[Ohio-Talk] Fire TV Launches Hearing Aid Pairing

[Maggie Stringer]

Fire TV launches hearing aid pairing
Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) launches on Fire TV Cube for
compatible Starkey Bluetooth hearing aids
Amazon Fire TV
We’re thrilled to announce Fire TV Cube (2nd gen) now supports Audio
Streaming for Hearing Aids, commonly known as ASHA. This makes Fire TV the
first-ever streaming media player to support ASHA and allow customers to
directly connect compatible Bluetooth hearing aids. The National Institute
on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders reports that Fifteen percent
(37.5 million) of Americans over the age of 18 report some hearing loss and
nearly 29 million US adults could benefit from using hearing aids. Through
research, we’ve learned that improving TV sound quality was one of the most
requested features among hearing aid users.

With this feature, your hearing aids connect with Fire TV at the system
level, so you can not only enjoy audio from your favorite apps but also
Alexa, music, navigational sounds, and more. Here’s more on how to enable
this capability:

Customers with compatible Starkey Bluetooth hearing aids can connect
directly to Fire TV Cube for private listening, use your remote’s volume
buttons to control the streaming audio level.
Bluetooth hearing aids connect with Fire TV on a system level, so you can
enjoy private audio from your favorite streaming services, apps, and games,
as well as Alexa.
To pair your hearing aids, visit Fire TV Settings, Accessibility, select
Hearing Aids, and follow the on-screen instructions to connect them, much
like you would with Bluetooth headphones.
To control the streaming volume, use the Fire TV remote like you otherwise
would. When you’re done with your movie, you can disconnect through a
shortcut by pressing and holding the ‘Home’ button and selecting
‘Disconnect Hearing Aids.’
For an optimal experience, we recommend customers connect over a 5Ghz wifi
network, within 10 feet and in line of sight to Fire TV Cube. Due to the
small size of hearing aids, their radio antennas require closer proximity
for the best connection. Customers with 2.4GHz wifi can still enjoy the
feature, with range that varies depending on spectrum congestion.
ASHA joins an existing rich set of a11y features design to enhance the
viewing experiences for customers with disabilities.

Closed Captions can be turned on and left on as a default in Fire TV
Accessibility settings.
VoiceView is a screen reader that speaks on-screen text out loud as you
navigate menu options and settings.
Text Banner is an assistive technology that brings together information
from different parts of the screen and presents descriptive text in one
place that doesn’t move. This feature is especially important for customers
with visual impairments and a limited field of view.
Screen Magnifier is an assistive technology created for customers who have
low vision. It magnifies the screen as you navigate your Fire TV, making it
easier to read or see.
Audio Description narrates details about actions, characters, scene
changes, on-screen text, and other visual content while a movie or TV show
is playing. It is intended for blind and visually-impaired viewers, but
audio description makes movies more enjoyable for anyone who might not be
looking at the screen. You can set Audio Description as a default on Prime
Video while browsing from over 3,000 available titles.
Fire TV devices feature High Contrast Text, designed to help make text
easier to read. It changes most of the text on-screen to black or white,
and adds a border of the opposite color.
The ability to use Alexa to turn on the TV with voice helps customers with
low mobility to more easily enjoy their entertainment.
We’re just getting started. Later this year, we’ll expand ASHA support to
more devices. We’re excited to evolve functionality over time and look
forward to getting feedback on what customers find more useful, reach out
to us via social media @AmazonFireTV. You can also find more information
about accessibility features at: amazon.com/accessibility.

Maggie Stringer
Phone: (443) 750-0070
Email: ravensfan784 at gmail.com
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