Help and advice

Hearing aid compatibility
If you wish to use a mobile phone with your hearing aid/s when set to the 'T' (telecoil) setting we recommend you look for a mobile phone with an inductive coupler or use ear hooks, a corded neckloop or a wireless Bluetooth neckloop. These are listed in our moblile phone accessories section. Some mobile phone manufacturers are adopting an American 'M and T rating scheme' to quantify their mobile's hearing aid compatibility. The higher the number following the 'T' the clearer the sound should be when used with a hearing aid's 'T' setting. The higher the number following the 'M' the clearer the sound should be when with a hearing aid not set to the 'T' setting. The highest possible score is T4/M4.

Memory buttons
Some mobile phones have extra memory buttons which can be pre-programmed with phone numbers so you can phone someone by pressing one button rather than entering the whole telephone number. Other mobile phones let telephone numbers be programmed to the standard keyboard buttons, keeping a number (e.g the 2 key) pressed down will dial the number pre-programmed to this 'speed dial'.

Emergency call button
Some mobile phones have an emergency call button, when this is pressed the phone will automatically call a pre selected list of numbers (usually up to five numbers). The phone will automatically send a text message to each of the numbers, then begin dialling each number in turn until the call is answered.¹

Software
Some mobile phones can have extra software installed to add features that may aid ease of use. These features include screen readers which convert the contents of the screen into speech (reading out your phone book, reading received messages, stating which key you pressed), screen magnifiers and talking GPS software.² We do not list software, for information on mobile phone software please use the RNIB link below.

Further information
For more information on mobile phones and vision refer to the RNIB factsheets on Mobile phones and Mobile phone software and/or for information on mobile phones and hearing refer to Action for Hearing Loss's range of factsheets on mobile phones.