'You're On Mute' Detector Turns the Catchphrase of the Pandemic into Charitable Donations for Deaf Awareness Week

​DeafKidz International, the charity responding to the protection, health, wellbeing, and education needs of deaf children, has today launched its #youreonmute campaign. The campaign, created and delivered by DeafKidz’s agency partner Boldspace, is aiming to raise funds for deaf children globally this Deaf Awareness Week.

The world has been thrown into a new way of living and working, and with that, a new set of communication frustrations have arrived, including the predictable moment when someone tries to speak on mute. DeafKidz International is using this as an opportunity to raise awareness of the challenges faced by deaf children globally, and donations to support them. Because to a deaf child living in a developing country, where no one knows sign language, their entire community is often on mute.

As part of the campaign, the charity has developed a ‘you’re on mute’ detector, a new tool that turns the classic phrase into charitable donations. The tech, developed by Kerve Creative, has been designed as a fun and interactive tool for people to take to their business meetings and digital social gatherings. Using Google’s voice recognition technology, the tool will detect whenever the phrase ‘you’re on mute’ is mentioned and will prompt a donation amount at the end of each call based on the total figure.

Boldspace has also created a series of ads to help raise awareness of the abuse deaf children face daily. These ads will be promoted across Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, as well as being used to respond to those on Twitter who use or have used the hashtag #youreonmute with a call to donate.

Steve Crump, chairman of DeafKidz International, said: “Deafness is the third largest disability globally but the least resourced. This leads to deaf children and young people being especially vulnerable to abuse and exploitation; denied the means to live safely without fear of abuse and denied access to communication.  This ground-breaking campaign will lead to a better future for thousands of deaf children across the globe.”

Lou Kelly, associate director at Boldspace, said: “You're on mute has become such a standard part of everyday life for billions of people over the last year. But for millions more in the global deaf community, where communication difficulties is and has long been a fact of everyday life, they don't have the luxury of clicking a button to fix the problem. In developing countries, deaf children face additional challenges such as late diagnosis, difficulty accessing quality education, discrimination, and stigma. Through the ‘you’re on mute’ campaign we hope to raise the funds needed to drive actionable change for deaf children globally and support their inclusion.”

The money raised will go towards empowering deaf children and young people across the globe to lead their fullest lives, safely and in their communication mode of choice, supporting them to succeed just like their hearing peers.

To access the ‘you’re on mute’ detector and help make a difference this Deaf Awareness Week, click here.