5 ms·

I bought an iPhone from an Apple Store employee who couldn't speak but used a phone to communicate with me by typing out their messages. It was perfectly fine.

I bought an iPhone from an Apple Store employee who couldn't speak but used a phone to communicate with me by typing out their messages. It was perfectly fine. I'm a bit surprised speech to text these days wouldn't basically take you as far as you need to go for a deaf employee. That said, if you take away jobs with a large communication component from the deaf, that rules out A LOT. I think reasonable accommodations should be provided, versus saying "most jobs are unreasonable for you to have."

meragrin_ 5y ago
> I think reasonable accommodations should be provided Since I saw no defense of the interpreter, are you agreeing hiring an interpreter is not a reasonable accommodation?
- majormajor 5y ago
  I think that depends on what other options are available and how well they work. I don't have an NYT subscription to see if there's more detail in there, but I don't necessarily take every complaint at face value. It wouldn't surprise me - since this person was there for 6 years - if other accommodations were provided that many people would consider "reasonable" and a sign-language interpreter wasn't actually necessary to perform the job, but there's just long-lingering bitterness over not getting precisely the accommodation that was desired.
imgabe 5y ago
I’ve also been a customer at establishments with deaf employees and none of them ever had a sign language interpreter. Providing an iPad to type messages on is a reasonable accommodation. Customers who don’t like it can work with another employee or go elsewhere. But hiring a second entire employee who basically shadows you and does your job for you seems like a bit much.
- ekianjo 5y ago
  > Providing an iPad to type messages on is a reasonable accommodation Doesn't that make communication slower? When I want to buy something, I certainly don't want to start chatting on a tablet to get my point across. It seems like a poor choice of position for that employee.
  - imgabe 5y ago
    We don’t always get what we want when we go out into the public and deal with other people. Sometimes I want to zip in and out of the grocery store but there’s an old lady in front of me who wants to argue about an expired coupon and it takes longer than I’d like. Such is life.
    - stickfigure 5y ago
      I stop shopping in places where the customer service is slow. Such is life.
      - kyleee 5y ago
        Would you ditch Apple if you had a customer service experience with a deaf person and it took 3-5 minutes longer than it would have with a hearing person?
        browningstreet 5y ago
        I’d be more inclined to get a kick out of the situation.
        skzv 5y ago
        I'd be really happy to see we are accommodating people with disabilities. A reminder to me that if I lost my eyesight, hearing, or mobility, I won't be left behind.
        optimiz3 5y ago
        Would you ditch Apple if you had a customer service experience and it took 3-5 minutes longer? Fixed it, and maybe. A decline in customer experience provides incentive for Apple to optimize the slower customer service folks out of the picture.
anonporridge 5y ago
There are many jobs that can be done through text communication alone (or close to 100% text). And the percentage of jobs for which this is true is probably increasing over time. The fact is, many jobs are out of reach for most people. Standard disability is only one of many aspects of a person that makes them unsuitable for a particular job. Personality, intelligence, type and level of education, or physical strength/capability are another.
sxp 5y ago
> He said that he had communicated with customers by typing on an iPad, and that some customers had refused to work with him as a result. When he told his manager, the manager said it was the customers’ right, he said....He was eventually assigned an interpreter. But by that time, he said, upper management viewed him as a complainer and refused to promote him. Using an iPad/iPhone seems to be the standard Apple policy, but this employee objected.
- majormajor 5y ago
  Thank you, that's useful context, without having a subscription. Does it say anything about if his manager had penalized him for some customers not working with him? If management requires him to post the same numbers despite knowing that, I think that's a big problem. Otherwise, I'm not necessarily sold by his story here. (I'm curious is customers still refused with an interpreter, too. That's also going to slow things down.)
  - Spooky23 5y ago
    Reasonable accommodation is the standard. Interpretation varies, but hiring another employee to translate for an employee seems to be beyond that standard to me.
spot5010 5y ago
Same for me. It was the best customer experience. The employee used her iPad to communicate via text. Brief and straight to the point.
stumpedonalog 5y ago
I’ve worked with developers that I’ve never spoken to once.

meragrin_ 5y ago

> I think reasonable accommodations should be provided Since I saw no defense of the interpreter, are you agreeing hiring an interpreter is not a reasonable accommodation?

majormajor 5y ago
I think that depends on what other options are available and how well they work. I don't have an NYT subscription to see if there's more detail in there, but I don't necessarily take every complaint at face value. It wouldn't surprise me - since this person was there for 6 years - if other accommodations were provided that many people would consider "reasonable" and a sign-language interpreter wasn't actually necessary to perform the job, but there's just long-lingering bitterness over not getting precisely the accommodation that was desired.

imgabe 5y ago

I’ve also been a customer at establishments with deaf employees and none of them ever had a sign language interpreter. Providing an iPad to type messages on is a reasonable accommodation. Customers who don’t like it can work with another employee or go elsewhere. But hiring a second entire employee who basically shadows you and does your job for you seems like a bit much.

ekianjo 5y ago
> Providing an iPad to type messages on is a reasonable accommodation Doesn't that make communication slower? When I want to buy something, I certainly don't want to start chatting on a tablet to get my point across. It seems like a poor choice of position for that employee.
- imgabe 5y ago
  We don’t always get what we want when we go out into the public and deal with other people. Sometimes I want to zip in and out of the grocery store but there’s an old lady in front of me who wants to argue about an expired coupon and it takes longer than I’d like. Such is life.
  - stickfigure 5y ago
    I stop shopping in places where the customer service is slow. Such is life.
    - kyleee 5y ago
      Would you ditch Apple if you had a customer service experience with a deaf person and it took 3-5 minutes longer than it would have with a hearing person?
      - browningstreet 5y ago
        I’d be more inclined to get a kick out of the situation.
      - skzv 5y ago
        I'd be really happy to see we are accommodating people with disabilities. A reminder to me that if I lost my eyesight, hearing, or mobility, I won't be left behind.
      - optimiz3 5y ago
        Would you ditch Apple if you had a customer service experience and it took 3-5 minutes longer? Fixed it, and maybe. A decline in customer experience provides incentive for Apple to optimize the slower customer service folks out of the picture.

anonporridge 5y ago

There are many jobs that can be done through text communication alone (or close to 100% text). And the percentage of jobs for which this is true is probably increasing over time. The fact is, many jobs are out of reach for most people. Standard disability is only one of many aspects of a person that makes them unsuitable for a particular job. Personality, intelligence, type and level of education, or physical strength/capability are another.

sxp 5y ago

> He said that he had communicated with customers by typing on an iPad, and that some customers had refused to work with him as a result. When he told his manager, the manager said it was the customers’ right, he said....He was eventually assigned an interpreter. But by that time, he said, upper management viewed him as a complainer and refused to promote him. Using an iPad/iPhone seems to be the standard Apple policy, but this employee objected.

majormajor 5y ago
Thank you, that's useful context, without having a subscription. Does it say anything about if his manager had penalized him for some customers not working with him? If management requires him to post the same numbers despite knowing that, I think that's a big problem. Otherwise, I'm not necessarily sold by his story here. (I'm curious is customers still refused with an interpreter, too. That's also going to slow things down.)
- Spooky23 5y ago
  Reasonable accommodation is the standard. Interpretation varies, but hiring another employee to translate for an employee seems to be beyond that standard to me.

spot5010 5y ago

Same for me. It was the best customer experience. The employee used her iPad to communicate via text. Brief and straight to the point.

stumpedonalog 5y ago

I’ve worked with developers that I’ve never spoken to once.