Managing your broadband with hearing loss

Ofcom, the communications regulator, requires providers to publicise their services for disabled people. The list below gives the non-voice routes that each provider's own page names, as we found them when we checked on 25 and 27 October 2026. Where we say a route isn't confirmed or named, we couldn't confirm it from that page, not that the provider doesn't have one.

• Virgin Media. Text and relay: chat, SMS, text relay and video relay are its listed accessible channels; WhatsApp on 07305 327 112 (Monday to Friday 7am to 11pm, weekends 8am to 8pm); Relay UK users can call free on 18001 0800 052 2164. BSL: a video interpreter or InterpretersLive! (run by Sign Solutions) during Virgin Media's opening times; interpreters can be pre-booked. To register your needs: call 150 from a Virgin Media phone, or call, text relay or video relay 0345 454 1111.
• BT. Text and relay: Relay UK is among the support listed under Here For You. BSL: InterpretersLive! on demand, 8am to midnight, 7 days a week; BT's contact centre is open Monday to Friday 8am to 9pm and weekends and bank holidays 8am to 8pm; interpreters can be pre-booked. To register your needs: Here For You, by call or message.
• Plusnet. Text and relay: Relay UK, dialling 18001 before 0330 123 9123. BSL: InterpretersLive! through the StarLeaf app, 8am to midnight daily, but only while Plusnet's team is open (Monday to Friday 8am to 8pm, Saturday 9am to 7pm, Sunday 9am to 6pm); interpreters can be pre-booked. To register your needs: its Additional Support Form.
• Vodafone. Text and relay: not confirmed on its accessibility page. BSL: InterpretersLive! during Vodafone's opening hours (Monday to Friday 8am to 10pm, weekends 8am to 8pm). To register your needs: highlight your account; its dedicated accessibility line, 0333 304 3222, is only for customers with accessibility needs.
• EE. Text and relay: Relay UK, dialling 18001 before 07953 966 150; EE says most Relay UK calls are free or charged at your standard rate on its pay monthly and pay as you go plans. BSL: InterpretersLive! (run by Sign Solutions) during EE's opening hours, Monday to Friday 8am to 9pm and Saturday and Sunday 8am to 8pm; if no interpreter is free straight away, you can hold or try again later. To register your needs: share them through its contact routes and EE notes them on your account, so advisers see them whenever you get in touch.
• TalkTalk. Text and relay: Text Relay, dialling 18001 0345 172 0088 (on its How to contact TalkTalk help page). BSL: not named on its accessibility page. To register your needs: register and update support needs at any time, and set accessible communication preferences in the TalkTalk app (More, then Communication preferences, then Accessibility communications).

We couldn't confirm Sky's text, relay or BSL contact routes from its pages when we checked, so look at Sky's accessibility page before you rely on one. The same goes for any other provider: if a route matters to you, find it on the provider's own page.

On TalkTalk: BT says it has acquired TalkTalk and that TalkTalk customers remain TalkTalk customers, with support channels continuing as normal while a regulatory review takes place. The Competition and Markets Authority's case was still open when we checked on 28 October 2026.

A Relay UK relay assistant joins your call: they type what the other person says so you can read it, and read out what you type. If you prefer to speak for yourself, you can talk and just read the replies.

You can use it in two ways:

• The Relay UK app on an iPhone, Android phone, tablet, PC or Mac. Plusnet notes it works wherever you have an internet connection, so if your home broadband is down, mobile data will do.
• A textphone (a Minicom or Uniphone). Relay UK says textphone users can carry on making calls as before. RNID, the national hearing loss charity, points out that textphones are no longer made in the UK and are only available second-hand, which matters if yours breaks.

Making a call

Dial 18001, then the full number including the area code. Relay UK says the relay assistant doesn't join until the call is answered.

Taking calls with a TextNumber

People calling you through Relay UK normally have to dial 18002 first. A TextNumber removes that step: it's a separate number, used alongside your existing one, that connects callers to a relay assistant automatically. To get one, call 0800 500 888 from the number you want to link and choose option 2.

For example, if you give your TextNumber when booking an engineer visit and the engineer rings to say they're running late, the call reaches you through a relay assistant without them needing to know about 18002.

What relay calls cost

Relay UK itself is free; you pay your normal call charges, and Ofcom requires providers to offer special tariffs to make up for the extra time relay calls take. Our guide to broadband help for disabled customers, linked above, explains how those rebates generally work. The details vary: Plusnet, for example, says it adjusts call charges for relay calls so you aren't out of pocket. If you make many relay calls from home, ask how your provider's reduction works before choosing a package from broadband and phone deals.

The old copper phone network on Openreach is due to be switched off by 31 January 2027, with landline calls moving to digital lines that run over your broadband. GOV.UK says most customers are expected to have moved by the end of January 2027, but that not every analogue service will be switched off by then, depending on your provider. Our digital landline switchover guide explains the change in full.

RNID says some textphones still work on a digital line: BT tested some and found they worked after the switch, though audio quality dropped in some cases, and RNID has had reports of problems. RNID also suggests checking that amplified phones and flashing alerts will still work. So if you use any of these, ask your provider before your line moves, and set up the Relay UK app as a back-up:

• Will my textphone work on the digital line, and has it been tested with your equipment?
• If it won't, what do you suggest instead, and will you help me set it up?
• Will any amplified or flashing-ringer phone I use plug into the new hub?
• Can you note on my account that I'm deaf or have hearing loss before the switch?

