide them with these telephones in
their office even though the January 1, 2000 deadlines have not arrived?
Yes. Employers must ensure that telephones, including headsets, made
available to employees with hearing disabilities for the performance of
their duties are hearing aid compatible. (Please note that a HAC phone
may not be the accommodation a deaf person needs to use the phone - some
may need text telephones, for example, and may be entitled to other
accommodations under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act).
I operate a telephone "reservation line" and all my employees
use headset equipment. Do I have to replace all my headsets with HAC or
VC headsets now?
No. Headset equipment is generally exempt from these requirements,
except that, if an employee with a hearing disability needs a hearing
aid compatible headset to perform his or her job, one must be provided
to that specific employee.
I am a small business owner. Must I comply with all these HAC
rules for my workplaces?
Employers with fewer than fifteen employees would be generally exempt
from coverage of the workplace non-common area rules and will only have
to provide hearing aid compatible telephones in workplace common
areas, and on an as-needed basis for employees with hearing
disabilities. In calculating the number of "employees" for purposes of
compliance, the total employment force of an establishment, and not the
number of employees an employer may have at a particular work site,
should be the determining factor.
Does my bed and breakfast fall under the definition of a
hotel/motel?
Yes. Any establishment open to the general public for the purpose of
overnight accommodations for a fee is considered as such. For
establishments with fewer than eighty guest rooms, the telephones are
not required to be hearing aid compatible until November 1, 1999.
As a hotel owner, am I in compliance with the FCC's HAC rules
if I keep a certain number of HAC/VC phones at the front desk, and set
them up in a room if a person with a hearing disability checks into that
room?
No. Twenty percent of all guest rooms must have been hearing aid
compatible by April 1, 1997. Hotels and motels with eighty or more guest
rooms must ensure that all room telephones are hearing aid compatible
before November 1, 1998, and those with fewer than eighty guest rooms
will have until November 1, 1999 to ensure that all room telephones are
hearing aid compatible.
For those hotels that bought their telephones during the period
January 1, 1985, through December 31, 1989, the rules are modified as
follows: (1) twenty percent of your guest rooms must have hearing aid
compatible phones available by April 1, 1997; (2) twenty-five percent of
all guest rooms by November 1, 1999; and (3) one hundred percent of all
guest rooms by January 1, 2001 (for establishments with eighty or more
guest rooms) or by January 1, 2004 (for establishments with fewer than
eighty guest rooms).
As a hotel owner, must I replace all of my telephones with VC
telephones by a certain date?
No. As with workplace non-common areas, volume control telephones
must be installed after January 1, 2000 when the first natural
opportunity to replace the telephone occurs. Under the Commission's
rules, these "natural opportunities" include: (1) any time the hotel or
motel room is renovated or newly constructed; and (2) any time the
telephone in a hotel or motel room is replaced, or substantially,
internally repaired.
If new telephones are purchased or if telephones are replaced after
January 1, 2000, hotel and motel owners must ensure that these
telephones are HAC/VC.
Are hospitals covered by these rules?
Yes, these rules apply to telephones in "confined settings" such as
hospital rooms and nursing home rooms, where a patient or resident may
need to signal personnel in the event of an emergency.
Are universities covered by these rules?
To the extent that a university operates an establishment that falls
within these rules, such as a hospital or a hotel, that specific
facility must comply with these HAC rules. Also, university workplaces
must comply with the rules. These rules do not apply to telephones in
individual residence halls, because those residence halls offer lodging
beyond an "overnight" basis. All coin-operated telephones, telephones
designated for emergency use, and telephones in places where a person
may be isolated in the event of an emergency (e.g., elevators and bus
stops) must be hearing aid compatible.
When must all room telephones in confined settings, such as
hospitals and nursing homes, be HAC?
All confined settings, such as hospitals or nursing homes, with over
50 beds must have HAC telephones in all patient rooms at present. Those
establishments with less than 50 beds must have HAC telephones in all
patient rooms by November 1, 1998.
Also, any time a telephone is replaced or newly purchased, the
confined setting owner must ensure that the new telephone is HAC. Any
time a telephone is replaced or newly purchased after January 1, 2000,
the confined setting owner must also ensure that the telephone has
volume control.
Our hospital/nursing home provides signalling devices in the
rooms or by the beds so patients can summon personnel in the event of an
emergency. Can we rely on this rather than installing a HAC telephone?
Yes, on the condition that the signalling apparatus is available,
working, and monitored.
Do the HAC/VC rules apply to prison telephones?
These rules apply only to telephones in the workplaces of prison
employees and staff, which are subject to the same workplace
requirements as any other employer. Telephones inside prison cells or
inmate areas are not covered by these HAC/VC rules. Please note,
however, that telephones provided to prison inmates may be subject to
the accessibility requirements of other federal laws, such as Title II
of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Does my wireless phone have to be HAC/VC?
No. At present, the Commission's HAC requirements only apply to
wireline and cordless telephones, not to telephones used
with mobile services, such as cellular and PCS telephones.
Can the VC mechanism be on the phone, or does it have to be
in the handset?
Either one. The Commission's rules do not specify where on the
telephone the VC mechanism must be.
How do I file a complaint if HAC rules are being violated?
Complaint procedures are outlined in the Commission's rules at
Sections 68.400-414.
A complaint shall be in writing and shall contain:
(a) The name and address of the complainant,
(b) The name (and address, if known) of the defendant against whom
the complaint is made,
(c) A complete statement of the facts, including supporting data,
where available, showing that such defendant did or omitted to do
anything in violation of Part 68 of the Commission's rules, and
(d) A statement of the relief sought.
An original and two copies of all complaints shall be filed with the
state, usually the state public utilities commission. If a state has not
adopted the same requirements as the FCC has in rule Sections 68.4 and
68.112, or if the state fails to act within 6 months from the filing of
a complaint with the state public utility commission, the Commission
will accept the complaint. The complaint may then be mailed to: Federal
Communications Commission, Common Carrier Bureau, HAC (Part 68)
Complaints, 2000 M Street, Washington, DC 20554. If the state sends
written notification to the complainant that the state believes action
is unwarranted, the state's notification is not a failure to act.
