Amazon Fire TV features “Dual Audio” for simultaneous listening through hearing aids and TV speakers

Amazon announced New accessibility features for Fire TV on Wednesday, including notable “Dual Audio” capability for the newly released Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series. opened in November. The new feature allows one user to listen through a hearing aid, while others in the same room can enjoy audio through the TV’s built-in speakers. Additional updates include efforts to make packaging more accessible and expand hearing aid support.

Dual Audio is an important addition for hearing-impaired users, allowing them to share a more shared viewing experience with friends and family by listening to a TV show or movie at the same time. Several existing Fire TV devices already have it Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) supportit is the first model that can play audio on two different outputs. This feature is currently exclusive to the Fire TV Omni Mini-LED TV series and will be available soon.

In partnership with hearing aid manufacturer WS Audiology (WSA), Amazon is also expanding its support of ASHA to include a wider range of hearing aids, such as Widex Moment BTE and RIC hearing aids. Users with these devices can now stream audio directly from their ASHA-enabled Fire TV devices, including the Fire TV Omni Mini-LED Series, Fire TV Omni QLED Series, Fire TV Cube, Fire TV 4-Series, Fire TV 2-Series, and . Fire TV Omni Series.

In addition, Amazon introduced new packaging designed to help customers who are blind or visually impaired. Certain device packaging will feature newly introduced touch-tagged QR codes that contain raised UV dots for better visibility, inside the box in the upper left corner of the back panel, where the Quick Start Guide is found.

The new QR codes are already available on a growing number of Amazon device bundles, including select Fire TVs, Echo Show models, and various Kindle devices such as the Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Colorsoft, and Kindle Scribe.