All over the world, every Uber trip starts the same way. The car pulls up & the rider says his/her name to the driver, the driver confirms the name, and they’re off. Only that’s not how it works for Deaf or hard of hearing Drivers. For them it’s different. The rider gets alerted that their driver is Deaf but usually doesn’t know how to communicate in sign language, so right from the start the ride is different. These rides often don’t start with a friendly name or a hello, but instead more awkwardly. But rides shouldn’t have to be different just because somebody can’t hear. Partnering with Uber has become a valuable resource to many Deaf people, and as more riders get matched with Deaf or hard of hearing drivers, we wanted to make sure that we were serving this community of partners with tools that worked for them.

To celebrate National Deaf Awareness month we built a desktop and mobile experience that taught riders simple words and phrases in American Sign Language. We emailed our U.S. riders and drivers, and also put a card in the rider and driver app inviting people to join the conversation. The mobile experience taught people everything from “hello” and “thank you” to finger-spelling your first name. We partnered with Deaf influencers like Academy Award-winning actress Marlee Matlin and America’s Next Top Model Nyle DiMarco. We created both paid and organic social videos and assets to boost awareness.

Everyone from nonprofit leaders like the Communication Services for the Deaf (CSD) to local and national news outlets responded with overwhelming enthusiasm for the Uber Sign Language tool including in over a dozen articles across AdAge, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Mashable, Engadget etc. At a time when general brand sentiment was low, the campaign helped drive driver love and positive sentiment across media, social and the rider and driver demographics. The driver newsletter email featuring the tool was one of the most engaged modules of the year with a 29.97% open rate and riders responded in kind with a 23.69% open rate of the launch email. The campaign wrapped with over 29,094,838 impressions across YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.