Silent Signals: Rethinking Communication in CX

By Amanda (Mandi) Hanson, CCXP

Have you ever been in a rush, running through a busy airport, straining to hear announcements related to your flight?  Take a moment to think about what that experience would be if you couldn’t hear any of it. In a world where sound dominates communication, Deaf Awareness Month invites us to pause and consider: What does a truly inclusive customer experience look like when silence is the norm? For the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, experiences can either be empowering or exclusionary—depending on how thoughtfully they’re designed.

Accessibility is often treated as a checkbox—captions, transcripts, and alt text. Much of the conversation around accessibility revolves around inclusion for visual impairment. Truly inclusive CX goes beyond compliance. It’s about empathy-driven design that anticipates needs, removes barriers, and creates delight. For deaf users, this means rethinking how we communicate digitally when sound isn’t an option.

According to the World Health Organization, by 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss, and more than 700 million will require hearing rehabilitation. The prevalence of hearing loss increases with age - among those older than 60 years, over 25% are affected by disabling hearing loss. Genetic factors can cause an individual to be deaf or hard-of-hearing, but this is also one of the few disabilities that can be developed over time, leading individuals to have to find new ways to communicate and understand the world.

Silent Signals That Speak Volumes

There are many thoughtful ways to create a better user experience for deaf and hard-of-hearing users. Much like other inclusive design methods, the usefulness of this careful planning can span beyond the intent, improving user experience for all.  Personally, if I’ve had a long day and I want to unwind and watch a movie, but my brain is busy, having subtitles on can help me keep focus and make me appreciate the experience more, even if I don’t technically need them. Some people may not have hearing loss, but they may have auditory processing issues, and these inclusive design methods can make a difference for them as well.  Below are some tactical things you can think about when designing digital experiences:

1. Visual Feedback Over Audio Cues

Don’t just stop at sound-based alerts (like error beeps or confirmation tones). Add visual indicators such as animations, color changes, or haptic feedback. These “silent signals” ensure that deaf users receive the same level of responsiveness and clarity (and in 2025, who doesn’t mostly have their phone on Silent anyway?).

2. Caption Everything—And Do It Well

Have you ever watched a TikTok video where someone has captions turned on, but they are horribly and sometimes hilariously incorrect? Now, imagine you are relying on those subtitles to understand what is being communicated. How frustrating! Auto-captioning is a start when other options are unattainable, but accuracy matters, and it can often fall short. Invest in high-quality captions for videos, webinars, and live streams.

3. Transcripts for All Audio Content

Providing transcripts on audio content is essential. They allow deaf users to engage with podcasts, interviews, and voice-based content on their own terms.

4. Sign Language Avatars and AI Innovations

Emerging technologies like AI-powered sign language avatars and real-time translation tools are reshaping accessibility. These innovations offer new ways for deaf users to interact with digital platforms, especially in customer service and education. British company Northern Rail announced in October 2024 that it plans to introduce British Sign Language (BSL) announcements on all its services by 2025.

5. Inclusive Micro interactions

Small design choices—like customizable notification settings or visual typing indicators in chat—can make a big difference. These micro interactions show that you’ve considered the full spectrum of user needs and can often be implemented using code libraries with little effort.

Remember to be inclusive in all phases of your design process.  Where possible, include deaf or hard-of-hearing users in your testing, and if not, include them in pre- and post-launch surveys for refinement.

While it’s easy to focus on digital inclusion, don’t stop there. There are simple things you can do in physical services as well.  Learning basic sign language goes a long way. I recently heard a positive feedback story where a team member assisted a deaf customer by breaking out a whiteboard and writing things down to help facilitate the conversation. In the absence of full interpretation, this worked in a pinch, and the customer was able to get through the interaction. For high-stress situations, providing interpreting services either in person or via video services is ideal.  

