Uber應用給聾人提供收入機會

　　8月14日VOA聽力：Uber運用給聾人供給收入機遇

　　NAIROBI, KENYA— The taxi-like online companyUber has begun a first-of-its-kind African pilotproject where deaf drivers in Nairobi use itsapp.

　　Driver Benard Mulama intently goes through hisphone. For the past week he’s been getting familiar with the Uber App.

　　Mulama, who is deaf, is in a pilot project encouraging the hearing impaired to use thesmartphone app that connects riders to drivers.

　　It's a collaboration between Uber and the Kenya National Association of the Deaf (KNAD).

　　Connecting drivers, riders

　　In the field, the Uber app works seamlessly with a flash prompt appearing on the smartphonealerting the driver of a potential client.

　　For Mulama, the application means that more deaf drivers will overcome hurdles and ventureinto a business that was once the preserve of only the hearing.

　　The chairman of KNAD said the Uber app helps to level the playing field somewhat.

　　The Uber app is relatively easy to use. The rider keys in their pickup location and the driveraccepts the request once the phone flashes. Once the rider is picked up the Uber Appautomatically charges the fare —75 cents per kilometer.

　　Uber's manager in Kenya says the new revenue stream is a motivational factor.

　　“We both see the power of technology to offer greater income opportunities to deaf and hardof hearing people who typically don’t have access to that many income opportunities, especiallyin cities like Nairobi," said Alastair Curtis, Uber general manager.

　　According to the Kenya Sign Language Interpreters Association, there are more than 600,000hearing-impaired people in Kenya.

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