Serving customers with disabilities

A large share of your customers

Disability is not a niche. The CDC reports that more than 1 in 4 US adults has some type of disability^[1]. Some of those customers are deaf or hard of hearing and won't use a voice line; some are blind and book through a screen reader; some use a wheelchair and need the technician to know before arriving; some find a long, fast phone call hard to follow. All of them have furnaces, roofs, lawns and garage doors.

The goal is not a separate process for each group. It is a booking and visit process with enough options that people can choose what works, plus a habit of asking one respectful question.

What the ADA expects of your phones

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, businesses and nonprofits that serve the public must provide aids and services when needed to communicate effectively^[2]. For a service company, the most common situation is the phone. ADA.gov states plainly that covered entities must accept calls placed through TRS and VRS, and that staff who answer the phone must treat relay calls just like other calls^[2].

The free nationwide relay service is reached by dialing 7-1-1^[2]. A deaf caller may type to a relay operator who speaks to you, or sign to a video interpreter who voices the conversation. Either way, the call arrives at your line like any other, but it sounds different, and that is where small companies go wrong. This article is practical guidance, not legal advice; your attorney can tell you how the law applies to your situation.

How to handle a relay call

1. 01

   Don't hang up on the introduction

   Relay calls often start with an operator explaining that this is a relay call. Many CSRs assume it is a sales or robocall. It is not.

2. 02

   Speak to the customer, not the operator

   Say ‘What can I help you with?’ rather than ‘Tell her that…’. The operator relays your words exactly.

3. 03

   Allow for pauses

   Typing and interpreting take time. Wait for the full answer before asking the next question, and say ‘go ahead’ when you have finished speaking.

4. 04

   Use the same booking questions

   Name, address, the problem, the preferred window. Confirm the appointment in full, then offer to send it in writing by text or email.

5. 05

   Record the preference

   Note in the customer record that they use relay or prefer text, so the next call, reminder and technician arrival message all match.

Many people now ignore unfamiliar numbers; eight in ten Americans say they don't generally answer calls from unknown numbers^[3]. That cuts both ways. A customer who uses relay may not answer when your technician calls from a personal cell. Agree the callback method at booking and put it on the work order.

Offer more than one channel

98% of US adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone^[4], so text and mobile web are close to universal channels. But 16% of adults are smartphone-only internet users with no home broadband^[4], so anything you offer online must work on a small screen.

One booking question, asked well

You don't need medical details, and you should not ask for them. One open question at the end of booking does the job: ‘Is there anything that would make the visit easier for you, like a call instead of a text, extra time at the door, or where to park?’ Write the answer on the work order in plain words the technician will see.

• Good notes: ‘Customer is deaf, text on arrival, knock firmly.’ ‘Uses wheelchair, side door has ramp.’ ‘Please explain options slowly and leave a written summary.’
• Notes to avoid: diagnoses, guesses, or anything the customer did not say.
• If the customer has a service animal, note it so the technician doesn't distract it. Never pet or feed a working animal.
• If the customer needs another person present for decisions, record who and how to reach them.

Make your website and forms usable

Run this ten-minute check on your booking page using only a keyboard, then again with your phone's built-in screen reader turned on.

1. Every field has a visible label, not just gray placeholder text that disappears.
2. You can reach and submit the form with the Tab and Enter keys alone.
3. Error messages say what is wrong in words, not only by turning a box red.
4. Buttons say what they do: ‘Request appointment’, not ‘Submit’ or an icon.
5. Text can be enlarged to twice its size without content overlapping or disappearing.
6. There is a phone number and a text number on the page for people who can't use the form.
7. Any CAPTCHA has an audio option or is replaced by a quieter spam check.

Reminders and arrival notices

The visit is where a good booking falls apart. A reminder call to a deaf customer goes unanswered, a technician rings a doorbell that the customer can't hear, or a voice message with the arrival window is too fast for someone with a memory disability to catch. Send reminders and arrival notices in the channel recorded on the customer's profile, not the channel your system defaults to.

• Day before: the date, the arrival window, the technician's first name and what to have ready, in the customer's chosen channel.
• On the way: a short message with an estimated arrival time. For customers who prefer it, a call from the office instead.
• At the door: if the work order says text on arrival, the technician texts before knocking and waits a minute longer than usual.
• After the visit: the written summary goes to the same channel, plus any second contact the customer asked you to include.

On site

• Allow extra time at the door. A customer with limited mobility may need a minute or two to answer.
• Face the customer when speaking, keep your face visible if they lip-read, speak clearly and don't shout.
• Ask before moving furniture, mobility aids or anything else. Put it back exactly where it was.
• Keep paths clear of tools, cords and hoses, and close gates behind you if a service animal lives there.
• Explain findings with photos on your tablet, and offer the written summary in a format the customer can use.

Estimates, invoices and instructions

ADA.gov lists accessible electronic documents that a screen reader can read among the aids businesses can provide^[2]. In practice: send estimates as real text (an email body or a tagged PDF), not a photo of paper. Use plain language and short sentences. Offer large print on request. For maintenance instructions, such as how to change a filter, a short captioned video or a step list with photos helps nearly everyone.

Example: the relay call that nearly got missed

Example: at a fictional garage door company, a new CSR hung up twice on a caller who opened with ‘This is a relay call.’ The customer then used the web form, which had no phone or text option and an image-only CAPTCHA. The owner found the complaint in the review queue. Fixes: a one-page relay guide at every desk, a text number on the website, a simpler spam check, and a ‘contact preference’ field on every customer record. The same customer booked again the next season, by text.

Make it routine

Add a relay call to your new-hire training, test the booking page twice a year, and review any complaint that mentions access. These overlap with serving older homeowners and with booking-time questions about pets, so one set of habits covers all three.