The archive · Marketing & Growth · Marketing decision · 2025
Kuaishou makes a deaf host's sign language speak to hearing shoppers
AI reads a deaf host's signs and voices them through her digital avatar, so a 'silent' Kuaishou livestream reaches hearing buyers — 700,000 watched.
Kuaishou (快手)
What it had to solve
China has about 27.8 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people, yet common sign language is understood by less than 0.5% of the population. Deaf hosts could earn from livestream commerce on Kuaishou, but Jingjing's 'silent' rooms drew more than 90% deaf viewers — hearing shoppers could not follow her.
How it works
China has about 27.8 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people, but fewer than 0.5% of the population understands common sign language. Livestream commerce had given deaf people a way to earn, yet hosts like Jingjing on Kuaishou faced a quiet ceiling: her viewers were more than 90% deaf, and hearing shoppers drifted away because they could not understand her hands.
Kuaishou's idea inverted the usual accessibility move. Instead of adding an interpreter so deaf people could follow hearing content, it gave the deaf creator a voice. Working with the Jingyan Chuangyi team at Tianjin University of Technology, it built a live system on a 500,000-sign recognition database: a camera captured Jingjing's signs, AI recognised and translated them, and a digital avatar in her own likeness spoke her words aloud in real time.
The result was the first sign-language translation inside an e-commerce livestream, and it broke the room open: 700,000 people watched, nearly ten times her usual audience, and more than 35% were hearing viewers entering a deaf stream for the first time. The single stream took 53,000 yuan in orders, over a fifth from first-time hearing buyers, drew praise from CCTV and other national media, and reached 360 million exposures.
Jingjing's own words during the campaign captured the change: her previously silent room now had a host shouting 'three, two, one, link it up' like any other seller. The case became a demonstration that accessibility technology could also be a business decision — and it went on to win Kuaishou's ad platform its fourth consecutive ROI Festival Grand Prix.
Why it lands
- It translated the deaf creator outward instead of translating content inward, so the mainstream audience — not just deaf users — gained access.
- The digital avatar voiced Jingjing's own signs, keeping her identity and expression at the centre rather than replacing her with a hearing host.
- Placing the technology inside a real sales livestream gave it a measurable business test: viewers, orders and first-time hearing buyers all rose.
- A single concrete story — one host's wish to speak for herself — made a complex AI system understandable and shareable.
What it did
One stream drew 700,000 viewers — nearly ten times her usual room — with more than 35% of hearing viewers watching a deaf stream for the first time. It made 53,000 yuan in sales with over 20% of buyers hearing customers new to deaf streams, and exposure passed 360 million across media including CCTV. The case won Kuaishou's ad platform a fourth straight ROI Festival Grand Prix plus 2025 DAwards golds.
What you can take
Accessibility is stronger when it points both ways: instead of translating content for deaf viewers, voice the deaf creator in the majority's language so hearing audiences can come to her.
Since then
The campaign ran on into awards season: it brought Kuaishou's advertising arm its fourth consecutive ROI Festival Grand Prix in 2025, took multiple golds at the 2025 DAwards, and was cited by CCTV and dozens of outlets, helping normalise deaf creators in Chinese livestream commerce. It also became a reference case for 'tech for good' marketing in China, showing that inclusion features could expand a creator's audience rather than shrink it.
Sources
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