ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A new technology is getting a lot of attention — and for good reason — at the brand-new Starbucks by the outlet malls in St. Johns County.
A video posted on Facebook shows a customer named Rebecca King using sign language for an order -- and barista, Katie Wyble, quickly signs back.
Wyble says she's had a "passion for sign language since I first saw a teacher use it when I was in preschool." Wyble used a two-way video screen to see King, and the duo quickly completed an order for two coffees.
King's video of the encounter went viral overnight. The video was just posted Tuesday, and it has more than 1 million views and over 65,000 shares.
“Share it away," King said on Facebook. "We can change the world!”
“I think more people need to know about what we’re doing because it moves customer service to a whole new level,” Wyble said. “I hope it helps make more people aware of what they can to do serve others in their communities.”
St. Augustine is known to have a large deaf and blind community. Action News Jax spoke to Professor Tiri Fellows, who is deaf and teaches American Sign Language. She had a translator tell us what she thought about this technology.
"I think it's awesome because it gives the deaf opportunity to order in a different way through the window," Dr. Fellows said.
Dr. Fellows says going through a drive-thru without a device like this is such a hassle for the deaf or hearing impaired.
She says its about time someone created this device to help them.
"It's about time," Dr. Fellows said. "My friends from Arizona saw that on Facebook, Illinois Texas — they all reposted that video."
Dr. Fellows hopes the video continues to spread on social media so other businesses will want to get the technology as well.
WJAX
