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 [...]
“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 [...]
From Python coding to engine assembly, the corporate world banks on hard skills. Job descriptions are seemingly 90 percent hard skills, tossing in a vague soft skill (“motivated self-starter,” anyone?). But soft skills are the secret sauce for retaining consumer loyalty, great user experiences, and being a deaf-friendly business. In fact, as [...]
One of the keys to understanding the Deaf community is to examine how the Deaf community is unique. The things that set deaf and hard of hearing consumers apart from their hearing counterparts go well beyond language and communication differences; there are several different social norms and values that make Deaf consumers [...]
One of the ironies of being deaf: We rely heavily on visual cues to navigate this world, yet our disability is largely invisible to the naked eye. “But ... you don’t even look deaf” is a surprised comment many a deaf individual has encountered. Without seeing immediate telltale cues like sign [...]
“A deaf person walks into a bar.” It may sound like the start of a classic joke formula, but this what actually happens all over the world daily, along with: “A deaf customer walks into your retail store,” or “a deaf taxpayer walks into your tax prep office,” or “a deaf driver [...]
In Mandarin, goodbye is “zai jian.” In German, it is “Tschüss.” In French, it is “À bientôt.” Short, quick and snappy. After a hearing person says it, she walks away or hangs up the phone - promptly. Now, get your stopwatch for a cultural experiment: Just how long is a deaf goodbye? [...]