Project description:

2 million – that’s how many Ukrainians have hearing impairment of varying degrees. 10% of them are deaf people who communicate exclusively in sign language. The lack of knowledge of this language in the majority of society leads to the emergence  of communication and psychological barriers. The Foxtrot network has set the goal of providing equal and comfortable conditions for hearing-impaired customers when interacting with the company staff, both in the stores and on the online store website. 

Analyzing the market (in spring, 2023), Foxtrot focused on the Ukrainian technological service with online sign language translation, which was offered by the NGO “Civil Movement “Social Unity”. For a full-fledged launch, the Foxtrot team developed and integrated a number of technical solutions in stores and on the website. Staff training was also conducted; additionally, evaluation metrics were determined, etc.

As of 2024, in 20 stores of  Foxtrot network (in Kyiv, Lviv, Odesa, Dnipro, etc.), hearing-impaired customers can use the Connect PRO and Connect QR services to turn on an online sign language interpreter. Also, the Foxtrot.ua website has a specialized web widget “Vushko” (Connect Web) for conducting simultaneous conversation between the client and the operator of the Foxtrot contact center and a sign language translator.

Thus, deaf visitors can choose a suitable store or go to the website and get professional advice from a company’s employee in a way that is understandable for them, ask additional questions about the selected product, and make a necessary purchase. They are currently scaling this service to meet all of their customers’ requests.

Partners:

Public Movement “Social Unity”

Category: People

Company: Foxtrot

About the company: 

The largest omnichannel retailer on the market of digital and household appliances, the only Ukrainian member of Euronics – an international group of national retail companies in the field of consumer electronics.

The company is a member of the “Business Without Barriers” community initiated by First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska. As of August 2024, Foxtrot covers a network of 122 retail stores in 62 cities, the online store Foxtrot.ua with a traffic of 5.5 million visitors every month, and a mobile application of the same name.