Rogervoice Survey: 60% of Americans Say Phone Calls Still Fall Short for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People
National survey finds many adults avoid phone calls due to clarity, confidence, background noise, and fear of misunderstanding.Staff
:format(webp))
About 6 in 10 Americans believe phone calls are still not fully accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing, according to a new national survey from Rogervoice, a global pioneer of real-time captioned phone calls. The Rogervoice 2026 State of the Phone Call Survey polled 1,000 nationally representative U.S. adults and found that while phone calls remain a core part of daily communication, many Americans are increasingly struggling with clarity and confidence during live conversations.
Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they have avoided making or answering a phone call at least once. Among those who have, the most common reasons include difficulty following conversations due to accent, pace, or clarity, fear of misunderstandings, background noise, and poor audio quality.
The findings point to ongoing communication challenges during live phone conversations. Nearly 1 in 5 Americans say they regularly struggle to understand phone conversations, while a similar number (20%) say someone close to them, such as a parent or family member, experiences the same issue.
Phone calls are important in healthcare, work, and personal conversations, where immediacy matters. At the same time, nearly 6 in 10 Americans believe workplaces do not provide adequate communication tools for employees with hearing or communication challenges.
Olivier Jeannel, Rogervoice Founder and CEOPhone calls still matter. For decades, accessibility in telecommunications has been treated as a specialized issue affecting only a small group of people, but our research shows that communication clarity and confidence are actually broader concerns for many Americans. Accessibility affects everyday communication and is why Rogervoice is committed to making it easier.
Founded in 2014 by Jeannel, who has been profoundly deaf since the age of two, Rogervoice was built from firsthand experience navigating communication systems designed primarily around audio.
Rogervoice recently surpassed 10 million captioned calls globally and launched U.S. operations, reports the company. The app enables users to read phone conversations in real-time through live captions and respond instantly by voice or text. It also provides searchable transcripts after calls and supports conversations in more than 100 languages.
“I don’t want to be confined to sitting beside a house phone or relying on someone else to help me communicate—as an active woman, it’s not practical,” said Rogervoice user, Elaine. “The Rogervoice app gives me the confidence to stay connected on my own terms even when I’m on the go.”
The 2026 State of the Phone Call Survey was conducted by Censuswide among 1,000 nationally representative U.S. adults aged 20-89. Data was collected between April 13 and April 20, 2026. Censuswide adheres to MRS and ESOMAR standards for quality and compliance. For the full survey results, visit Rogervoice.com.
Rogervoice is reportedly the highest-rated app among any FCC-certified caption call providers. To download the free app, visit the App Store and Google Play.
SOURCE: Rogervoice
HearingTracker Staff