Twelve percent of the US population is twice as likely to leave positive reviews: Deaf and hard of hearing customers. It’s a stark contrast to a recent Salesforce study: Consumers (in the general population) are twice as likely to share bad customer service experiences than good ones. Last month, deaffriendly.com - a [...]
If you operate a business that is open to the public in Washington State and has forward-facing TV’s in your establishment, you will want to be aware of a new state captioning law that went into effect last month (July 2021). Washington State is the first state to mandate closed captioning in public [...]
Signed into law on July 26, 1990, The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is considered the most significant law that protects Americans with disabilities from discrimination and ensures they have access to employment, transportation, health care, education, communications, and places of public accommodation. Access barriers experienced by deaf and hard-of-hearing people are [...]
It has been over one year since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged and resulted in massive, monumental changes to the way we live our lives. From state-mandated closures to disrupted supply lines, to virtual learning/remote working, and wearing masks in public, no one has been immune to the effects of this pandemic. The [...]
Sign language interpreters are having another moment in the spotlight as high profile public officials across the country are using in-screen interpreters for online press briefings, raising the visibility of sign language access for deaf and hard of hearing consumers on a never-seen-before scale. Even the current administration at the White House [...]
Feeling accessibility-stuck? Don’t have time for a full-blown American Sign Language course, but want to better serve deaf and hard of hearing people? Skill up on seamless communication with deaf and hard of hearing customers, in just one hour or less. Launching February 1st, deaffriendly Consulting’s on-line course, “Deaf-Friendly BASICS” is a [...]
Let's face it, it’s tough getting negative feedback. No one likes it, whether you’re an individual or a business. While eighty percent of reviews written by deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing people on deaffriendly.com are positive, the deaf-challenged experiences deaf customers face lead to twenty percent of reviews that are three [...]
With in-person events a distant memory and no end to Zoom fatigue, people are turning to a fast-growing medium: Podcasts. With so many of us stuck at home, podcasting is becoming an easy-to-consume, “snackable” form of content. According to data on 12,000 podcasts, downloads by U.S. listeners in September 2020 increased 150% [...]
“Curbside pickup” is one of the many buzzwords 2020 has given us. But unlike roller skate soda fountains and drive-through cinemas, it is likely to stay. Once both major businesses and mom-and-pop retailers implemented this service to curb (pun intended) the spread of COVID-19, it became clear: curbside pickup is an example [...]