If you're thinking of relying on your mobile instead, and signal is weak indoors, our guide to Wi-Fi calling explains how a mobile can make ordinary calls over your broadband.

Plugging in a new hub is mostly visual: cables, sockets and lights.

• Use the provider's light guide. BT, for example, publishes what each light colour means for each of its hub models. It says a newly plugged-in hub usually takes about four minutes to sync and the light turns blue when it's ready and connected. Our guide to what your broadband hub lights mean gathers several providers' meanings.
• Connect devices with WPS if you like. WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) is a button that lets a device join without typing the password. BT says its hub light flashes blue while it waits for you to press WPS on your device, so you can see it's working.
• Use online checks and the app instead of a call. BT says signed-in customers can run its online broadband test 24 hours a day, and that it can restart the router or book an engineer. Its My BT app can also track faults and book engineer visits. Ask your own provider where its equivalent is.

If something's still wrong, write down which light is on, its colour and whether it's flashing, then contact your provider by one of the text or BSL routes above. You can also run our broadband speed test to check whether the connection is working at all.

RNID notes that most media apps can show captions and some phones have speech-to-text built in for calls and conversations. Automatic captions make mistakes, so treat them as support rather than a guarantee.

iPhone: Live Captions

Apple says Live Captions gives a real-time transcription of spoken audio in apps such as FaceTime and of conversations around you. It needs an iPhone 11 or later and isn't available in every language or region. Turn it on in Settings, then Accessibility, then Live Captions. Apple warns it shouldn't be relied on in high-risk or emergency situations, and that if you keep call captions for an hour rather than a minute, everyone on the call hears an announcement that it's being transcribed.

Android: Live Caption and Live Transcribe

Google says Live Caption captions speech on your phone, including videos, video calls and audio messages, processed on the device; captions on phone calls work on Pixel and selected Android phones, and the steps vary by device. Its first use needs Wi-Fi to download a language pack, so set it up at home. Live Transcribe shows speech and sounds around you as text, and Google says it needs an internet connection unless you've downloaded an offline language. Downloading one now means it still works if your broadband goes down.

Video calls and online appointments

RNID publishes guides to the accessibility features in Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom. What you can switch on depends on whether you're the host, whether you use the app or a browser, and the host's account type. For something important, ask the organiser in advance for a speech-to-text reporter (STTR), who types a live word-for-word transcript that RNID says is more accurate than automatic captions, or a sign language interpreter. Our guide to video appointments from home covers getting your connection and device ready.

• Smart doorbells. RNID says these connect to your Wi-Fi and send an alert to your phone when someone presses the button, and many include a video camera. Some link to Amazon Alexa, Google Home or Apple Home so a press can set off something else, such as a smart bulb that flashes.
• If you rent or have a shared entrance. RNID says a sound detector can listen for your existing doorbell chime and trigger a flashing light or vibrating pager.
• Help with the cost. RNID says your council's sensory support team may be able to help after an assessment.

Anything that works over Wi-Fi depends on your broadband and your power supply, so it won't alert you during an outage. That's fine for a doorbell, but not for fire safety. RNID's advice for smoke alarms is a dedicated system with flashing lights and a vibrating pad or pager, meeting British Standard BS 5446 part 3: 2015, and, if it runs off the mains, with at least 72 hours of battery backup. Fire and rescue services offer free Safe and Well visits, and RNID says people with severe or profound hearing loss may get a suitable alarm free.

Dial 18000 from a textphone or through the Relay UK app (or tap its 999 button) and a relay assistant joins your emergency call; deaf BSL users can use the 999 BSL website or app instead, which Ofcom says is free with the data zero-rated. Both apps need an internet connection, so keep mobile data available as a backup to your broadband, and see our guide to broadband help for disabled customers, linked above, for emergencySMS and the full detail on each route.

RNID's contact page lists a phone line on 0808 808 0123 (Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm), text on 07360 268988 (charged at your standard network rate), Relay UK on 18001 followed by that number, email, live chat (Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm) and a free BSL video call arranged through Convo. It also runs RNID Near You drop-in sessions across the UK.

If you also have sight loss, or you're helping someone who does, our sibling guide to managing your broadband with sight loss covers screen readers and reading the Wi-Fi details without the sticker.

Before you order, check that the new provider's accessibility page names the contact route you actually use, then ask:

• Can I contact you by chat, text, Relay UK or a BSL interpreter, and in which hours?
• Can I register my needs before installation, so the engineer and support team know?
• Is it an engineer install or a self-install, and do you send written or video set-up instructions?
• Can the engineer contact me by text rather than a call on the day?
• If I take a phone line, how do you handle relay call charges?

Under One Touch Switch you contact only the new provider, which arranges the handover and cancels your old service. Your current provider must send you switching information, including any early termination charges, so you can check what leaving would cost.

When you're ready, compare deals at your postcode or browse all the broadband providers we cover. We compare deals through a partner's comparison tool; we don't switch you ourselves, so you'll order with the provider you choose.