Hearing

iTunes and iPod include features designed to assist those with hearing disabilities.

Captioned Content on iTunes

iTunes can play both captioned (open and closed caption) and subtitled movies and TV shows. And you can purchase or rent movies and TV shows that include closed captions from the iTunes Store. In fact, iTunes is the first online store to offer digital downloads of captioned content. You’ll also find captioned podcasts on iTunes U, such as those in The American Experience series produced by WGBH Boston. Because iTunes U and the iTunes Store continually add captioned content, you’ll want to visit often to check for new content.

To make captioned content easier to find, the CC logo appears in the description, and you can obtain a complete listing of captioned material by using Power Search on the iTunes Store. Choose Search from the Store menu in iTunes. When the Search page appears, choose Movies, TV Shows, or iTunes U from the Power Search pop-up menu. Click the appropriate checkbox to search for materials that contain closed captioning and click Search. If you have further questions or concerns about the captioning of specific content within the iTunes Store, please email accessibility@apple.com

Once you’ve found, purchased, and downloaded content with closed captioning, you can make the captions visible in iTunes by selecting a checkbox in iTunes preferences.

Captioned Content on iPod

iPod models that support video — including iPod classic, iPod nano (3rd, 4th and 5th generation), and iPod touch — can also display captions when present in the content. Captions display in a high-contrast white-on-black font that’s easy to read.

iPod Standard Audio Out Jack

Thanks to the industry-standard 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack, you can connect a wide variety of headphones and externally amplified audio speakers to all iPod models to suit your needs.

Password-Protected Volume Limit Controls

To help prevent hearing loss that may occur when listening to audio at high volume over long periods of time through earphones, all currently available iPod models include volume limit controls,allowing you to easily set the maximum listening volume. You can protect the maximum volume with a password, so it cannot be changed without permission.

Mono Audio

When you're listening to music on iPod touch (4th generation) and iPod nano (6th generation), the Mono Audio feature plays both stereo left and right audio channels in each earbud.

Accessibility Add-ons for iPod touch

Several add-on products are available for iPod touch that can help those with hearing disabilities, including a hearing aid-compatible induction ear loop from TecEar, a wireless remote headset from Oticon, and others.