Starbucks opens new sign language outlet in Shanghai

Ordering a cup of Starbucks coffee has just become easier for the hearing impaired in Shanghai.

The coffeehouse chain opened a sign language outlet in the city on Thursday, allowing hearing-impaired customers to order using sign language or the written word.

The outlet, located in Shanghai's downtown Huangpu district, is staffed by 12 people who can communicate using the standard sign language used in China. Five of these employees suffer from hearing loss.

A smart voice recognition system, which Starbucks said is developed by Microsoft, has been put in place to turn speech into text, thus allowing baristas with hearing difficulties to engage with customers.

The outlet also provides a reusable writing pad on which customers can write their orders.

"Every employee at the store is taking sign language courses," said store manager Li Ziyi. "We hope to make progress fast enough to better serve our customers."

Li said the store is also looking to host regular coffeemaking workshops featuring baristas with hearing impairments.

Apart from Shanghai, Starbucks has three stores in Guangzhou, Beijing and Hangzhou where employees know sign language.