Comcast Launches ASL Now Customer Service Offering for Deaf Subscribers

Today’s omni-channel communications model is transforming the call center, demanding better and more diverse ways to communicate with broad and diverse segments of the population. To address those needs, while improving customer service and call center productivity and efficiencies, Comcast (News - Alert) has announced a significant new service in support of the deaf community.

The company has teamed with Connect Direct, a subsidiary of Communication Service for the Deaf (CSD), to launch customer service via American Sign Language (ASL) called ASL Now. The offering will be used for the company’s Internet Essentials and Xfinity Internet services, as well as for general Xfinity billing questions. The offering signals a breakthrough for the cable industry in terms of outreach to the deaf community, enabling customers to communicate with agents using ASL, the fourth most-used language in the U.S.

“The Internet is an incredible resource so long as you have the skills and the tools to use it,” said David L. Cohen, senior executive vice president and chief diversity officer at Comcast Corporation. “By partnering with Connect Direct and working with the deaf community, we want to address and break down the barriers to broadband adoption that are unique to this population. That starts by being able to speak with customers in their native language.”

Pew (News - Alert) Research Center has found that a major digital divide exists for those with disabilities, one that omni-channel call centers are in a unique position to address. According to Pew, 23 percent of people with disabilities say they never go online, while a whopping 57 percent do not have a home broadband subscription. Comcast has been trying to address that divide, and the ASL Now announcement follows its recent eligibility expansion for the Internet Essentials program to include all qualified low-income households, including people with disabilities.

“We are especially happy to partner with Comcast on this initiative, which represents a significant leap forward in broadening the reach of services available in ASL and creating more avenues for fuller participation of deaf people in society,” said Christopher Soukup, CEO of CSD. “Comcast’s commitment to launching an ASL customer service center underlines a shift in attitude by major corporations in recognizing the value of deaf people and the benefit and ease in delivering exceptional customer service through their customers’ language of choice.”

In tandem with the announcement, Comcast has also created an Internet Essentials landing page that includes direct links to the new ASL Now chat function. The page also features the ability to order materials in Braille and large print and includes an accessibility FAQ. Internet Essentials was launched in 2011 with the goal of connecting low-income Americans to the Internet. The service has connected more than eight million people, 90 percent of whom had previously not been connected to the Internet at home.

 

Edited by Maurice Nagle