Deaf baristas will wear ASL aprons created by a deaf supplier, along with pins indicating they are fluent in ASL (Photo courtesy of Starbucks)

When the Starbucks on 6th and H streets NE reopens after a brief closure in October, it will have new features for the deaf and hard of hearing community. Deaf baristas will be working behind the counter, ready to use American Sign Language with customers; the space will be redesigned to accommodate visual communication; and the store will include art and merchandise created by the deaf community.

Starbucks announced on Thursday that its location on the H Street corridor, near Gallaudet University, will be the first signing store in the country. It follows Starbucks’ first signing store in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which opened in 2016.

The chain will be interviewing to hire 20-25 deaf and hard of hearing baristas and other employees, all of whom will be fluent in ASL. Those team members will wear aprons embroidered with “Starbucks” in ASL. Employees who are hearing and are fluent in ASL will wear “I Sign” pins. Visual displays will be used for ordering and checkout, and to show patrons when their drinks are ready rather than having names called out.

“Starbucks’ first signing store can show other corporations that including deaf people is good for business and can increase its market share,” Howard Rosenblum, chief executive of the National Association of the Deaf told the Washington Post. “Hiring deaf people or people with disability should not be viewed as a charity but as a way to improve a corporation’s reach across different segments of the market.”

The store will also redesign its space to accommodate visual communication, including by reducing glare on surfaces so that patrons can sign to each other.

Starbucks made the announcement in a video starring signing partners, with audio and visual descriptions.