Norman Rockwell’s iconic Thanksgiving dinner painting is a picture of joy and connection. But for most deaf people, dinner hurts. There’s even a name for it: Dinner Table Syndrome, a phenomenon in which deaf people are cut out of conversations while surrounded by hearing people they can’t understand during meals. In pop [...]
Make no mistake about it: Despite the pandemic's huge impact on the dining industry, deaf and hard of hearing Americans still crave good customer service - as much as they crave a good meal itself. According to the National Restaurant Association, 6 in 10 adults have changed their restaurant usage behaviors as [...]
Good customer service is the defining factor of any good business – especially important is the first point of contact. As Deaf consumers, we frequent a variety of businesses daily such as retail establishments, grocery stores, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and many more. If we experience bad customer service, chances are, all [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
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% [...]