Design of experiences for the deaf can be done on a small scale, but we should also think big.  What if we could design entire cities to be more deaf-inclusive?  This is the idea behind the principles of Deaf Urbanism, also known as Deafspace in urban design. Libraries, museums and community centers are now designed with open layouts, transparent materials and visual alerts to ensure clear sightlines and promote visual communication. This, and Northern Rail adding BSL to their train lines, are examples of this fascinating topic I highly recommend reading more about.

Training Teams for Deaf-Aware CX

Inclusive CX starts with inclusive teams. Designers, developers, and support staff should be trained to understand the needs of deaf users. This includes:

• Learning basic principles of deaf culture and communication. For instance, deaf individuals may need longer introductions during conversations to establish trust and connection. They also often face advocacy exhaustion by having to continuously advocate for equal access in all aspects of daily life.
• If your organization provides telephone support, training your team members on how to handle phone calls from deaf users using services from the Communication Service for the Deaf such as the Connect Direct service and other interpreter services.  Teach them to be aware of the services, what the role of the operators are, and some basic etiquette for the call.  Gabe Smith, CCXP, wrote more about this service in his blog post from 2021 – Inclusive CX: Connect Direct Improves CX for Deaf Customers.  I worked for Minnesota Relay in the early 2000’s, a relay service operator – I cannot count how many times I would try to explain that I was with the relay service (a required disclosure at the time) only to get hung up on halfway through because the business answering the phone did not understand what was happening. I felt so frustrated for my deaf customers and cannot imagine how they felt going through all of this to just, for example, order some Chinese takeout at the end of a long day.
• Using accessibility tools during design and QA, and not just stopping there, but also engaging with deaf users during research and testing.
• Encouraging team members to step into the shoes of deaf users – don’t be afraid to break out the earplugs or noise-cancelling headphones or mute a device and have the team members look at the experience without sound and ask themselves one simple question – if sound isn’t an option, what is lacking here?

The Business Case for Inclusion

Designing for deaf users isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s smart business. According to a Terptree article referring to a study by Deloitte, 80% of customers say they’re more likely to support brands that are inclusive and socially responsible. An air.org study also shows that the total after-tax disposable income for working-aged people with disabilities is about $490 billion, comparable to other significant market segments, such as African Americans ($501 billion) and Hispanics ($582 billion).

Inclusive design expands your audience, builds brand loyalty, and reduces legal risk. Most importantly, it positions your brand as empathetic, forward-thinking, and human-centered.

A Call to Action

This Deaf Awareness Month let’s make a pledge to consistently rethink how we communicate in digital spaces. Let’s design experiences that don’t rely on sound to be understood. Let’s make silence powerful. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but a world where deaf individuals are included by design is worth more than words could express.

Because when we listen with our eyes, we create digital experiences that speak to everyone.

Sources:

World Health Organization. (2025, February 26). Deafness and hearing loss. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/deafness-and-hearing-loss 

‌Northern to introduce British Sign Language announcements on all of its trains | Northern News. (2024, October). Northern News; Northern Trains Limited. https://media.northernrailway.co.uk/news/northern-to-introduce-british-sign-language-announcements-on-all-of-its-trains 

‌Stefani, E. (2022). LanguageLine Solutions. Languageline.com. https://doi.org/107652796758/1729112787049 

‌ Creating Inclusive Cities: Embracing Deaf Urbanism in Urban Design. (2024). RDG Planning & Design. https://rdgusa.com/news/creating-inclusive-cities-embracing-deaf-urbanism-in-urban-design

Williams, V. (2025, May 6). The Business Case for Investing in Deaf Inclusion. Terptree. https://terptree.co.uk/dcx/the-business-case-for-investing-in-deaf-inclusion/ 

‌ Yin, M., Shaewitz, D., Overton, C., & Smith, D.-M. (2018, April 17). A Hidden Market: The Purchasing Power of Working-Age Adults With Disabilities. American Institutes for Research. https://www.air.org/resource/report/hidden-market-purchasing-power-working-age-adults-disabilities 

 Smith, CCXP, Gabe (March 2021) Inclusive CX: Connect Direct Improves CX for Deaf Customers. (2021)