Are taxi apps helpful for people with hearing impairment? This IIM Bangalore student’s post has got people talking

I want to create more awareness about hearing impaired and the deaf, Shaik Shoeb said in an online post that has touch a chord with many. (Source: Being You/Facebook)

Booking a cab any time, anywhere with the help of an app is helpful. But is this service accessible to all? Even if one rules out the fact that having a smartphone and Internet to use the apps is imperative, this story brings to light another limitation that these apps have — one that not many of us even think about, but should. Well, according to a student of IIM Bangalore, the taxi service apps are not as helpful as he would like them to be. “Many times, the cab drivers cancel my ride because I don’t pick their calls,” says Shaik Shoeb. “I don’t pick the calls made by the Uber/Ola driver to say that I am on my way. I don’t hear the music but can feel it. I don’t know what it is like to hear ‘sound’,” he said in a recent Facebook post.

With the intention to #MakeUberAccessible and #MakeOlaAccessible, he wants to start a movement that would help others like him who are hearing impaired. In a post shared on a popular Facebook page, Being You, the Tamil Nadu student who successfully completed his engineering degree and is currently doing his MBA said, “To begin with, I want the taxi apps to include a feature to show that we are hearing impaired, so the drivers can text us. It would make a big difference for us and would also be a step towards inclusive India!”

Although there is a feature on Uber and Ola apps now that have given customers an opportunity to chat with the driver, it doesn’t always show; neither does the app intimate the driver if the customer is visually or hearing impaired.

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Read about Shaik Shoeb’s amazing journey on how he defied all odds to get into one of India’s top institutes when others thought “there was no point in educating” him here.

Here’s what others on Facebook had to say:

 

Shoeb’s inspiring journey and the important messege reached not only rang true with others who experiece the same problem, but also grabbed attention from people at Uber. Prabhjeet Singh, who is head of strategy for Uber India, responded to this post saying, “At Uber, we are focused on building reliable mobility options, everywhere for everyone, including riders with special needs… we tested an in-app chat feature which provided an alternative to calling one another, should they want to get in touch. We are currently working on improving the functionality of this feature.” Assuring that his initiative will be taken forward he connected the young man with other Uber associates.

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