Starbucks Barista Signs With Deaf Woman at Drive-Thru

This technology is helping customers communicate

By Julia Hays Nov 05, 2015 3:34 PMTags
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This Starbucks' feature is helping more customers communicate with their baristas.

In a viral video uploaded to Facebook, Rebecca King, who is deaf, waits to order at a drive-thru as an employee asks for her order.

After a few moments without a response from King, the barista appears on a video screen and King uses sign language with the employee to place her order.

"Starbucks! This is what I'm talking about," the Florida woman captioned the video on Facebook. "Share it away! We can change the world!"

The video, which was uploaded Tuesday, has already racked up over 5.9M views.

Starbucks! This is what I'm talking about! ??Share it away! We can change the world! :)

Posted by Rebecca King on Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Her barista, Katie Wyble, a student at the University of North Florida, also shared the video.

"For those who know I use sign language, know how much I love the language and how excited I was when I got to use the evolution screen at work," said Wyble, who likened the Starbucks' video feature to using FaceTime.

"I got to use it with a deaf customer, and they were thrilled," said the barista, who added that she was "so proud" to be able to do this.

According to The Huffington Post, St. Augustine, where King resides, has a large deaf community and is home to The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind.

No word as to how many Starbucks locations have this feature, and how many employees are fluent in sign language, but it's clearly making a big impression.