Chase has opened a new banking location on H Street in Washington, D.C., equipped with the right technology and staff to serve customers who are deaf and hard of hearing.
The H street corridor is home to Gallaudet University, the leading university for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. The location is strategic for Chase, to serve customers in an American Sign Language (ASL) and Deaf community hub.
"The H Street branch has been designed to be a visual branch for the ASL community," says Paula Sorto, Lead Associate Operations at the H Street branch, in a JPMorgan Chase press statement. "That means it's a full access accommodations branch for the deaf community as well as for the deaf employees."
Six of the nine employees in the branch are fluent in ASL, and three identify as deaf or hard of hearing, according to ABC7 WJLA. Eventually, about half of the location's employees will be fluent in ASL, according to the JP Morgan Chase statement, which also states the goal of being accessible to employees as well.
Additionally, the branch features an on-demand video remote interpreting service, remote control cameras that let employees communicate with customers wherever they're seated, and screens with captions enabled, according to ABC7 WJLA.
For the employees, there are visual indicators that alert them when someone has entered a secure area.
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