‘You’re on mute’ detector turns the catchphrase of the last year into charitable donations

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 International’s agency partner Boldspace, is aiming to raise funds
for deaf children globally this Deaf Awareness Week (3rd May).

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.”