What’s it like to be your customer? What if that customer can’t hear?
When support systems are built only on spoken instructions and sound prompts, they fail customers immediately. This systemic barrier exists across the entire customer journey, preventing critical tasks like changing a flight itinerary or correcting a fraudulent charge. This failure generates costly, repeated struggles for help, driving up operational costs and causing the loss of a valuable customer segment.
Accessible customer experience is a required business standard, not a siloed department. You have far more customers with different abilities than you realize, and you are missing their business because the existing experience creates a massive, unnecessary barrier. As Craig Radford notes, current systems make “being deaf a full-time job.”
Stacy Sherman talks to both Vannessa LeBoss and Craig Radford (who is deaf) of 360 Direct Access about converting accessibility across the entire experience into a measurable business advantage.
From listening to this episode, (RECORDED LIVE & IN-PERSON)
you will learn how to:
- Decrease call time by 42%: Implement direct, video-based ASL support to lower operational expenses and time.
- Capture a $3 trillion market: Build loyalty by creating truly equitable experiences for the deaf community.
- Prevent errors: Use AI for sign language recognition to accurately capture critical data and stop costly mistakes.
- Fix process flaws: Recognize that ASL is a visual language entirely distinct from English, preventing customers from being trapped in automated menu loops.
- Manage risk: Ensure compliance with accessibility requirements (ADA, etc.).
Listen now and change how you think and DO CX RIGHT, which includes making customer experience accessible to everyone!
Customer Experience and Tech Topics Discussed:
- How traditional accessibility solutions like TTY or relay calls fail deaf customers.
- Why American Sign Language (ASL) is a primary language, not English, and what this means for CX design.
- How video-based ASL support reduces call times by 42% and improves first-contact resolution.
- How AI can enhance or hinder accessibility depending on design.
- Why accessible experiences create loyalty and expand market reach.
Actionable Customer Experience and Accessibility Takeaways:
- Implement video platforms with trained deaf customer service reps.
- Overlay customer journeys with accessibility personas to close experience gaps.
- Use AI strategically to capture information accurately while supporting human interaction.
Leadership Advice:
- “Be bold. Don’t be afraid to try something new.”
- Center design on lived experience: “Don’t build for us without us.”
- Recognize ignorance often explains exclusion; exposure and intentional design fix it.
Looking Ahead:
- Expect more movement toward accessibility separate from DEI labels; companies adopting deaf-led solutions will see cost and customer benefits.
- AI can accelerate intake and QA when designed with sign-language realities in mind, not as a stopgap replacing human deaf reps.
Final Thoughts: Ensuring Customer Experience is Accessible To People With Different Abilities
“Don’t build for us without us.” That single line captures the action leaders must take: involve the deaf community in design now to remove barriers and create better, faster service.
Listen to learn how direct video ASL support can cut call time, prevent miscommunication, and access a large, underserved market, plus steps leaders can apply this week to make their CX truly inclusive.
Press Play To WATCH On Youtube
About Craig Radford:
Craig is a nationally recognized business leader, speaker, and the cofounder and CEO of 360 Direct Access, where he has spent more than 25 years advancing communication equity. He has led major innovations in VRS, VRI, and Direct Video Calling, growing 360 Direct Access more than 600 percent in three years and partnering with global brands to expand accessible services in multiple sign languages. A serial entrepreneur with three successful exits, Craig has shaped accessibility and healthcare technology through acquisitions, federal research funding, and emerging AI driven sign language recognition. Featured in outlets such as Forbes, Business Insider, and CNN, he also serves as Executive Director of USA Deaf Basketball and has helped coach U.S. teams to multiple Deaflympics medals. Connect with Craig on LinkedIn.
About Vannessa LeBoss:
Vannessa serves as the Chief Development Officer and co-founder of 360 Direct Access, bringing over two decades of dedicated service to the Deaf community. She is credited with pioneering accessible direct video calling customer support services, establishing crucial connections within the community. Previous to this role, Vannessa held the role of COO at one of the largest sign language interpreting agencies in the U.S.
A sought-after speaker, Vannessa has presented at prestigious executive and leadership conferences. In 2024, she delivered insights at the CSUN Conference on the transformative impact and practical aspects of direct video calling. Her presentation at “the Fix” at Frost & Sullivan’s Customer Experience Exchange conference was the first of its kind focusing on the Deaf customer experience. Recently, she participated as a panelist at the FCC’s Direct Video Calling Forum in Washington, D.C.
Vannessa’s career is marked by comprehensive executive experience across operations, finance, sales, business expansion, customer relations, human resources, and contracting. She holds a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) certification and earned her bachelor’s degree in Business Management with a minor in Entrepreneurship. Connect with Vannessa on LinkedIn.
About Stacy Sherman:
Stacy Sherman is a professional speaker, advisor, and founder of Doing CX Right® consultancy, helping companies build unbreakable loyalty across customers, employees, and partners for lasting retention and growth. With 25 years at top companies, a Marketing MBA, and certifications in Journey Mapping and UX, she provides a proven, research-backed framework that drives real business impact. A trusted, award-winning CX leader, Stacy is recognized as a Top Global CX Guru and ICMI Top 25 Influencer (2021-2025). She continues to shape the future of CX through LinkedIn Learning courses, workshops, best-selling books, and her award-winning podcast, equipping professionals with the strategies to deliver measurable results, competitive advantage, and enriched experiences.
