Starbucks to Open 'Signing Store' for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Customers

Starbucks will open a new 'signing store' in Washington, D.C. later in 2018. The store will be staffed by around 25 deaf and hard-of-hearing baristas as well as hearing baristas who are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL). The baristas will wear special aprons with embroidered fingerspelling symbols and pins reading 'I Sign' to indicate they speak ASL. Customers will be able to order in ASL or new visual signs specially developed by Starbucks.

The idea for the store came from a team of deaf Starbucks employees who wanted to help the company connect more with the deaf community. The store will create an innovative 'deaf space' which is friendlier to the sensorial experience and communication abilities of deaf and hard-of-hearing customers. This deaf space will include an open environment floorplan with low-glare reflective surfaces and a new visual display for customer names and orders.

The signing store aims to incorporate deaf culture into the Starbucks business model and and general society. The initiative will increase the employment opportunities and accessibility for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community whilst also educating and enlightening the hearing community. Such a signing store is not the first of its kind but was actually inspired by another Starbucks signing store opened in Kuala Lumpur in 2016.

Hat tip: Mail Online | Image: Starbucks